Treadmill and weight loss

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I've heard that the best way to lose weight and to increase cardio is to walk and run at intervals. That is to keep the heart rate going up and down. Is this true and if not, what is the best way to lose weight on a treadmill. My HR at rest is around 55/bpm, I'm 59 years old and I'm just starting out. I'd appreciate any advice you can give me.

Replies

  • quiksylver296
    quiksylver296 Posts: 28,442 Member
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    Weight loss is dependent on creating a calorie deficit. Your body needs a certain number of calories per day to maintain your weight. You need to eat fewer calories than that to lose weight.

    A treadmill can create a calorie burn than can assist your weight loss. But, if you are eating more calories than your body uses in a day, a treadmill will not help you lose weight.
  • Cherrie099
    Cherrie099 Posts: 45 Member
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    Calorie reduction doesn't seem to work! I'll lose a few pounds bit that's it. I have to include a workout. At my age my metabolism slowed down tremendously. What is the best way to burn fat? Is it higher HR? I read it's 60% of the maximum rate but I don't know what that means. My normal HR is 55
  • Cherrie099
    Cherrie099 Posts: 45 Member
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    The way to lose weight is to create a calorie deficit. A treadmill workout plan can be a part of that for sure (other types of exercise can also do this).

    Walking and running at intervals is an excellent way to increase cardio fitness. Do you have a smartphone? Lots of people have had success with the Couch to 5K plan (a plan that gradually increases your running). Even if you can't download the app, you can find a plan online, print it out, and use it as a guide on the treadmill.


    Yes I do have a smart phone. I will check,out that app but I notice a lot of apps are too advanced for me. I log my food every day and stay within my calorie goal of 1200 but can only lose about 5 pounds. I have to include a workout
  • jemhh
    jemhh Posts: 14,261 Member
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    Cherrie099 wrote: »
    The way to lose weight is to create a calorie deficit. A treadmill workout plan can be a part of that for sure (other types of exercise can also do this).

    Walking and running at intervals is an excellent way to increase cardio fitness. Do you have a smartphone? Lots of people have had success with the Couch to 5K plan (a plan that gradually increases your running). Even if you can't download the app, you can find a plan online, print it out, and use it as a guide on the treadmill.


    Yes I do have a smart phone. I will check,out that app but I notice a lot of apps are too advanced for me. I log my food every day and stay within my calorie goal of 1200 but can only lose about 5 pounds. I have to include a workout

    How long do you give it until giving up and saying it's not working? You have to be patient.
  • broseidonkingofbrocean
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    As others said its all about a deficit. HIIT cardio is really good in my opinion to aid since it induces the "afterburn."

    "The so-called “afterburn effect” is more officially known as excess post-exercise oxygen consumption or simply, EPOC. And it isn't new in the world of fitness. Several studies suggest there's a strong correlation between the number of calories burned post exercise and the activity’s intensity. Simply put: The more intense the exercise, the more oxygen your body consumes afterward.

    In one study, participants who cycled vigorously for 45 minutes burned roughly 190 calories more in the 14 hours after exercise than on days when they didn't work out at all. In another study conducted with those who had metabolic syndrome, EPOC also had significant positive effects—meaning this type of training could be especially useful in combating certain health issues, like obesity and diabetes.

    And while one study showed that your afterburn will increase significantly with duration (i.e. the longer and more intense your workout, the more you'll burn), you don't necessarily have to work out for a long time to stimulate the effect.

    That's where short, high-intensity workouts come in to play. Training protocols like Tabata, where 20 seconds of all-out effort is followed by 10 seconds of rest, are one way to trigger the afterburn; other high-intensity interval workouts (or HIIT routines), such as density set training, the Little Method, or 10-20-30 training, can also get you there. The key with any of these programs is that you need to be working hard. We're talking exercise performed at 70 to 85 percent of an individual's max heart rate. "

    From http://greatist.com/fitness/afterburn-effect-keep-burning-calories-after-workout

    It's also why I enjoy weight lifting since the whole healing process is another way to burn calories.
  • Evamutt
    Evamutt Posts: 2,441 Member
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    I got educated, thank you. I didn't know why but I do lose better with exercise
  • chucksel
    chucksel Posts: 5 Member
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    Everyone here has good insights; particularly 'calorie deficit' e.g. Burn more calories than you consume. A 55 resting heart rate is EXCELLENT for someone your age so you must be fairly fit to begin with.

    My 'add' is that you should consider getting a heart rate monitor and try to stay in zone 3 for maximum fat burning. Many people have the misconception that the higher your heart rate is the more fat you're burning but that is just not true. Exercise and losing weight really is like mathematics.... it is a science and not an art.

    Good luck and stay fit!

    Chuck
  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
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    Treadmill running and walking can create a wonderful calorie deficit for you. The muscles in your legs are some of the largest and getting and keeping them moving expends a lot of energy, which is what you want. In the last 6 months I have taken up running and although I've got to the point where I can run a whole 5k on the treadmill I still prefer and started with intervals. My cardiovascular fitness is probably the best it's ever been. The downside of that is that as my heart performs better, the calorie burn for the same old routine goes down so you'll eventually want to increase and change up your distances and/or speeds.
  • Cherrie099
    Cherrie099 Posts: 45 Member
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    jemhh wrote: »
    Cherrie099 wrote: »
    The way to lose weight is to create a calorie deficit. A treadmill workout plan can be a part of that for sure (other types of exercise can also do this).

