In order for cardio exercises to work, we need to understand how they work. A cardio exercise program allows the body to burn off fat. But we’ve always wondered what is the best cardio exercise that burns the most fat. Is it high intensity, or low?

Scientists found that high impact exercise enables the body to burn glycogen which is a kind of carbohydrates. The body stores glycogen in the liver and muscles and will use it for energy. It’s also believed that under a low impact exercise, the body burns a lot of fat.

If you believe that theory 100%, I am sorry to inform you that it is partly incorrect. If it is all true then why do we still have so many overweight people who train with low intensity?

Scientists, however, were correct when it came to low impact cardio exercises. A low impact exercise, like walking or swimming, burns more fat. But if we perform a high impact exercise, the body will burn calories, and lots of them. These calories come not only from glycogen but also from fat.

What’s more, when your glycogen level becomes low, carbohydrates from food will be turned into glycogen for storage. They’ll not be converted to body fat even when left unused.

Cardio exercises with high intensity will boost your metabolism during and after your workout. Your metabolism will still be active for long hours later.

However, this is not the case with low impact cardio exercise which will not boost your metabolism that long. In short, chances are high intensity training helps burn more body fat than low.

So to take the best of both worlds, we need to figure out a routine where high and low intensity exercises work together. For instance, 5 minutes on power tower then 5 minutes on punching bag.

Continue to rotate each set until you are done. We can do cardio exercises at the gym or at home. At the gym you can use cardio machines. The most important thing about cardio program is the amount of time and continuous routine.

Burning fat is not everything cardio exercise can do. The best thing is that it keeps your energy level high.

I have an important message for newcomers. Start slowly and pace yourself, you do not want to get exhausted, do you? Take on your cardio exercise program today and stay in top shape!

Thong M. Dao loves talking about fitness and he can help you lose fat. Information on fat loss and weight loss can be found on his webhomepage.