When I first started out as a personal trainer I followed the cookie-cutter methodology for clients to do cardio 2-3x a week and to do it either on an empty stomach in the morning, 3 hours after they have eaten or very intense for short periods at a time.

Doing cardio on an empty stomach in the morning burns 300% more fat because your blood sugar levels are at there lowest, so your body taps into your fat stores more quickly. If you do cardio right after you have eaten, it takes a minimum of 20-30 minutes for your body to burn off your blood sugar, THEN burn off your fat.  (Important Note: It is very important to be hydrated before starting this)

Doing cardio three hours after you have eaten is smart because it usually takes this much time for your body to digest your food, so, you are more efficient

Doing cardio very intensely for short periods of time helps you burn more total calories as opposed to doing cardio at a moderate pace for a longer period of time.

I knew that by prescribing these methods clients would get the best results. But as I continued to train, I knew they could do better and that something was missing.

Then one day it hit me like a freight truck...Frequency! Why not have clients do cardio EVERYDAY!

I had read in numerous publications that doing a lot of cardio would contribute to your body losing muscle and also increased the risk for injury, so naturally, I was somewhat intimidated by recommending this.

However, I also knew that using these precautionary measures was the reason why my clients weren't achieving results...or not what I had in mind for them anyway.

So, in addition to motivating and guiding clients with their strength training, I started to have them follow this new cardio regimen and sure enough as the weeks and months went by, the results were staggering!

Why?

Because doing cardio on a daily basis positions your body to do one and one thing only...Burn calories!

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Let's say you were to go for walk 2 times a week for 30 minutes at a time. You would burn 300 calories (150 calories per walk) and you would speed up your metabolism for a short time there after.

Now, let's say you were to walk 7 times a week for 1 hour at time. Your body would burn 2100 calories (300 calories per walk) and you would be speeding up your metabolism everyday.

That's a difference of 1800 calories!

And just so you know...if you were to jog/run, the numbers I just mentioned would be DOUBLED! (Nice, huh?)

Now, you're probably saying, "7 days a week? ...I don't have time for that!"

Well, I'll follow with this question:

"Would you like to get in shape?" OR

would you rather "Get in shape in HALF the time or less?"

If you are only doing cardio 2-3 times a week, you are basically postponing your results. You are writing off 4 to 5 days out of the week whereas you could be exercising on those days and getting that much closer to your goals.

This may seem like common sense, but it is often overlooked. The general public is always looking for a "solution" or "fix" that will magically help them get into shape. Unfortunately when it comes to exercise, there are no short cuts.

Fact is, there will NEVER be a solution or short cut! I hate to break it to you, but the only solution is HARD WORK. Period! People don't like to hear this, but it's the truth.

So forget all the wimpy stuff you've read! Do cardio everyday and you'll soon discover that more IS better!

It doesn't matter if you are in horrible shape. You could easily walk 15 minutes everyday. Once you have gotten use to that, you could increase the time to 30 minutes, then 45 and eventually an hour. After you have become accustomed to walking, you could start to do intervals (walking and jogging) and then once you feel comfortable with that, you then could start to run.

Jim Coughlin is a personal trainer and the owner of Coughlin Fitness & Results, a nationwide personal training company. He is also the author of The In-Home Personal Trainer, a helpful guide to successful in-home personal training in addition to other products and many other popular fitness articles.

Jim is very passionate at motivating people to empower themselves to live a healthy lifestyle through consistent exercise and proper nutrition. He has free weekly success tips which you are welcome to subscribe to on his website http://www.fitnessandresults.com