morning cardio - intensity

[Senior Woonaki]

I just started using the heart rate monitors in my gym to keep myself in more of a target zone for fat loss.. The machine wants me somewhere around 130 does this seem low?
6-2
260
26 years old

 

[serbyte]

I go even lower. The lower heart rate, the lower the chances of your body needing to convert muscle protein to energy. I stay between 110-120. Slowing down a little will greatly affect your heartrate, but barely affect the ammount of calories burned.

 

[HodgeMN]

for fat burn you will want to stay below 65% of your max heart rate (at least thats what the current research says). So at 26 take (220 - 26) * .65 = 126 beats/min is what you want to be at.

 

[serbyte]

actually, that is the max you should be at, as research says.

 

[JKurz1]

so what do you do? Treadmill on like 3.0? Might as well walk around the grocery store everyday, stocking up on GRUB!

 

[MicSherry]

I have been running 3-4 miles 3 days a week.I am 5'7 160lbs and 23yrs. My heart rate is between 150-165! I eat 1.5 grams of protien a day. So basically you guys are tellimg me that I am running too hard to burn fat? That's a first! This is interesting. I agree with JKurz1. So I should basically walk on the treadmill?? What do you guys do? Mike

 

[Synpax]

You are trying to burn fat.

Sorry man, but these other guys answering don't have a clue. Call it "male answer syndrome" if you will. You aren't burning protein.

From pg. 445 of Bob Glover's "The competitive Runner's Handbook":

What about the ontroversial idea that slower -paced running is better for burning fat and losing weight than faster-paced running? According t the theory, the "fat-burning zone" is between 50 and 60% of your maximum heart rate (MHR). Research at the University of Texas indeed found that fat provides for 90 percent of calories burned at that pace. At 75% of MHR, only 60% of calories burned comes from fat since yuor body switches to burning carbs as you run faster. So should you run slower to burn off more fat? According to the Texas study, running at the higher intensity, but still a conversational pace, actually resulted in more fat calories being burned. Why? The 50 percent intensity workout burned only 7 calories per minute while the 75% intensity workout burned twice that"

For someone your age, your target heartrate of 75% is about 145.5 using the formula of MHR = 220-age, from page 625, ibid.

The source data got a very high rating from Amazon readers (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...104-2789606-6063144?v=glance&s=books&n=507846).

I suggest you be slow to take advice on this board on such an easily demonstratable matter of science without getting some documentation.

Good luck!

 

[Senior Woonaki]

wow syn... i have never heard that before... I enjoy 145 the best...when i get low into the one thirties i feel like i am moving slower than i usually walk

 

[Senior Woonaki]

kept myslef around 145 again today.. I also really concentrated on my breathing wich allowed me to go a little quicker.... I was really able to increase my strides per minute if i focused on my breathing... VERY COOL!

 

[JKurz1]

I'm going to have to disagree and I don't do it often...........it's PROVEN that at that high of intensity, glucose is the first to be burned........then we are talking anytrhing you've eaten, carbs, protein, muscle then fat......it's not until the later stages (35-45minutes) that you truly tap into your fat stores........at a lower intensity, fat stores are tapped in first......I walk on the treadmill at its highest elevation at a decent speed and have dropped an incredible amount of fat...............