Cardio is officially the number one worst workout ever. That’s right, that long, boring, inefficient exercise most people do thinking it’s going to help them lose weight. Well… it won’t. Here’s why:

First things first, cardio is boring. It’s not an exercise that changes over time and keeps you engaged. You keep doing the same thing over and over again. Second, cardio is way too time consuming. I mean, who has the time to spend 45-60 minutes a day on the same old exercise bike or treadmill? Nobody! Third, cardio is inefficient because you don’t really lose too much weight with it. Sure, it can boost your metabolism and overall health, but you can achieve both health goals via shorter, more engaging exercises.

If you don’t believe me, here are some disheartening facts, based on several studies, about the truth behind cardio:

• During a 3 month trial, women did 45 minutes of cardio 5 days a week. Their results: none of them lost any more weight than women who were exclusively dieting and not doing cardio!
• In another study, individuals did 50 minutes of cardio 5 days a week. Their results: again, no one lost more weight than the individuals who simply dieted.
• On yet another study, subjects who did aerobics for 60 minutes 6 days a week, only lost 3.5 pounds on average over the course of a year. Do you believe the level of inefficiency now?!

But don’t be disappointed; there are plenty of exercises out there that easily trump cardio, in a good way. The reality is that you don’t need to spend so much time exercising in order to see results. You can go for shorter, more intense bouts of exercise. These kinds of exercises, even as short as 4 minutes, will not only help you shed weight, but they will also improve your metabolism.

For example, one workout you can try out is: 30 seconds of bodyweight squats, 30 seconds of pushups, and 30 seconds of jumping jacks. Then repeat all of these steps four times and call it a day. You know how long that will take you? Approximately 6 minutes! And the best part about it is that you will have burned more fat during those 6 minutes than if you chose to waste 60 minutes on cardio.

So go ahead and give take a break from cardio. Just keep in mind that aside from exercising another important component to losing weight is your diet. You must stick to a healthy diet in order to see results when you exercise.