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6 ways to lose fat faster

Reinvent your cardio workouts with these six tricks to help drop pounds and flab more quickly.

Want to lose fat faster? We have some great advice for you.

Cardio is the cornerstone to any good weight-loss plan—especially high-intensity interval training (HIIT), in which you alternate periods of absolute maximum effort with brief periods of recovery.

To help you make those sprints as effective as possible, we talked to Phil Campbell, an interval-training expert and author of Ready, Set, Go! Fitness. Here are his top fat-burning tips.

But don't forget strength training! Try these 5 exercises to work your abs to exhaustion.

1) Warm up

6 ways to lose weight faster warm up

"You want to take your heart rate up progressively," Campbell says, "Focus on large muscles like the hamstrings and quads. Try ankle circles, knee circles, some light hip stretches—they all get your muscles and ligaments prepared to fire faster."

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2) Time your sprints

6 ways to lose weight faster time your sprints

"The key is to get totally winded in 30 seconds or less," he says, "If you're on a treadmill [or an exercise bike], start sprinting as the machine speeds up. When it reaches top speed, go all out for 30 seconds. Then slow it down and go nice and easy for 90 seconds to recover." If you're running outside, try to cover about 200 feet—roughly half a city block—as fast as possible. Walk slowly for 90 seconds to cool down, then repeat your course.

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3) Straighten up

6 ways to lose weight faster straighten up

Almost everyone leans forward when they work out on a cardio machine. This lets you use gravity to pull you forward, making the effort a bit easier. "If you stay upright during your sprints," Campbell says, "it keeps the intensity on your muscles the entire time."

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4) Never rush recovery

6 ways to lose weight faster never rush recovery

Don't rush into the next exercise before you're ready for it. Your body burns far more calories when your body is forced to transition from a state of rest to a state of full-on activity, and that's tough if you feel like you're running yourself too ragged, too soon, Campbell says.

"Even if you feel like you can go all out again after just 30 seconds, you're still better off waiting the extra minute and then pushing yourself even harder."

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5) Go gradually outdoors

6 ways to lose weight faster outside

"When running outside, start with 50% of your top speed on your first interval," Campbell says. "Go up to 60% or 70% on the next, and so on." Push your body as hard as you can as you get into the groove of the workout.

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6) Focus on intensity

6 ways to lose weight faster focus on intensity

"You should never feel duty-bound to do two intervals today, three the next time you work out, and four the time after that," Campbell says. "The overall intensity of the intervals you complete is more important than how many you do in any given workout."

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