What is best for fat burning?

TracyMT

I keep reading conflicting reports about fat burning exercise. Some say slower pace for a longer time, some say it doesn't matter because it's the overall calories burned, some say interval training. I was doing about 30 minutes of cardio (walking) at roughly 80% MHR, but with the goal of burning more fat I've switched to 60 minutes at about 65% MHR. I don't mind the longer workout but I want to get the most out of the time I spend doing it. Then there's the interval training, which means I would run off and on throughout that 60 mins. but my knees really can't take the running. I guess I'm just looking for opinions and advice on the most effective way to burn fat. I also do strength training three times a week at a gym so I am building some muscle and have already noticed some toning in the past month. Thanks for any advice you can give me!

denitraross

I think what you are doing sounds great..the important thing to do is keep changing things up..do you fast walk, then switch up for slower longer walk..and adding the strength training will really help. You should be doing equal amounts of cardio as strength training if you want to see the best results...Does the gym you go to offer a bootcamp or circuit training class? This is really the best type of workout as you do burst of cardio with strength training mixed in..which really keeps your hrm up the whole time..

hegnerr

I lost the most pounds by doing spinning which has a lot of interval work in it. In addition, I focused on interval training when I was doing the elliptical or swimming.

spyork

Hi,

You could do both types, a long session now and again and mix it up with high intensity intervals, the fact that your doing some form of cardio is enough to get the fat burning.

Good luck,
Scott

CoachNYLA

I have tried the interval cardio training approach for the most bang for my buck and time too. I got it from the Fit For Life program years ago.

The main thing is to know your target heart rate and to train aerobically which is anywhere from 65-75% of your target heart rate.

Here is how you calculate:

220 - your age X's 65% + your resting heart rate.

Example:

220 - 46 = 174 x 65% = 113 + (RHR) 70 = 183 bpm

To calculate resting, take pulse for 6 seconds and add a zero at the end.

Here is the interval combo I use:

I did it on a recumbant or upright stationary bike:

2 minute warm up at a low level (level 1), increased level to 5 and went fat for one minute, then back down to level 1 for two minutes, repeat intervals up and down (1 up, 2 down) until 18 minutes which is your cool down to 20 minutes.

Here are the times that you go high and hard on your intervals:

3 Min.
5 Min.
8 Min.
11 Min.
14 Min.
17 Min.

Hope that helps.

Nyla

NoAdditives

It's going to depend on what works for you. Different things work for different people. The only way to know what is best for you is to experiment with different types of exercise. Or, you can just stick with what you're doing if it's getting you results.

wickedcricket

according to Jillian Michaels, who really seems to know her stuff, the best exercise for calorie burn is interval training - strength/core/cardio
Jillian says the more muscle you have, the higher your calorie burn at rest. And don't worry about getting muscle bound, women don't have the testosterone to make that happen (unless you take steroids or something)

ninerbuff

I keep reading conflicting reports about fat burning exercise. Some say slower pace for a longer time, some say it doesn't matter because it's the overall calories burned, some say interval training. I was doing about 30 minutes of cardio (walking) at roughly 80% MHR, but with the goal of burning more fat I've switched to 60 minutes at about 65% MHR. I don't mind the longer workout but I want to get the most out of the time I spend doing it. Then there's the interval training, which means I would run off and on throughout that 60 mins. but my knees really can't take the running. I guess I'm just looking for opinions and advice on the most effective way to burn fat. I also do strength training three times a week at a gym so I am building some muscle and have already noticed some toning in the past month. Thanks for any advice you can give me!

You burn the MOST fat at rest. Most think it's from exercising but it's not. So if you can raise your resting metabolic rate, that will burn the most fat. That is usually done through high intensity training and is usually anaerobic in nature. Heavy lifting and Tabata protocol as well as HIIT do this. Steady state cardio doesn't raise resting metabolic rate.

TracyMT

Thank you everyone. I'm going to keep doing the 60 minutes of cardio but bump it up for 1 or 2 minutes about every 6-8 minutes with a fast walk or an incline on the treadmill. I'm just a little discouraged because I've been working really hard for over a month now and feel great, physically and mentally, but the scale is actually going up! I haven't really changed my eating habits. I eat fairly well but with the occasional cookie or handful of potato chips. I know I'm not eating worse than I was before I started burning an extra 400 calories a day, so I really expected for the number to go down. I'm rationalizing that because of all the extra walking and the strength training at the gym I'm just building muscle at the same rate or faster than I'm burning fat... does that seem likely?

IronSmasher

While you're reading this, the energy you're using is coming almost entirely from fat, the same as low intensity training. This is where the confusion lies. The person reading this then goes off doing lots of low intensity work to burn the most fat.
The problem with this concept, is that the individual mentioned is applying the logic that the body is a closed system, which it obviously isn't. Where the energy you burn during exercise is only relevant if you're not intending to add any more energy to the system, as you could then target the fuel system that you intend to deplete and then go about reducing it.
Due to the fact that in just a short while you are going to have to consume more calories, the most important thing for effective fat reduction through exercise is the amount of calories burned, or the amount the resting calorie consumption can be increased through increased muscle mass or fitness.

The fact is that HIIT and full body resistance training has been shown in many studies to be the most effective at the latter, but common sense must be applied. If you can only do 3 days of HIIT before you end up having 3 weeks off to recover from injury, this is not an effective option for you.

As mentioned earlier, and a great general rule for any exercise plan, variety is key.

elmsallmissile

Can you ride a bike? as the impact and chaces of injury are greatly reduced you can push your cv system more with high cadence low reistence work.

IronSmasher

Thank you everyone. I'm going to keep doing the 60 minutes of cardio but bump it up for 1 or 2 minutes about every 6-8 minutes with a fast walk or an incline on the treadmill. I'm just a little discouraged because I've been working really hard for over a month now and feel great, physically and mentally, but the scale is actually going up! I haven't really changed my eating habits. I eat fairly well but with the occasional cookie or handful of potato chips. I know I'm not eating worse than I was before I started burning an extra 400 calories a day, so I really expected for the number to go down. I'm rationalizing that because of all the extra walking and the strength training at the gym I'm just building muscle at the same rate or faster than I'm burning fat... does that seem likely?

I'm afraid it's impossible you're building muscle faster than you're burning fat. Building muscle takes a phenomenal amount of energy, and as mentioned earlier, you'd then be burning more fat as rest with your increase in muscle mass.

Unless you've been logging you're food, it's not possible for you to say for sure if you've been eating more or not. I've fallen into the trap too, with the increase in activity, there is also a large increase in appetite.

For fitness and fat loss, it's 80% diet and 20% what you do in the gym. Start chipping away at that and you should start to see the results you're looking for.