Cardio for Fat Loss and Health

There are two forms of cardio that work best for fat loss: Low-Intensity Steady State (LISS) cardio and High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) cardio.

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If you are cutting, you should stick with LISS since it might interfere with your workout recovery so read the section below.

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If you are lean bulking, you can choose either so continue reading to see which option best fits your needs.

Low-Intensity Steady State (LISS)

You might know LISS as either low-intensity cardio, steady-state training, or continuous cardiovascular exercise. All of the above have the same goal: Keep your heart rate around 50 to 65 percent of your maximum heart rate to ensure that you are burning calories.

Currently, most gym equipment comes with sensors that will measure your heart rate so that you can stay between 50 to 65 percent of your max. But, if you are at home or without one of these machines, getting to a pace that gives you a light sweat is a good way of telling if you're in the approximate range.

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Do not underestimate the power of LISS cardio. According to a 2014 study, continuous aerobic exercise is more effective than HIIT at improving fat distribution [1] and in just an hour of walking at 3mph(4.8kph), an individual at 180lbs(81kg) will burn about 270 calories [2]. If you perform LISS every day, that's an additional 0.5lb(0.23kg) of fat loss every week.

When and how much LISS

If you are just starting out:

Aim to do three LISS sessions per week, no more.

If you are at an intermediate or advanced level:

You can increase your LISS sessions by as much as you want.

You can choose to either perform LISS after your workouts or on any day that you aren't working out.

How to perform LISS

If you are at the gym:

You can use any cardio equipment like the treadmill, elliptical, row machine, exercises bike, etc to perform LISS for 45 to 60 minutes at a steady pace (50-65% of your max heart rate).

If you don't have access to a gym:

You can purchase an exercise bike like this one to get the best of all options.

If you prefer exercising outdoors:

Hit the pavement for a light jog or fast walk to perform LISS.

And by the way, you don't need to do cardio on a fast (on an empty stomach) to lose weight! A 2017 systematic review and meta-analysis on fasted cardio showed that you burn the same amount of fat whether fasted or not [1].

High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT)

Again, HIIT cardio is an option only for those that are bulking as it might interfere with your muscle recovery [1, 2]. For those unfamiliar with HIIT, it is when you exert your body to the max for a short period of time and then switch to a normal pace until you recover enough to once again exert yourself as much as you can for a short period of time.

HIIT does have some advantages over LISS, namely:

Burning more calories in a shorter period of time [1, 2, 3]
Better increases in cardiovascular health [1]
Increases in VO2 max (your maximum rate of oxygen consumption) [1, 2, 3]
And improves insulin resistance [1, 2]
Potential for muscle gain in your lower body [1, 2, 3]
Reduction in heart rate and blood pressure [1, 2, 3]

When to perform HIIT

You should only perform HIIT on your rest days for a max of three times per week.

Any more than that and you risk losing muscle (see research above). If you'd like to do more cardio on your other days, perform LISS.

How to perform HIIT

You can perform HIIT through either one of the below methods. Experiment with each routine to see which one fits your lifestyle the best:

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Exercise Bike

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Running

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Squat Jumps

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