Which cardio should I do?

Honestly? Do what  meets your fitness goals and what you enjoy!
 Different types of cardiovascular exercise burn calories at different rates and work different muscles and you should bear that in mind if you are short on time.

Walking, jogging, running and sprinting you can do this on a treadmill or throw on my finest lycra running shorts and head outside!
Walking isn't going to burn anywhere as many calories as sprinting but if all you can manage is walking then start with that and work your way up.
Running helps strengthen your bones, make sure you get good supportive trainers though and try not to do too much too soon to avoid the dreaded shin splints!
If you managed to run at 7mph for an hour you could burn off 500kcal in an hour which will add that runner high!

Cycling, the saddle takes most of your weight so good for your joints but not good for your bones as bearing weight helps strengthen your bones. The calories burnt are very dependent on how much you push yourself, if you are just going for the slow and steady approach you will  burn about 350ckals if you cycle at 14mph for 1 hour.

Swimming, like cycling it's low impact so you joints will be happy, particularly if you are carrying a lot of weight just remember the biggest creatures on the planet love to swim! The calories burnt depend on the stroke you choose breast stroke being the least demanding 585kcals an hour where as the mighty butterfly will burn over 700kcal in the same amount of time!

Cross trainer, that thing in the gym with foot pads and handles that move back and forth? The only thing I use a cross trainer for is my warm up because it mobilises a lot of joints to help prepare my body for a real workout! Cross trainers are low impact and if you give it some effort you can burn 455kcal an hour.

Rower, check with a member of your gyms team before using one of these bad boys! Far too many people use the rower and look outrageous! If you go all out on a rower you can burn over 800kcal an hour, if you can last that long!


Please do not take the figures I have given as gospel, every ones metabolic rate, weight and height are different, it tends to be the heavier you are the more calories you burn because you have to do more work moving those curves compared to some skinny cow moving her boney bum! If training out doors you should bear in mind traffic and terrain like hills or changes in the surface you are training on as these will also change the calories burnt for example running up hill is going to burn more calories than running along a road constantly having to wait at traffic lights.