Fat Burning and Heart rate???

mistyb47711

So...I have been trying to find out the best way to burn fat and lose the weight.....Some say 220-age=max heart rate and it should be 60-70% of that to burn fat........so if I do that : 220-35=185...60%=111.....70%=129.5.........this is what I just found out...What I have been doing is 155-166 hear rate when exercising....which is about 80-90% of my max heart rate...........When Im doing only 70% I just feel like Im going to slow??? Help???? I figured my resting heart rate it is 74....should I include that anywhere and if so how..?

grimms11208

Oh I have been trying to figure this out too! Any info would be appreciated!

tiabirdie56

I've read that more fat calories are burned at 60-70% of your THR, more overall calories are burned at the 80-90% THR. 80- to 90% THR is anaerobic ~ less oxygen is used during exercise. The lower THR, you are breathing in plenty of oxygen, fueling your fire, burning more fat. I like to rev higher too :bigsmile: but I know with me when I exercise at a slower pace, I'm getting more oxygen, my body is hotter and I sweat even more. You are able to work out a lot longer at the lower THR. Just vary your exercise to include both levels of your target heart rate.

Your resting heart rate is exactly that, when you are just sitting around not exerting yourself. It is your baseline 74 beats per minute.

legmotor

Fat calories are burned at a lower threshold and once you get into the higher limits of your max heart rate then you are working on cardio. What you have been told or heard seems to be correct because on treadmills/elipticals etc the fat burning zone is lower than cardio and when I am burning approximately in that 60-70% zone then it blinks in the fat zone. I agree that 60% feels too easy but you are still burning fat. = )

SHBoss1673

yeah, that's only a percentage truth, in reality the higher you go, the more total fat calories you burn. Even though the percent of cals burned from fat is higher at low intensity, the total cals rises sharply enough that total fat calories burned is higher at higher intensity.

translation? Work as hard as you feel comfortable working, even if that's 90% Max HR, there is no wrong intensity level to work at.