What Type of Cardio is Best For Six Pack Abs
Can You Tell Me What Type of Cardio is Best For Six Pack Abs?
This is a good news bad news situation for the people who ask – What Type of Cardio is Best For Six Pack Abs. The bad news is that if you want to see your abs, you will definitely have to do cardio. The good news, it can be as short as 4 minutes or a max of 20 minutes. That’s not too long.
It’s still torture though, but a necessary torture.
Most people dread cardio because it is tiring and leaves them breathless. When you are giving your best at cardio, it is really no fun. The worst part is that your cardio is most effective when it is really tiring.
What Type of Cardio is Best For Six Pack Abs
If you wish to see your abs, the first thing to note is that you should forget about slow, steady state cardio. There are many body-builders and YouTube fitness celebrities who claim that all they do is some brisk walking in the morning and that suffices.
What they often fail to mention is that they are on performance enhancing drugs, etc. which are detrimental to their body. They just need to build muscle which will be much easier and the more muscle they have, the more calories are burned. Over time, it’s much easier for them to burn off their fat stores. They also religiously watch their diet.
The average person however, eats whatever they can get their hands on with nary a thought to the consequences. As a result, they put on more weight and are often flabby and out of shape. Getting from flab to abs… is no easy matter for the average person.
[bottom_ads id=”2132″]That is exactly why they should do high intensity interval training (HIIT). Fast reps with short rest periods.
When your cardio session is hard and leaves you gasping for air, it creates a situation in your body know as excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC). This is a long name but it can be summarized easily. EPOC puts your body in fat burning state for up to 12 hours after your workout.
A slow 45 minute workout will only burn calories during those 45 minutes. A hard but short 15 minute interval training session will not burn calories during the workout, but will burn calories for hours and hours after that.
What does that mean?
It means you burn more fat in a shorter period of time. It also means that instead of slaving away on the treadmill for 45 or 60 minutes, you can wrap your cardio workout up in 15 or 20 minutes. Fantastic, yes?
Yup… but don’t be too happy yet. Those 15 to 20 minutes will be agonizing.
What Type of Cardio is Best For Six Pack Abs – Running
There is another cardio workout known as the Tabata protocol. It only takes 4 minutes and has been proven to be extremely effective at shredding fat.
You will do 8 sets. Each set will comprise of 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds rest. You will do these sets back to back until the 4 minutes is up and you will be done.
This is a very intense workout and even though it’s only 4 minutes, it will boost your metabolic rate and keep your body in fat burning mode for hours.
So, the best type of cardio will be short intense cardio sessions with short rest periods. You may do full body workouts with weights or you may use sprints. It’s up to you. If using weights, make sure that your reps are fast but you still maintain good form. Use weights that are not so heavy that you throw your back out.
We’re not aiming to lift the most weight. We just need enough to keep it challenging and exhausting.
Do 3 HIIT workouts a week. There really isn’t a need to do more. Doing too much will tax your nervous system and may make you hit a plateau. Thrice a week is sufficient. Make sure your diet is clean and in a matter of time you will see your abs.
Always remember… with cardio, less is more. No animal on this planet runs for hours. It’s always short fast bursts of energy followed by rest. When was the last time you saw a fat lion or cheetah?
Exactly. Short, hard cardio… all the way.
