For most people, fat loss is a painful journey. Your weight keeps climbing, yet you're unsure which cardio exercises to do? Or have you stuck with it for a while without seeing the results you hoped for?

Today, let's talk about how to choose the right cardio during fat loss and exactly how to do it. Once you understand these points, you'll know how to carve out a “shortcut” on your fat loss path.

Choosing Cardio During Fat Loss

First, let's cover the types of cardio you can choose from. I'll list only those I've personally used, which should cover most common approaches.

Conventional Cardio: Jogging (6-8 km/h), any cardio machine (elliptical, stair climber, spin bike), jumping rope, swimming, hiking, stair climbing, step aerobics.

Non-traditional aerobics: HIIT/High-Intensity Interval Training (strictly speaking not pure aerobic, but a combination of aerobic and anaerobic exercise, though effective for fat loss).

Aerobic Workout Plans for Fat Loss

Option 1: Morning Fasting Aerobics

After waking up, engage in aerobic exercise without consuming any calories. Jumping rope, running, or stair climbing are all suitable.

「Advantages」Contrary to popular fitness myths, glycogen stores aren't depleted after 6-8 hours of fasting. The benefit lies in lower insulin levels, which facilitates fat breakdown.

「Disadvantages」Risk of injury due to unprepared muscles; potential for hypoglycemia and fainting; elevated cortisol (stress hormone) levels may promote muscle breakdown.

Recommendations: For most people, opt for moderate aerobic exercise like steady-state jogging (6-8 km/h). Avoid running uphill, but walking uphill is acceptable.

Second, total duration should not exceed 30 minutes. Personally, I prefer stair climbing or pure step-ups (yes, you heard that right—the boring, repetitive up-and-down step-ups).

This method is incredibly monotonous but nearly perfect for muscle preservation. If you're someone who'll do whatever it takes to achieve your goals, this is the approach for you.

Second, drinking a small amount of black coffee or caffeinated products (100-200mg) before training assistances fat mobilization. Those with gastrointestinal sensitivity to coffee should avoid this!

Remember, caffeine doesn't “burn” fat—it merely helps release fat molecules from fat tissue. You still need exercise to “burn” them. Fat loss = fat mobilization + fat burning.

Option 2: Strength Training Followed by Cardio

Strength training is anaerobic exercise. Anaerobic doesn't mean holding your breath or avoiding oxygen intake; it refers to energy production that doesn't rely on oxygen. This type of training involves high loads and intensity, leaving you breathless and heart racing within seconds, and is difficult to sustain (typically no longer than 90-120 seconds). Conventional dumbbell and barbell exercises, even bodyweight strength training like push-ups or pull-ups, fall under strength training. Combining strength training with traditional cardio is also an effective approach.

「Advantages」High efficiency. Strength training depletes your body's glycogen stores and releases fat into the bloodstream. The subsequent cardio session then maximizes the burning of this circulating fat in the shortest possible time.

「Disadvantages」Strength training segments can easily become excessive (over 2 hours). Many people, out of laziness, attempt to lose fat through strength training alone—a common mistake Keep君 has also made. Rather than calling it a mistake, it's simply “laziness”! Overdoing strength training can lead to muscle breakdown, decreased metabolism, weakened immunity, and other physiological issues, making it counterproductive.

Recommendation: Keep effective strength training sessions within 45-60 minutes (excluding warm-up and cool-down stretches). Limit aerobic exercise to 30-45 minutes. Similarly, avoid excessive intensity during cardio. For those monitoring heart rate, maintain it at 60-80% of maximum heart rate, with 70% being optimal. Exceeding 70% of maximum heart rate offers no additional fat-burning benefits.

Option 3: HIIT + Cardio

HIIT, or High-Intensity Interval Training, involves reaching 85-90% of your maximum heart rate (think sprinting intensity) for 10-15 seconds, followed by 60-90 seconds of low-intensity cardio. Example: 10 seconds of all-out sprinting followed by 60 seconds of slow walking/jogging. This completes one cycle; perform 8-10 cycles. As fitness improves, increase the number of cycles, but total duration should not exceed 20 minutes.

