Another truth or myth question about HEART RATE

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cynthiaj777
cynthiaj777 Posts: 787 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I asked if sweating is needed in order to burn fat. My next one is: does your heart rate have to increased to burn fat? If I am working out, burning between 300-500 calories per workout, not sweating and not getting a really high heart rate....is not having a high heart rate throughout the duration of the workout causing me not to lose more weight?

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  • aippolito1
    aippolito1 Posts: 4,894 Member
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    Yes. Your body burns more calories when your heart rate is elevated. Get a heart rate monitor to figure out exactly how much you're burning.
  • paddlemom
    paddlemom Posts: 682 Member
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    How much you sweat is not an indicator of how hard you are working; but heart rate is. I am not a sweater..(well..maybe a bulky knit cardigan :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: ), so you would think I'm not working hard to look at me.

    Sweating is a hydration issue, though, so if you tend to sweat a lot then you really need to make sure you are drinking your water during workouts! That's why those sauna suits seem to work, cause you sweat out the water and 'lose' weight.( water weight!)..but you really aren't burning any more calories or fat just cause you are hotter!
  • dbg1
    dbg1 Posts: 208
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    The longer you can work out at a higher heart rate the more calories you will burn ( ie at or above your cardio rate for your age).

    Just be safe.:wink:
  • workoutqueen628
    workoutqueen628 Posts: 220
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    CynthiA, I just checked out your food diary and I think what you need to work on is chosing healthier options. 100 calorie packs is junk food in portions. Opt for more fruits and veggis.
  • iplayoutside19
    iplayoutside19 Posts: 2,304 Member
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    ...is not having a high heart rate throughout the duration of the workout causing me not to lose more weight?

    80% of Losing Fat is Nutrition. You can burn 5000 calories a day in excersise, but if you consume 6000 you're still going to gain weight.

    On the other hand, if you eat healthy and at a calorie deficity you can not excersise at all and lose weight.
  • rjadams
    rjadams Posts: 4,060 Member
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    How are you determining your calories burned? if your heart rate isn't very high but you are using the machine numbers or the charts here you are probably over estimating. I can't get my heart rate up very high so my calories burned are much lower than the machine says or any of the stuff on the data base here. I just go a lot longer to get my burns in.
  • cynthiaj777
    cynthiaj777 Posts: 787 Member
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    How are you determining your calories burned? if your heart rate isn't very high but you are using the machine numbers or the charts here you are probably over estimating. I can't get my heart rate up very high so my calories burned are much lower than the machine says or any of the stuff on the data base here. I just go a lot longer to get my burns in.

    When I first started working out, my heart rate would stay high, and the numbers on the machine were still always lower than what MFP estimates.

    How does heart rate contribute to more weight loss? If it is an INDICATION that you are losing weight, then that makes sense. What doesn't make sense is by having a low heart rate you don't lose weight. If someone eats rights and works out, he/she is going to lose weight no matter the heart rate.

    I guess I'm looking for a more scientific answer.
  • jrbowers83
    jrbowers83 Posts: 282 Member
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    This website helped me alot when I first started working out. I have had high blood pressure so I couldn't do anything really intense. But now I know where to keep my heart rate to get a good burn without getting it too high which could be dangerous for my health. Hope that helps explain it a little better for you.

    http://www.thewalkingsite.com/thr.html

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