The question is always asked “In order to lose my belly, what is the most efficient way?” Aerobics, strength training, cardio, or intervals?

Well, to say I’ve done them all would be an understatement.

Using laboratory research and training for at least 15 years both for myself and sports I can tell you what exercises work and what don’t.

But first of all, I want to frame my responses. I’m going to talk about what works for people that have a limited amount of time to exercise, mostly because I expect your readers don’t have 90 minutes per day to devote to a workout, unlike the typical audience of a fitness magazine.

People read in magazines that we need to spend so much time on this and we disconnect.

For someone who is not a triathlete and just wants to tone and lose weight you don’t need to work out 6-8 hours/week.

Therefore to get a better body, you need…

Use bodyweight exercises to warm-up, strength training supersets to build muscle, and then finish your workout with interval training to burn fat in a short amount of time. I’ve structured my system so that you are in and out of the gym in 45 minutes, three times per week.

Warm up using 5 minutes of bodyweight exercise. This will be much more effective than walking on a treadmill. Walking on a tread mill will only get you ready to walk more on a treadmill.

The next 20 minutes are going to be spent with strength training supersets. Use two exercises back to back with minimum rest in the middle. For this you will use basic exrcises and depending on your goal for muscle building possibly add more bodyweight exercises.

And finally, we’ll do 18 minutes of interval training. A warm-up, followed by six short intervals at the appropriate fitness level for the client, interspersed with short periods of low-intensity recovery. Finish with a cool-down. And that’s the workout. Again, about 45 minutes total.

That will be a much more effective workout than running, cycling, or a cardio machine for 45 min straight. Sure they all burn calories but they don’t build a better body.

In fact, long slow cardio has a downside. We already know results are different. But overusing muscle groups leads to injuries and it is an inefficient form of exercise. When are you going to build your muscles and sculpt that beautiful body if you are on a cardio machine for 30-45 min straight?

Therefore you can burn belly fat fast by combining strength training and interval training. It works and is fun in the process!

Craig Ballantyne is a Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist and writes for Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, Maximum Fitness, Muscle and Fitness Hers, and Oxygen magazines. To learn more please visit Craig Ballantyne’s Website here.