It may be the most dreaded type of exercise of all…cardio. You hear it over and over again, ‘I have to put my cardio on…’ In my home gym (or if you prefer ‘gym’) the cardio equipment is upstairs in a (large) loft that overlooks the weight equipment . So people here say it this way, ‘I have to go ‘up’.’

No matter how you say it, most people don’t like it. Well, the fact is that it is usually boring. Unbearably boring. That’s why most modern gyms have televisions to watch, or even offer free magazines (you know… the ones that show you all the ‘secrets’ to looking like Mr. or Mrs. Super-Space-Commander-Hard). -Body) to read.

But the truth is, it doesn’t have to be that way. You can decide (actually you already have… most just don’t know) how effective and exciting your cardio will be.

Let’s start with what you want to achieve. Most do cardio to burn calories and burn excess body fat as a result. Great, now what’s the best way to lose a few inches without spending HOURS on the elliptical.

If burning fat is your primary reason for choosing cardio, there’s no better time than doing it first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. Your blood sugar is at an all-time low, so your body turns to burning fat for fuel. Nice.

However, if you’re not a morning person, don’t despair. If you combine your resistance training and cardio in the same session, do your resistance training first. Your glycogen (carbohydrates stored in muscle and liver) will be depleted after your weight training because you use glycogen first as fuel for your muscles. Your body then draws on its fat stores for energy during your cardio.

Another way to mimic your morning routine (almost too) is to do cardio on an empty stomach. Recall from a previous chapter, an empty stomach is defined as 2 hours after the last meal and 1 hour before the next. So if you arrive at the gym at 5:45 pm, make sure you don’t eat anything after 3:30 pm Even better, make sure your afternoon snack is high in protein because then your metabolism speeds up to digest the protein. having no carbohydrates to replenish your glycogen.

Although this book is about you learning how to minimize your time in the gym, it wouldn’t be fair to you if I didn’t mention 2 cardio sessions a day. Why? Because some of us have a harder time getting body fat down to acceptable levels than others. If that’s the case for you, and you can find the time, 2 cardio sessions of 30-45 minutes each can really speed up fat burning. In fact, when I have significant amounts of fat to lose, I do 2 cardio sessions a day until I reach my goal. Only then do I go back to 1 session a day.

Copyright 2006 J Lance Curtis