You could look no further than the display of your typical elliptical or treadmill machine to see this theory staring at you in bright flashing red lights. How ironic that neither machine are designed to actually get you moving. Motion without movement. What better metaphor for the conventional cardio-based, target-heart-rate training wisdom.

If you want a fat loss workout, you need to open your mind to the natural function of the human body. Here are a couple of ideas that you can use to build a fat loss workout that brings results.

• Get your whole body involved. Walk into most gyms and you will see people working with weights that are focused in muscle isolation. Bicep curls are a typical example. This kind of thinking is wrong-headed. Instead, think functional strength.
  
  Working your muscles raises your metabolism. The higher your metabolism, the more fat you can lose; even after the hour you spend at the gym. Doing a whole-body exercise, like squats or deadlifts, requires you to use a wide variety of muscles. The more muscles you work, the more you rev your metabolic rate. The higher your metabolic rate, the better your fat loss results.
  
  
  Still want to do cardio. No problem. Just do it the right way. Vary the intensity of the exercise. Take a look at the wide variety of sports played. Other than distance running and bicycling, most sports require bursts of activity: football, baseball, basketball, tennis, volleyball; even bass fishing (if you want to call that a sport).
  
  Even within those sports, changes of speed are competitively advantageous. In football, there are rare instances where track athletes excel. Even the fastest running backs in football don’t gain many yards rushing the ball. It is the running back that can change speeds and direction that is hardest to tackle.
  
  In baseball, no matter how hard a pitcher can throw a baseball, he can’t compete. The best pitchers have mastery over multiple pitches. They change pitching speeds, location, and ball flight.
  
  Where’s the lesson for your cardio routine? If you are on the treadmill, for instance, change your speed. After a warm-up, jog at 4 mph for two minutes, and then run 8 mph for a minute. If you continue a pattern like this, mixing high intensity with medium intensity, and a cool down period; you can have an excellent workout by going through three of four cycles of this routine.
  
  
• Have fun with your workout routine. You need to change things up a bit every 5-10 weeks. Over time, your body will adjust to your workout routine. When adjusted, you will experience diminishing returns. You can try all sorts of variations: yoga, pilates, kettlebell or sandbag training. For inspiration, take a look at this video. I especially like the combo routine at the end of the video:
  
  Tire flip,
  squats with a sandbag,
  lug the sandbag up a flight of stairs,
  pull a tire,
  push an SUV.
  
  Try to ignore the headbanging soundtrack. ;)