Cardiovascular question

[bookstar]

Hello,

I have a question. I have a Polar heart rate monitor and the websire (polarusa.com) tells us how to calculate heart rate for fat burning or endurance training.
I am 30 years old, so they say to take 220 - 30 = 190 x 60-70 percent which is a fat burning range of 116-133 for me.

Anyway, this is how I work out which they also tell us to do it this way. For the first ten minutes I go at a fat burning cardio pace which is 116-133. The next ten minutes I go at a cardio endurance rate of 150-160 which is around 80% of my max heart rate. The last 10 minutes I go back down to my fat burning zone again.

I have one problem I need help with though:
The last ten minutes are very very hard to get my heart rate back to 116-133 beats per minute. I practically have to stop and not exercise at all to achieve this. Does this sound right? I can walk at a snail pace and keep my heart rate high for the last 10 minutes. I feel like I am hardly working at all, not even breaking a sweat. Am I really still burning fat?

Should I be doing something different?

Thanks guys!!!

 

[CowPimp]

That whole "fat burning zone" talk is kind of a misnomer. Percentage wise, yes, you are burning more fat when you are doing a lighter jog. Of course, percentage wise, you are burning more fat when you are sitting on your ass. You burn more total calories jogging faster, and possibly even more total fat, even if the percentage is significantly lower.

It's not until you encroach on anaerobic territory (Think sprinting, heavy resistance training, any activity you cannot sustain for an extended period of time...) that the utilization fat stores as an enegry source starts to become more negligible. However, at this point you also create something called EPOC (Excess post-exercise oxygen consumption). Basically, your body increases oxygen uptake post-exercise in an effort to restore itself to a pre-exercise state of being. This leads to increased calorie consumption for hours after exercise.

My point? Just jog for your 30 minutes and don't worry about the fat burning zone. Just make sure to progressively overload yourself over time. You can either make the session more intense (Jog faster in the same amount of time), increase the duration of the session, or increase the frequency at which you train. I would definitely suggest increasing the intensity for at least one or two sessions each week. Also, if improved body composition is your goal, then I highly suggest resistance training.

 

[Dale Mabry]

Go hard or go home, so essentially what Pimp said.

 

[P-funk]

I agree with the clowns above about the "fat burning zone" being BS.

Now, about your long recovery period. Usually, if you are deconditioned, it will take you longer to recover after longer bouts of high intensity work. So, you go up to 80% and it takes you awhile to get back down to a normal heart rate. As you get more and more in shape, you will find your recovery time becomes less and less as your bodys effeciency improves. Working at a higher intensity more frequently, and doing things like longer intervals (say 1min at 80% followed by 1min of low intensity, or as long as it takes to drop your heart rate about 15-20 beats and then go again, up to 80% for another minute) will help to improve that recovery time and your overal endurance and conditioning.

If you do as the heart rate monitor tells and waste time at such a low intensity then you aren't placing a great enough stress on the body for it to adapt.

 

[bookstar]

This all sounds good guys!!! Thank you! I will take your advice(s) ;o)

 

[CowPimp]

This all sounds good guys!!! Thank you! I will take your advice(s) ;o)

By the way, there is a lot of great information in the diet & nutrition section that can help you achieve your goals. I suggest at least reading the stickies, and possibly posting your diet if you are ready to make some changes there. I would definitely advise you do. When it comes to body composition, diet is king, although diet and exercise together makes for an awesome synergistic relationship.

Good luck!

 

[TJTJ]

thread resurrection!

I have to disagree. Not only is the amount of exertion important, the HR at which youre working within also correlates with which muscle fiber, slow or fast twitch, for maximum recruitment and performance.

Here is the formula again. In case you didnt understand it in the OP.

220 - (your age) = Y.

Y x (rate of exertion) = Target HR.

60%-70% is considered within the rate of exertion for fat burning.

For example....

220 - 33(age) = 187 ---> 187 x .65 (65%) = 121.55bpm

So I would want to consistently maintain an average HR of 122bpm for a minimum of 20mins.

You guys running your shit in the 180bpm are burning calories and muscle, not fat. If you cant hold a conversation, then going at it too hard.

If you are going at 80%-90% exertion thats fine. Youre strengthening your heart and lungs. Which is good when the Zombie Apocalypse is upon us.

Also about the anaerobic and aerobic stuff. Look up Glycolysis and Kreb's cycle.