Lose Every Bulge in 3 Weeks

The Cardio Plan

To blast fat and reach your weight-loss goals, you'll need to do four cardio workouts a week along with the strength routine, says Paul-Brian McReynolds, a martial arts trainer and the cardio specialist at Holistic Fitness.

Two of these should be high-intensity intervals like the routine below. Do them as a run/walk program on a treadmill or outside, or on an elliptical machine. When outside, use your rate of perceived exertion (RPE, or how intense the workout feels on a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being easiest and 10 extremely difficult).

For the remaining two days, exercise for 30 to 60 minutes at a relatively steady pace (RPE 5 or 6) with the aerobic workout of your choice. If you're running during your interval workouts, McReynolds suggests cross-training with low-impact activities such as cycling, swimming, or walking the rest of the week to avoid injury. To enhance flexibility, take a yoga class or do a yoga DVD one additional day each week. (We like Rodney Yee's Yoga Burn DVD; $15 at gaiam.com.)

Minutes	Treadmill	Elliptical	Outside
Warm-up: Minutes 0:00–8:00	Walk at 3.5–4.5 mph	Begin at level 2–3, 100–120 strides per minute	Walk briskly, RPE: 4–5
Base pace: Minutes 8:00–9:00	Walk fast or jog at 5.0–6.0 mph	Maintain a steady pace at level 4, 120–140 strides per minute	Power walk or jog, RPE: 6
Speed interval: Minutes 9:00–10:00	Increase speed to 7.0–8.0 mph	Increase resistance to level 5, 160–180 strides per minute	Sprint or walk as fast as possible, RPE:
Intervals:* Minutes 10:00–30:00	Repeat minutes 8:00–10:00 ten times	Repeat minutes 8:00–10:00 ten times	Repeat minutes 8:00–10:00 ten times
Cool down: Minutes 30:00–35:00	Walk at 3.5–4.5 mph	Return to level 2–3, 100–120 strides per minute	Walk briskly, RPE: 4

*You may have to work up to doing 10 intervals. RPE: Rate of Perceived Exertion. How hard you’re working on a scale of 1 to 10, 1 being the easiest.

 

Originally published in Fitness magazine, February 2006.