While strength training is important to boost your metabolism so you burn more calories at rest, if you want to lose weight you also need cardio. But if you’re not a bonafide cardio-junkie, the prospect of getting in solid cardio workouts each week can be daunting. Plus, you might not even know what the best cardio to lose weight technically is. The intimidation or lack of knowledge can result in losing interest in your cardio instead of losing pounds. Never fear! We’re here to give you a refresher on why cardio matters and then offer up seven surprising cardio workouts for weight loss that you’ll actually WANT to do! They’re a lot more fun (and more simple) than you might think. Ready to get your cardio on? Let’s go!
**Running Stairs**
A simple flight of stairs is about to be your new favorite workout tool. Walking, running, or lunging up a flight of stairs provides a great big calorie burn. A 150-lb person running stairs for an hour can burn 1000 calories! Wow! That’s crazy!!! Of course, it’s probably just as crazy to run stairs for an hour! But you don’t have to. Get this: A person weighing 160 lbs. will burn 102 calories walking up and down stairs for 10 minutes. That’s a lot! Even better, you can do a great cross-training workout in 30 minutes or less and burn off more than a regular running session. Look for an outdoor staircase near you that has more than one flight. If the weather is bad, use that simple flight of stairs in your home instead.