What is a fat-burning cardio?
A fat-burning cardio is really just your approach to how you structure your cardio workouts, think 3-5 sessions per week and alternating between steady-state and HIIT cardio. “HIIT – alternating between all-out sprints and slower-paced recovery periods – relies mostly on carbohydrates during exercise but will burn more fat afterward due to excess post-exercise oxygen consumption,” says Jeramie Hinojosa, MS, senior clinical exercise specialist at East Texas Medical Center Olympic Center in Tyler, Texas. “Steady-state cardio, in which you aim to work at 50%-70% of your max heart rate for a set period, tends to burn more fat as fuel during exercise because you can go longer. And as exercise duration increases, so does the use of fat as fuel.” While HIIT has gained ground as one of the best ways to perform cardio and hold on to muscle, it’s tough to do with regularity, which is why the sessions are generally shorter. That’s why Hinojosa recommends performing 2-3 HIIT workouts a week and sp
