Dose anyone have a good grasp on Cardio N Heart Rate?

carolstrange0

January 12th I started using the CYNEX 750 A {cross trainer}

I started at 30 min at 187 BPM to 200 (only held for less then a min), but maintained about 197
90 % of the time i did 190 - 197 BPM= 30 min
Did this 2 months.... every other day (monday, wed. & friday) level low & resistance low

2 months later i did 187 - 195= 45 min

3 months later i now do 177 - 180 = 45 min
85 watts, and 2.00 miles
Also Level 20 (top) resistance 23 (low)

So is this bad for my BPM to go down when i know i can go much faster....
Does thIs hurt my fat loss process over time....
So far i have lost 7 lbs... and about 3 inches I think?
Which is better.... fast at 195 BPM or slower at 180 BPM? both for 45 min
FYI:
Going slower lately...
I have gone down 100 calories when i hit 45 min and down .10 miles

carolstrange0

January 12th I started using the CYNEX 750 A {cross trainer}

I started at 30 min at 187 BPM to 200 (only held for less then a min), but maintained about 197
90 % of the time i did 190 - 197 BPM= 30 min
Did this 2 months.... every other day (monday, wed. & friday) level low & resistance low

2 months later i did 187 - 195= 45 min

3 months later i now do 177 - 180 = 45 min
85 watts, and 2.00 miles
Also Level 20 (top) resistance 23 (low)

So is this bad for my BPM to go down when i know i can go much faster....
Does thIs hurt my fat loss process over time....
So far i have lost 7 lbs... and about 3 inches I think?
Which is better.... fast at 195 BPM or slower at 180 BPM? both for 45 min
FYI:
Going slower lately...
I have gone down 100 calories when i hit 45 min and down .10 miles

3babybeans

From what I understand, the more you exercise, the more fit you become. The more fit you become, the easier it is for your heart to perform, therefore your BPM will go down.

Songbyrdsweet or Banks would have a good answer for that, I was answering more just to bump it so someone else could see this. :flowerforyou:

emorym

It is my understanding that as you exercise your heart becomes stronger so it doesn't have to work as hard for the same amount of exercise. I wish I had kept track of my progress. I do know I am able to exercise longer then 6 months ago I will say that I can look at my hrm while running and it is down in the low 160's compared with the high 160's of just a few months ago. Remember your heart is a muscle and it becomes stronger as you exercise.

rebcolorado

You want to watch the "zone" that your heart rate is in. Typically when you get into the higher ranges you are burning sugar ... not fat. Your BPM sounds REALLY high. An easy way to figure zone 4 - where you start burning sugar vs. fat is to take 200 minus your age or the point where you can no longer breathe through your nose and your jaw drops open. From working with trainers etc. the general rule of thumb, for fat burn, is that only 20% of the workout should be in zone 4.
You are definitely building your cardio endurance, but it sounds like, for optimal weight loss, that you may actually want to slow things down and perhaps extend the time.
Great job on your weight loss so far!

carolstrange0

my hubby is getting upset w/ me because it is so high... he says it needs to be between 67 BPM & 126 BPM, thats 65% and 85%, but when i started i was going fast and now that im slowing down for him... arggg what to do?

i know i should stay in my target heart rate but i have been doing this now for 3 months.. im used to it now.... so why change?

rebcolorado

Sorry, but I agree with your hubby. I believe if you want to increase the chance of weight loss you need to slow down and extend the time. If you are only looking to increase endurance and burn sugar you can stay at the higher heart rate.
Here is one link I found about the 5 heart rate zones ... I am sure that there are more out there
http://www.howtobefit.com/five-heart-rate-zones.htm