If you’re a women over 40 with fat-loss goals, don’t make the mistake of overdoing cardio. Spending all your gym time in group fitness classes or on the cardio machines, or taking up running in your 40’s, will only leave you disappointed and exhausted. The prerequisites for adding cardio are that you’re consistently getting 2-3 days of strength training, 1-2 days of yoga, 10K steps daily, and you’re sleeping well. Not to mention proper nutrition. If you’re checking all these boxes, here are the three types of cardio you need to be doing as a women over 40.

1st Type of Cardio You Need: HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training)

The key word here is interval. That means a work period followed by a rest period. This is NOT a 45 minute bootcamp class. You’ll work for 30-90 seconds at 80-85% max heart rate. Then you’ll rest. As in do nothing (or walk or go super easy if you’re on a machine). The work to rest ratio will be 1:1 up to 1:4. The best thing about HIIT is the variety. You can do intervals during “traditional” cardio workouts like running, cycling, rowing, or on an eliptical. And you can do HIIT with the sled, body weight exercises like burpees and box jumps, or you can have fun with battle ropes kettlebells, ball slams, wall balls, Olympics lifts, or any exercise that gets your heart pumping! I like a HIIT session that’s 7-12 minutes (not including warm up and cool down).

2nd Type of Cardio You Need: SIT (Sprint Interval Training)

SIT is the most extreme version of HIIT. Work intervals will be only 10-15 seconds because it’s a true all-out sprint. After this 100% max effort, the rest interval will be 5-8 times longer than the sprint. For this type of workout, you’re more limited with the modality. You cannot do SIT with kettlebells and burpees like you can for HIIT workouts. And these short intervals don’t work on treadmills or elipticals as they take too long to adjust. SIT has to be done during an outdoor run, on an indoor cycle bike, on the assault bike, or on the ERG. SIT workouts will be 7-20 minutes (not including warm up and cool down).

3rd Type of Cardio You Need: VO2 Max Intervals

This type of interval is aerobic (the previous two are anaerobic). These intervals are much longer. The more aerobically fit you are, the higher heart rate you’ll be able to maintain for the duration of the work intervals. Work as hard as you can for 3-5 minutes with a 1:1 work to rest ratio (or the rest time can be 1 minute shorter than the work time). This type of training, as the name implies, improves your VO2 max, the measurement of your cardio fitness. It’s the maximum amount of oxygen your cells can take up and use. This type of training works great on any cardio equipment or on an outdoor run. VO2 Max training can be 10-20 minutes (not including warm up and cool down).

HIIT and SIT work your Type 2, or Fast Twitch, muscle fibers. These are the first to go with aging, so start with these types of training. Add these short sessions to the end of a strength workout or do them as stand alone workouts followed by stretching, foam rolling, or yoga. Just remember, if you’re a woman over 40, replace long bouts of cardio (long runs, group fitness classes, endless hours on the elliptical) with strength training first and then these types of interval cardio.

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