Cardio

Hi Sayuri,

I lost a lot of weight last year doing circuits
My circuits were quite easy to do - all outdoors, cos I dont like the gym much.
But Id run for about a mile to warm up, then do press ups, for a minute, then run for a minute, then do sit ups for a minute, then run, then squats, then run......
that kind of thing.
Instead of running you can do any type of cardio for that minute, star jumps, skipping etc

( I broke my leg in 3 places...so just getting back into training now)

Good luck., and well donr on your weight loss so far.

Cardio is interesting, unlike other intensity exercises (anaerobic strength training) it directly taps into the fat reserves for fairly immediate use (you first have to burn through the blood supply glucose and initial glucose responses, this usually takes 10-5 minutes; consider it warmup). Cardio will thus burn fat very effectively, but once the session is over there is little residual fat burning going on, and the metabolic recovery time is pretty quick (unlike anaerobic strength training).
Also, cardio that is sustained for 25- 30mins starts to trigger a plethora of cellular genetic switches to vastly improve energy use (I'll refer back to this in a moment) if it is done for 30 mins every day, you actually alter how the body heats itself when exposed to cold via tapping into Brown Fat cells (these are the fat cells infants are predominantly layered in; they are brown do to incredible quantities of mitochodria organelles in each cell {mitochondria performs many duties including turning up your body core temperature and burning calories}).
So, a few guiding points come from this:

Do Cardio every day for minimum of 30 mins.

Accumulative time matters since it is immediate, not long lasting at burning fat reserves: So if you want the benefits of 90 mins of
Cardio, you do not need to do 90 mins straight, rather do 2 blocks of 45 mins. or 3 blocks of 30 mins.

Elliptical trainers and treadmills are great because they offer preprogrammed variable resistance which keeps the body from becoming too efficient at burning calories while maintaining a set pace.

Even walking around the block is effective, just burns a bit fewer calories than machines do, because of resistance.

Wanna increase the calories in a given session that are burned, wear a weighted vest.

Back to Cellular genetic triggers, this cascade effect of genes being turned on affects most every organ in the body, opens pathways to process insulin, stimulate mitochondria replication within each cell (which converts more storage fat cells into Brown Fat cells, which then shrink surrounding fat cells). This cascade triggers microglia cells (immune system cells) to actually rewire synapses in the brain, affecting endorphine uptake and organ feedbacks. All of these genetic trigger cascades happen at about 25 - 30 mins sustained cardio, or 3 miles for runners (When the subtle effects of runners high begin to take effect). It will take about a week of 30 min. daily sessions to get the this cycle happening most effectively.

A VERY, VERY common mistake if using Cardio for fat loss (causing plateaus) is to get too intense with your cardio session. If you force the intensity, which I use to do since it gave me that rush like strength training. High intensity, makes your cardio session become more anaerobic like a strength training session, you will burn much much fewer fat calories this way. So keep the pace and intensity moderate, with short intervals of intensity, if you realize you're getting intense then back down the pace for a few minutes and play the resistance up and down... !!!!! but always work it at a pace that you can comfortable speak to a workout partner or sing without becoming winded (this will tell you faster than anything if you entering the anaerobic zone) !!!!!.