Heart rate?

juggalotus

I have a question about heart rate....What range should i be in? My heart rate monitor and the treadmill at school both display my heart rate obviously, but what range should i be in? Today, at my peak, i was at 174. On average, I am anywhere between 160 and 170. I don't let it go below 160. I am 23 years old, 5ft 5inches and i weigh 261.8 lbs. If someone could help me out, that would be great!

HMonsterX

The "fat burning zone" is another myth that's often being debunked.

They say that you burn more calories if you stay in your fat burning zone then above or below it.

Not true.

The higher your heart rate, the more you are burning. sure, you may not be able to sustain it for as long, but 10 mins above it will burn more than 10 minutes in it. They say your maximum heart is, for a female, 220- your age, so you for its 197.

So, the higher the better!

BigDaddyBRC

In my opinion, this depends on your overall health and activity levels. Maintaining a high level is great for endurance, and yes, can possibly produce more burn that the 115-130 range (I think that's it). If you want to burn, really burn...then dont focus so much on it. get your cardio into a "Sprint stage". take it a nice pace for a couple mins, then go all out for a couple. Rinse repeat. It's been proven to be better overall. Your heart rate will fluctuate when doing so.

HMonsterX

Yup, Interval training is the most efficient.

Btw, this video really explains why the fat burning zone was first put out there, but then proves why higher heartrate is better overall, in a very simple way!

http://www.viddler.com/explore/thrivefit/videos/18/

juggalotus

Thanks guys. I know this is going to sound like a big, fat, lame excuse but I have serious issues with running...I am a 40 F (sorry about the TMI) And i have been looking for a sports bra for a freaking month and can not find one....until i find one, or become smaller, i have to wear regular bras for working out. I tried running when i was alone once and i had to hold my boobs with my hands...seriously. I don't need any black eyes lol....so what else do you recommend for the interval training?

kr3851

Using the treadmill, I would try a hill program for intervals. At the moment I have a rib issue (they're trying to work out if it's broken or just twisted, or if it's actually a disc out of place. so frustrating!) and have been told not to run. Stuffed my interval training right up!!

Last night I did the hill program. My heart rate was at about 125-130 on the flats and anywhere up to 145 on the hills. When I run/walk it's about 160-165 for the running and between 135-140 for the walking. The hill program was fairly good in that respect and probably wouldn't give you black eyes like the running!!! I can't be sure because I'm only a b cup, but there was definitely less movement compared to running.

Anything that gets your heart rate up is good exercise. Just because running works for some people, doesn't mean you're going to love it too. I'm about 3 months into trying to be a runner and I still hate it most days. I only do it because of the calorie burn and the little glow that I get after about 40 minutes of hating my life.

pinkgigi

Cycling is fine, 1 min hard as you can out of the seat, 1 min seated to recover. Do that as many times as you can and you will see a difference in your fitness and burns lots of calories, or try a spin class.

GG