Exercise should be part of everyone’s lifestyle to prevent disease, improve sleep, strengthen muscles and bones, improve brain health, and improve mood. If your goal is to reduce your abdomen, you will 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 in. We spoke with an expert who explains exactly how to use cardio intervals to melt belly fat.
In this article:
What are cardio intervals?

“Cardio intervals are a great tactic for burning belly fat because they allow you to be precise in your approach,” explains Michael Thorstencertified personal trainer and club leader at Lifetime beach wood. “Yes, all exercise burns fat, but certain exercises performed at a certain intensity will allow you to burn much, much, more. That’s the magic of cardio intervals; it allows you to target body fat that way intentional.”
Cardio intervals that alternate between low and moderate intensity will burn the most body and abdominal fat. This alternation of intensities also helps control cortisol and stress levels, which can be a major obstacle to losing abdominal fat.
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What form of cardio works best in interval training to lose belly fat?


“When choosing the type of cardio you do, no one activity or modality is more effective than the others,” Thorsten emphasizes. “The magic of intervals is all created by changing your heart rate. We need to see your heart rate rise for a period of time and then see it come back down. This can be accomplished by running, cycling, swimming, etc. no matter what!”
Choose a cardio activity that does not cause discomfort and one that you are likely to stick with.
How long should you do cardio intervals to see results


When your goal is to lose fat, every minute of training counts. After all, the more you exercise, the more fat calories you’ll burn.
“You need to watch the stress 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 consider that if we’re focused on losing belly fat, we can’t just do these cardio intervals. You need to schedule time during the week for strength training.”
For these reasons, Thorsten recommends performing two to three sessions of interval cardio each week. Keep in mind that these workouts shouldn’t make you tired. Twenty to 30 minute workouts usually get the job done when done at low to moderate intensity.
“In combination with good nutrition, one can expect to see significant results in just one month,” says Thorsten. “That being said, whenever we change the activity program, I always ask clients to try sticking with a new habit for 12 weeks to gauge its effectiveness.”
Alexa Mellardo
Alexa is the Mind + Body Associate Editor at Eat This, Not That!, overseeing the M+B channel and bringing readers interesting topics on fitness, wellness, and self-care. Learn more about Alexa
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