    Walking and running at intervals is an excellent way to increase cardio fitness. Do you have a smartphone? Lots of people have had success with the Couch to 5K plan (a plan that gradually increases your running). Even if you can't download the app, you can find a plan online, print it out, and use it as a guide on the treadmill.


    Yes I do have a smart phone. I will check,out that app but I notice a lot of apps are too advanced for me. I log my food every day and stay within my calorie goal of 1200 but can only lose about 5 pounds. I have to include a workout

    How long do you give it until giving up and saying it's not working? You have to be patient.

    I've given it a few months. It's harder for me bc of my age and my thyroid. Deficit isn't good enough. I would have to eat under 1000 calories to see any results and then I'd be starving and would end up screwing up. I need to work out also but I want to know the best HR to burn fat. Some people say around 120-130.
  • Cherrie099
    Cherrie099 Posts: 45 Member
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    chucksel wrote: »
    Everyone here has good insights; particularly 'calorie deficit' e.g. Burn more calories than you consume. A 55 resting heart rate is EXCELLENT for someone your age so you must be fairly fit to begin with.

    My 'add' is that you should consider getting a heart rate monitor and try to stay in zone 3 for maximum fat burning. Many people have the misconception that the higher your heart rate is the more fat you're burning but that is just not true. Exercise and losing weight really is like mathematics.... it is a science and not an art.

    Good luck and stay fit!

    Chuck

    Exactly!! That's why I wanted to know the ranges of fat burning for HR. My HR at rest is about 55 so do I double it to find my range?
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
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    Cherrie099 wrote: »
    chucksel wrote: »
    Everyone here has good insights; particularly 'calorie deficit' e.g. Burn more calories than you consume. A 55 resting heart rate is EXCELLENT for someone your age so you must be fairly fit to begin with.

    My 'add' is that you should consider getting a heart rate monitor and try to stay in zone 3 for maximum fat burning. Many people have the misconception that the higher your heart rate is the more fat you're burning but that is just not true. Exercise and losing weight really is like mathematics.... it is a science and not an art.

    Good luck and stay fit!

    Chuck

    Exactly!! That's why I wanted to know the ranges of fat burning for HR. My HR at rest is about 55 so do I double it to find my range?

    Don't worry about the "fat burning zone." It only means you'll be burning more fat at that particular time. But, if your heart rate is higher, you'll be burning more Calories overall. That bigger Caloric burn will help you burn more fat overall. Your body is constantly burning fat - your overall Caloric total (Calories in vs. Calories out) determines how much fat you gain/lose over the course of a day/week/month, etc. And that's why you'll lose more fat by having your heartrate higher.

    That, of course, doesn't mean you have to or even should worry about getting your heart rate higher. Any exercise you do - provided it's with good form - is good and will help. But the "fat-burning zone" isn't what many seem to think it is.
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
    edited February 2017
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    Cherrie099 wrote: »
    chucksel wrote: »
    Everyone here has good insights; particularly 'calorie deficit' e.g. Burn more calories than you consume. A 55 resting heart rate is EXCELLENT for someone your age so you must be fairly fit to begin with.

    My 'add' is that you should consider getting a heart rate monitor and try to stay in zone 3 for maximum fat burning. Many people have the misconception that the higher your heart rate is the more fat you're burning but that is just not true. Exercise and losing weight really is like mathematics.... it is a science and not an art.

    Good luck and stay fit!

    Chuck

    Exactly!! That's why I wanted to know the ranges of fat burning for HR. My HR at rest is about 55 so do I double it to find my range?

    Fwiw while the proportion of fat burned at the lower range is marginally higher than the proportion at higher intensity you're going to get greater calorie expenditure at higher intensity. So a smaller proportion of a larger number is generally going to be a greater gross effect. Essentially zone theory dates back to the 80s, our understanding of exercise physiology has moved on.

    Just think through the logic, will you expend more by running for 30 minutes or by run/ walk intervals for 30 minutes.

    Use a run/ walk plan to develop your capacity to run for longer.

    In terms of working out your working range you need to establish your max HR. That will involve doing a maximal test. My resting HR is about 52, my max observed has been 205 during a sprint interval session.
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
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    I don't have any insight into your thyroid issues, or their impact on weight loss, but your age is not an issue. Your metabolism has not slowed down that much that the formulas don't work. I'm 51 and there are loads of people here on MFP that have lost weight and are much older.

    I enjoy my treadmill and started the C25K this January. But I've been walking on it since October. Don't worry about heart rate etc. just do what you can for as long as you can. If you want to do intervals, try them out. I did and found they broke up my walking nicely. I tried a few of the treadmill programs and would rotate through them, some changing the incline and some changing the speed. Then decided to do the C25K, so more running for me now (uggg 25 mins tomorrow).

    You'll burn calories so make sure to eat some of them back to fuel your workout, but be careful not to trust the treadmill calories or the MFP numbers, they can be high. If you keep at it, you may want to invest in some sort of HRM to better guess at your calorie burn.
  • Cherrie099
    Cherrie099 Posts: 45 Member
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    Ok thank you so much for all of your input. I've learned a lot. You guys are the best ❤