Effective Strategies for Utilizing Cardio Intervals to Reduce Belly Fat

Exercise should be part of everyone’s lifestyle to prevent disease, improve sleep, strengthen muscles and bones, improve brain health and boost mood. If your goal is to shrink your midsection, you need to pick up the pace at the gym and pay attention to your diet. Cardio is king when it comes to maximizing belly fat loss. The more calories you burn during your cardio workouts, the more fat you burn. That’s where interval training comes into play. We spoke to an expert who shares exactly how to use cardio intervals to melt belly fat.

In this article:

What are fitness intervals?

“Cardio intervals are a great tactic for burning belly fat because they allow you to be specific with your approach,” explains Michael Thorstencertified personal trainer and club leader at Life Time Beachwood. “Yes, all exercise burns some fat, but certain exercise done at a certain intensity allows you to burn much, much, more. This is the magic of cardio intervals; it allows you to target body fat in this intentional way. “

Cardio intervals that alternate between low and moderate intensity will burn the most body and belly fat. This alternation of intensities also helps control cortisol and stress levels, which can be a major roadblock between you and losing belly fat.

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What form of cardio works best for interval training for belly fat loss?

“When choosing the type of cardio you do, there is no activity or modality that is more effective than others,” emphasizes Thorsten. “The magic of intervals is created entirely by the change in your heart rate. We need to see your heart rate rise for a period and then see it fall again. This can be accomplished by running, cycling, swimming, whatever!”

Choose a cardio activity that does not cause discomfort and that you are most likely to stick with.

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How long cardio intervals to perform to see results

When your goal is fat loss, every minute you exercise counts. After all, the more you exercise, the more fat calories you burn.6254a4d1642c605c54bf1cab17d50f1e

“You have to monitor the stress you put on your body with this activity. More stress equals more cortisol, [which] equals less fat loss, Thorsten tells us. “It’s also important to remember that if we’re focused on losing belly fat, we can’t just do these cardio intervals. We have to leave some time during the week for strength training.”

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For these reasons, Thorsten recommends performing two to three cardio interval sessions each week. Keep in mind that these workouts should not make you feel tired. Twenty to 30 minute workouts usually get the job done when done at low to moderate intensity.

“Combined with the right nutrition, you can expect to see meaningful results in as little as a month,” explains Thorsten. “That being said, whenever we change the activity regimen, I always ask clients to try to stick with a new habit for 12 weeks to gauge its effectiveness.”