Cardio for Fat Loss: How Much Do You Really Need?

Cardio is a tool, not a punishment. Used well, it speeds up fat loss and improves your health. Overdo it and your lifting, recovery and appetite all suffer.

Nutrition does most of the work

Fat loss comes from a calorie deficit. Cardio helps create that deficit, but you can't out-run your diet. Start with your numbers. My free macro calculator gives you a starting point in under a minute.

Start with steps

Daily steps are the most underrated fat-loss tool. They burn real energy, barely affect recovery and are easy to track.

• Know your current average.
• Add about 1,500–2,000 steps a day to that average.
• Many people do well somewhere around 7,000–10,000+ steps a day.

Add steady cardio

Low-to-moderate effort cardio, like incline walking, cycling or the stair climber at a pace where you could still talk, is easy to recover from. Start with 2–3 sessions of 20–30 minutes a week and build up only when progress stalls.

Use HIIT sparingly

High-intensity intervals are time-efficient but stressful. One or two short sessions a week is plenty, and skip them during heavy lifting weeks if your legs are fried.

The weekly cardio target

Instead of "do more cardio," set a clear weekly target, for example:

• 8,000 steps a day, plus
• 3 × 25 minutes of incline walking

Hit the target, check your weekly weight average, and adjust. That's how I set cardio for every coaching client: clear weekly targets that change based on results.

General education only, not medical advice. Check with your doctor before starting a new exercise routine.