More Speed? More Time? How to Burn More Fat - Part 1

Treadmills are the most popular cardio machines in health clubs, and a lot of people ask the best way to use them for burning the most fat.  We'll start with the two best answers, and next week, we'll give you a third suggestion for burning FREE calories.  These ideas pretty much transfer to other forms of cardio as well.  For now, we're not going to worry about the perfect heart rate zone.

1. The best answer I can give about burning fat in any cardio workout is to pick the one you will ACTUALLY DO on a regular basis.  This is so obvious, many people discount it.  But think about it:

OPTION 1: Do the cardio workout from hell, that you begin to dread, and leaves you sore so you don't do it for several days afterward or maybe not at all.  High impact and high intensity also increase your risk of using bad form, getting hurt, and/or repetitive motion injuries.

OPTION 2: Do a cardio workout that is challenging, has you huffing/puffing/sweating but not burning, and leaves you feeling invigorated and inspired.  Because you won't get sore, you can do it most days of the week, with some variety thrown in.  Plus, you won't be a slug the rest of the day or be tempted to eat back all the calories you worked so hard to burn off.

2. One way to maximize your calorie burn with minimal impact is to choose incline, SIGNIFICANT incline - even if you have to slow the speed down in order to do it.  Why?  Well, think of a cow sleeping, often standing up with its legs completely straight.

It is basically balancing on its leg bones - not using much muscle at all.  It doesn't wake up in a froth of sweat, it wakes up pretty rested.  Similarly, we walk with relatively straight legs, much like the sleeping cow.  In fact, we are so biomechanically efficient at walking that there is very little muscle actually involved, no matter how much speed we add.  This changes drastically when we run because we are bending continuously at the ankle, knee, and hip during running.

But since not everyone can or will run, there is another great way to get all of that fat-burning muscle of the legs involved: add incline.  When we walk uphill, our ankles, knees, and hips are all bending to go uphill and all the muscle that bends and straightens those joints gets recruited.  It is virtually impact-free, with all the muscles of the leg and hip sharing the workload.  Even if you have to slow your treadmill speed down significantly, it is much better to go uphill with a significant incline than to just walk fast on a flat.

If you're new to uphill walking, start easy and add incline slowly.  This will give your gait, hips, and low back time to adapt to the incline.  A simple, easy, and effective method is to start with 0% incline and add 1% incline per minute.  You'll be at max incline in 12-15 minutes depending on the capabilities of the treadmill you're using.  Adjust the speed down if your incline becomes too challenging.  Enjoy, and happy walking!
Next week:  FREE calorie burning!