Cardio Is Not The Answer

What are your exercise goals? Are you looking to get fit, drop fat, get stronger, improve your health? If so, lots of cardio is not the way to reach any of those goals.

Unfortunately, way too many people still think that cardio is the be-all, end-all, all purpose exercise. It's not. If you want to participate in a 5K or a marathon or something in between, of course you need to walk or run to train for it but if your goal is fat loss or general fitness or improved  health, you need a good dose of strength training.

Strength training will make you look better, feel better, and function better.

When done correctly, it will make you stronger, help reduce the fat that covers your muscles to get that toned look most people want. (Of course, if you're going for the skinny-fat look, just keep focusing on cardio-cardio-cardio.)
 

If you're not already lifting weights, I highly encourage you to do so. Use challenging weights, not baby weights that you can performs tons of reps with.

Find someone who truly knows what they doing and have them design a  program for you. It doesn't matter if you want to join a gym or work out at home with no equipment; a good trainer will be able to create an effective  program for you regardless.

If you do join a gym, don't spend a lot of time on the resistance machines. Focus on free weight exercises where you are supporting your own bodyweight. Perform compound movements, learn about progressive resistance, and keep your reps on the lower end.

Challenge yourself and you'll be surprised how quickly you start to see a difference. 

That said, don't go crazy. Being on the verge of throwing up, constantly gasping for breath, and/or collapsing at the end of a training session does not constitute a good workout and will not get you better results. You can feel that way and still not be doing the right things to significantly change your body.

Train smarter.

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