Fitness experts and clients love to debate what types of cardio work best for fatloss and fitness but the truth is it's all good if you incorporate the easy cardio workout tips below.

Vary The Speed of Your Cardio Workouts
Steady state cardio is great for beginners or people with injuries or disorders. It's simple, it burns calories, and is a great way to ease into fitness while avoiding injury, pain, and confusion. After about 3 weeks your body begins to adapt so continuing at the same speed no longer burns the same number of calories. It also does nothing to improve your fitness levels. Varying your speed is a great way to make sure your body keeps improving. Try 30-60 seconds at a faster pace then 60-90 seconds at a slow pace then repeat 5-10 times. The more advanced can try a 4 minute warm-up followed by 4 minutes of graded exercise progression (you work harder each minute) then a 4 minute ramp down where you reverse what you just did then repeat or cool down for 4 minutes.

Vary The Length of Cardio Workout
Everybody thinks there's a magic number when it comes to how long to do cardio but the fact is the more you vary the length of your cardio workout the less likely your body is to adapt and the faster you burn fat and get fit. Try 10 minutes of cardio before strength training, 20-30 minutes of cardio intervals twice a week, 45-60 minutes of steady state cardio once a week and every now and then do a very long cardio workout (bike, hike, or take a class for 2 hours). Your body and your mind will never know what's coming and will blast fat faster.

Vary Your Type of Cardio Workout
It's easy to get stuck on the same type of cardio but variety is what will get you results faster. If you love machine cardio then try all the machines. They challenge your body in different ways and just once every 2 weeks is enough to shock the body into burning more calories. If you're a group exercise or aerobics dvd trying new workouts prevents common injuries. If you love kickboxing then try regular boxing or if you enjoy aerobics try dance workout. For those who love doing cardio at home or outdoors, changing the setting helps you avoid plateaus. Run on grass instead of pavement, walk on sand or trails instead of your neighborhood, bike, swim laps, or play sports.

Vary Your Pre & Post Workout Activities
There's all kinds of things you can do before and after your cardio workouts. You can work on strength, mobility, flexibility, core strength, or balance. Doing this will help you burn more calories and fat but will also help you view your cardio workouts as part of the big picture. They're only a small piece of the puzzle that you need in order to be healthy and fit.

Get the facts about cardio and get results: The Whartons' Cardio-Fitness Book: The Step-by-Step Program for High Energy and Endurance