The Best Fat Burning Exercise to Do!

February 8, 2016

The Best Fat Burning Exercise to Do!

fat burning exercises

The Best Fat Burning Exercise to Do!

I get asked a lot by patients here at Living Health Integrative Medicine which exercise they should do to get optimal fat burning effects. I always recommend high intensity interval training. The beauty of this type of exercise is that while it is intense, it’s a pretty short duration in comparison to what a lot people think they should work themselves up to.

There’s a misconception that you have to work your way up in time on the treadmill. Starting at 15 to 20 minutes and then who knows? Two hours! That can actually put more strain on the body and disrupt your hormones. It can even contribute to weight gain and elevated sugars if you work out for too much time. You don’t’ even want to do high intensity training everyday – You can do it every second or even every third day.

The duration is about 20 minutes max. It’s a form of cardio that you can either do on a stationary bike, an elliptical machine or a treadmill. If you are doing this the first time I would recommend a stationary bike because you will be in a seated position.

Ideally, you want a piece of exercise equipment that already has pre-set programs. Choose the pre-set program that has the highest peaks and the lowest lows as far as the interval ups and downs go. Or, follow these steps below!

1.) Warm up on the machine for a couple of minutes (whether this is the                   stationary bike, elliptical or treadmill).
2.) Crank up the machine to as high as the resistance as you can handle and           go as fast as you can for 30 seconds. (If you can’t make it for 30 seconds,           the resistance is too high)
3.) Knock intensity down to lowest setting and go super slow to basically                catch your breath. Stay at this phase for 2 minutes.
4.) Rotate steps two and three for 4 to 6 of these high intensity peaks, or until         you get to the peak that takes you to around your max heart rate (just                 below 220 minus your age).
5.) Do immediate cool down for a few minutes and then stretch.