Heart rate above 'Fat burning heart rate'

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Mrs_Hewi
Mrs_Hewi Posts: 77 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
My 'recommened' heart rate is between 121 and 141 for fat burning while doing cardio.
My new program at the gym is hard work and alot of interval training, and my heart rate is always above the 165 mark the whole session.... sometimes peaking to 180
Is this an issue? will this help my weightloss or hinder it?

I dont really understand what happens if your heart rate goes above the 'recommended' rate and if its a good thing or not?
Also when my heart rate is that high it doesnt bother me... i just want to do the right thing to loose weight!

Replies

  • hush7hush
    hush7hush Posts: 2,273 Member
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    bump.
  • TinaS88
    TinaS88 Posts: 817 Member
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    I would say if you are not struggling with it, you should be okay. Drink lots of water though. The only concern I would have is the strain on your heart.
  • Luthorcrow
    Luthorcrow Posts: 193
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    We need stick for this topic because it comes up every week.

    The short answer is no, the fat burning zone is outdated and is a misleadingly named. You should always shot for your best performance goals and never try to stay in any mythical fat burning zone. You will burn many more calories and improve you health by an X factor simply be pushing yourself within your safe limits.

    That said if you hitting as high 180 you must either be doing some interval training or are pretty new to your new program?

    So yes, always training intensely, with your comfort level and ignore the "fat burning zone" myth. You will lose more weight, be in a better shape and make much faster progress.
  • merrillfoster
    merrillfoster Posts: 855 Member
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    Bump. I have the same problem--when I do cardio my heart rate often hits 190. Is this bad?
  • kmeekhof
    kmeekhof Posts: 456 Member
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    You're fine.... you're burning extra calories and increasing your endurance.
  • sweetie89207
    sweetie89207 Posts: 361
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    i think if it feels good and you can do it- DO IT! if it's too much your body will let you know...and if you pass out- then there u go LOL...just go with the flow and try to listen to ur body...but push it as hard as is comfortable- thats a good place to stay
  • Mrs_Hewi
    Mrs_Hewi Posts: 77 Member
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    Thanks for your help everyone!

    That said if you hitting as high 180 you must either be doing some interval training or are pretty new to your new program?


    yes doing interval training and am quite new to it.
  • Shizzman
    Shizzman Posts: 527 Member
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    Heart Rate Monitors are great for finding out calorie burn during cardiovascular exercise, but when it comes to intensity of exercise your Rate of Perceived Exertion is more important.

    You might be wondering why I say that well for one thing the whole fitness vs fat burn zones aren't useful, but that probably isn't all that probably seems nuts so I've got one better for you. My better example when I go running my heart rate tends to spend the majority of the time in the 4th zone (it's recently been spending more in the 3rd [thank you CrossFit, I think {only tried a single free class, but think that helped}]) and My shorter runs are 52 minutes or so.

    Now you're probably saying to yourself "well, that's nice, but why do I care" the 4th zone is supposedly above the lactic threshold (point where exercise goes from Aerobic to Anaerobic) meaning not something you should be able to do for a prolonged period of time (such as say a half hour)...so then why and how am I performing 5+ mile runs all while doing anaerobic workouts....I'd assume I'm not....

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