Cardio should be an essential part of any effective fitness routine. First, it’s super important for your overall well-being; cardiovascular exercise is linked to all kinds of benefits for your brain health, heart health, cholesterol, and mood. Second, it helps you maintain great and consistent progress in your weight-loss journey. (After all, cardio helps you burn calories and fat without fatiguing your muscles as much as a typical strength workout!) To help upgrade your cardio day, I’ve rounded up six of the best cardio workouts to maintain weight loss.
Below, you’ll find six productive workouts that are tried-and-true ways to enhance your cardiovascular fitness and help you maintain your new goal weight. For best results, perform them three to four times per week, whichever ones you feel like.
Workout #1
What you need: This is what’s called a “Fartlek” run. The method is to do a steady jog and, occasionally, increase the intensity to reach the limit of your aerobic window, which is when your body shifts from aerobic to anaerobic—that way, over time, you can increase your aerobic window.
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For this, you just need a good pair of running shoes. You can do this outside or even on a treadmill if you feel like staying indoors or the weather doesn’t permit outdoor training. (A heart rate monitor is another great useful tool too.) Aim for 30 to 60 minutes.
The Routine:
- Jog at an easy pace between 135 to 150 bpm.
- Increase the speed so you run at 70% to 80% intensity for 10 to 20 seconds.
- Bring your speed back down to your easy pace.
- Repeat an interval every few minutes.
Workout #2
What you need: This could be the simplest yet effective cardio workout because it keeps your heart rate in the perfect zone to strengthen your heart, improve your aerobic system, and burn fat without stressing your muscles or joints. Just walk on a treadmill at an incline for a period of time—that’s it.
The Routine:
- Set the treadmill incline to at least 10%.
- Walk at a pace where your heart rate is between 135 to 150 bpm for time.
Workout #3
What you need: To transform a regular walk into a fat-burning workout, try “rucking.” Wear a weighted backpack or vest—called a “rucksack”—and go for a long walk outside. The weight will help strengthen the muscles in your body and increase the intensity.
Invest in a proper weighted vest or ruck rather than just putting weights inside a regular backpack; it will sit better on your shoulders and take pressure off your lower back.
The Routine:
- Wear a ruck and walk for 30 to 60 minutes. Never run with a ruck.
Workout #4
What you need: For this workout, all you need are just a few dumbbells or kettlebells (ideally kettlebells). The beauty of a carry is it’s astonishingly simple: You just take a weight, hold it, and walk. Yet the benefits are vast because they improve your cardiovascular fitness, increase your strength endurance, boost your core stability, and help build “farmer strength,” which is extremely practical in your daily life.
The Routine:
- Farmers Carry (5 sets of 20 yards per side)
- Waiters Walk (5 sets of 20 yards per side)
1. Farmers Carry
The farmers carry is an easy and effective way to boost your cardiovascular health and fitness without lots of impact on your joints. On top of that, this exercise helps improve your total-body strength, which is beneficial inside and outside of the gym.
- Grab a weight in one hand.
- Keep your chest up and shoulder blades squeezed together.
- Walk for 20 yards.
- Switch sides and repeat.
2. Waiters Walk
- Grab a kettlebell or weight plate in one hand and hold it overhead.
- Lock out your elbow.
- Keep your wrists as straight as you can.
- Keep your shoulders down and back, and walk while keeping your hips and shoulders level.
Workout #5
What you need: All you need is a step and either a suspension trainer or gymnastic rings. This routine is called “HICT” or “high-intensity continuous training.” The idea is to do a strength exercise but turn it into an aerobic exercise—that way, you’re not pushing your body too hard, you’re strengthening your muscles, and you’re boosting your cardiovascular fitness.
Just do one explosive repetition of an exercise every 3 to 5 seconds for the specified amount of time.
The Routine:
- Step-ups (12 minutes)
- Pushups (10 minutes)
- Inverted Rows (10 minutes)
1. Step-ups
- Place one foot on a box or bench.
- Pull all your weight on that foot and drive yourself up by pushing through your heel.
- Avoid pushing off with your bottom leg.
2. Pushups
- Get in a pushup position with your hands about shoulder-width apart.
- Keep your lower back flat, and don’t let your hips sag.
- Lower yourself and keep your elbows close to your body as you descend.
3. Inverted Rows
- Grab TRX straps or rings from underneath with your feet closer to the anchor point.
- Squeeze your shoulder blades together.
- Pull yourself up while keeping your body straight like a plank.
Workout #6
What you need: This workout is a speed walking interval, so all you need is your body. Walking, in general, is great for your overall health, but to maintain weight loss, a stroll around the block might not be intense enough to burn lots of calories or put your body into the “fat-burning zone.” By pushing yourself with occasional intervals, you’ll dial up the intensity and get better results.
The Routine:
- Do a 5-minute warm-up by walking at a comfortable pace.
- Walk 1 minute as fast as you can without running.
- Walk 1 minute at a regular pace.
- Repeat this 9 more times.
- Do a 5-minute cool down by walking at a relaxed pace.
