Let’s be clear about something: if you want to lose your gut you’ll have to do interval workouts. Let me describe for you what it meats to do intervals. Intervals are more difficult than a traditional aerobic workout for sure. Keep in mind, though, that interval workouts are shorter because you get a lot done quickly.

Let me give you an example of how intervals work. First, do a five minute warm up with some traditional aerobics. You can cycle or go for a short run.

Once that’s done, you need to get started with an interval: work very hard for a sixty second period. Now that the minute is over, you continue with a lower intensity for another minute or two.

There. That’s one repetition complete. Now do the cycle for about five times and then take a cool down pace for a while.

You see, intervals can cycle for a variety of times starting from a five second burst to a five minute burst. To optimize for burning off fat, you should look at half a minute to a minute of intensity with one or two minutes for recovery.

A common inquiry I get is about what kind of gear is best for doing intervals for fat burning.

If you’re going to use a machine, treadmills are best: you can sprint on them and get a nice workout for your abdominals, legs, and back. You get a good turbulent workout when sprinting because of all the muscles that you engage.

There’s the calorie burn and then there’s the metabolic benefits that you get too: those last way beyond the time your workout ends.

Of course treadmills have some serious problems with portability, and they can risk injury if you’re not careful. Besides, the controls are hard to change while you’re moving quickly.

So a good compromise is that exercise bike, although it’s hard to transport just as much as the treadmill.