「Advantages」HIIT can be categorized into equipment-free and equipment-based training. Equipment-free workouts, like sprinting combined with jogging, require minimal space and are highly effective for fat loss. Equipment-based HIIT (using dumbbells, barbells, etc.) also builds muscle and enhances athletic performance. The “sprint” phase primarily depletes glycogen stores, while the “steady-state” phase burns more fat—a highly synergistic combination.

「Disadvantages」HIIT sessions can easily become too lengthy, potentially leading to muscle loss and affecting subsequent training phases. Additionally, it may overshadow traditional strength training, resulting in diminished muscle strength and size.

「Recommendations」HIIT absolutely warrants its own dedicated day, serving as the primary or first exercise block. For instance, you could perform HIIT followed by ab exercises, but combining it with strength training is generally discouraged. Always warm up thoroughly for at least 10 minutes before starting HIIT. Keep HIIT sessions under 20 minutes (if intensity is sufficiently high, it likely won't exceed this). Follow with 20-30 minutes of traditional low-intensity cardio like jogging, brisk walking, jumping rope, or elliptical training.

The “high-intensity” portion of HIIT should ideally not exceed 15 seconds. Naturally, if the intensity is sufficiently high, it won't surpass 10 seconds. This 10-second burst of high-intensity training effectively releases fat factors from tissues into the bloodstream; the subsequent slow aerobic exercise then sustains fat burning.

Option 4: Aerobic Exercise Twice Daily

This involves performing slow aerobic exercise on an empty stomach in the morning, followed by another session of slow aerobic exercise after strength training in the evening.

Advantages: Each session is short, but total training time is substantial, offering significant calorie expenditure without overwhelming the body, while greatly reducing muscle loss.

Disadvantages: Time-consuming, best suited for those with ample availability.

Recommendation: With two aerobic sessions daily, limit each to no more than 40 minutes; 20-30 minutes is ideal.

Aerobic Principles for Fat Loss

To summarize the aerobic principles for fat loss:

1. Keep aerobic sessions brief. Personally, I believe daily aerobic training should never exceed 2 hours—even 90 minutes is pushing it. 45-60 minutes is ideal, and splitting it into two sessions is even better;
2. Second, don't push yourself to exhaustion during cardio. Since most people don't monitor heart rate (which should ideally stay between 60%-80% of max—more on this later), just ensure you're not gasping for breath (except during HIIT);
3. Fasting cardio is possible but carries a high risk of muscle loss. If you must do it on an empty stomach and aren't naturally gifted or immune to muscle loss, opt for slow walking/very light jogging (3-4 km/h).
4. When possible, doing cardio after strength training is highly effective for optimizing fat loss.
5. HIIT combined with traditional cardio is also excellent—highly efficient and effective for fat loss.
6. Before HIIT, consume some high-quality complex carbohydrates (grains, tubers, etc.) along with a serving of about 15-20g of clean protein (egg whites, chicken breast, fish, protein powder, etc.).

In summary:

First, the truth of fat loss = expenditure > intake. Learn to record what you eat and try to calculate food calories—it doesn't need to be perfect, but developing this habit and awareness is crucial. Remember: Eating is easy, burning calories is hard!

Second, don't treat cardio as a chore. Everyday activities like grocery shopping, walking, dog-walking, or even fetching the newspaper burn calories—don't overlook them.

Finally, learn to adjust! This might be the most crucial point! Adjust your diet, adjust your training. If something feels off or results aren't good, step back and analyze where things went wrong. There's no one-size-fits-all method for fat loss—only what works for you. Use scientific principles as broad guidelines, but the specifics require your own trial and error to refine and tailor a fat loss journey that suits you.