Tag Archive for Rpe

Best Cardio Exercises for Fat Loss – H.I.I.T.

Moderate intensity cardioYou are going to be a success story.  You have lost a bunch of weight so far and you are looking for a little boost to keep the weight loss train rolling.  Enter exercise into the equation, but not just any exercise.  You want the best exercises for your current goals…Fat Loss.  Most long-time dieters think that slow steady state cardio is the best way to lose fat.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Slow steady state cardio is a great way to improve cardiovascular conditioning, reduce risk for certain diseases, improving your blood lipid profile but not fat loss.  You see, doing steady state cardio actually teaches your body how to store fat, not burn it.  Well, what about all those skinny runners out there you ask?  Ever consider that they were skinny before they started running?  So should you stop all your slow steady state walking that you are currently doing every morning?  No, but you might consider incorporating some higher intensity intervals into your plan.

High intensity interval training is a great way to burn fat and raise your metabolic (fat burning) rate all day and into tomorrow.  How does this type of training work?  All you have to do is start to add in some quick bursts of speed into your current program.  Let’s say you are currently walking 30-45 minutes every day.  Take two of those days and change your plan so that 20 of those minutes are of higher intensity.  This is what it would look like:

Time Intensity

5 minutes Warm-up speed
30 sec RPE 10
2 min RPE 5
30 sec RPE 10
2 min RPE 5
30 sec RPE 10
2 min RPE 5
30 sec RPE 10
2 min RPE 5
30 sec RPE 10
5 min Cool down

RPE is rate of perceived exertion on a scale of 1-10.  1 being sitting in a chair and 10 being as hard or fast as you can possibly handle.  Give this type of training a try twice a week and see your fat loss get a kick start!