If part of your fitness goal is a banging body – not to mention increased strength and stamina – endless hours of intense cardio is a bad move. While cardio is an important element of a healthy lifestyle, there’s a right way and a wrong way to incorporate it into your workout routine. Here’s what you need to know.

• Cardio shouldn’t be your main method of burning fat.
  

When it comes to burning fat, cardio won’t do it alone – but neither will resistance training. Say it with us now. You can’t out-exrcise a crappy diet. Nutrition trumps all when you’re burning fat. You hate it, but you know it’s true! There are studies to prove it – groups who made dietary changes only lost almost as much weight as groups who changed their diet and exercised too. Think of it like this – exercise is the fine control when it comes to weight loss, and nutrition is the gross control. You need to be on point with both to see significant changes.

Bottom line – don’t think you can hit five or six intense cardio classes a week and call it good.

• Don’t fall into a calories-in-calories-out mindset.

Doing so can be a slippery slope to the assumption that whatever type of exercise you’re doing doesn’t matter, as long as you’re burning lots of calories. But the kind of exercise you do impacts your shape directly. When you incorporate regular resistance training – whether you’re using dumbbells, bands, even body weight – you’re increasing testosterone, lactate and growth hormones. And that impacts your muscle growth and fat burning. Those intense cardio classes burn calories, sure, but they’re burning muscle too. Remember – intensity beats longevity when you’re trying to burn fat.

Bottom line – the best workout program is a smart mix of resistance training and effective cardio.

So where can you get a program like that without spending an arm and a leg? Ahem. We offer two kinds of resistance-based classes – 60 minutes and 30 minutes, respectively – and our tried-and-true cardio kickboxing class. Try them out with a free week, and see what we’re all about. But do yourself a favor – don’t limit your exercise options to the same cardio class week after week. That’s like riding a bike that goes nowhere.