Fat Rate or Heart RAte

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kimby12
kimby12 Posts: 10
in Fitness and Exercise
I am trying to lose weight. I have been doing the elliptical trainer for about a month and I do 45 mins a day and my heart rate reaches heart training rate..


Should I be sticking to a low heart rate to burn fat or is it ok to do intese workouts "heart training rate" and have a high heart rate.... the more intense the more calories im burning but im burning carbs instead of fat..... is this ok??

Replies

  • lloydrt
    lloydrt Posts: 1,121 Member
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    kim, i started slow and had 5 on the resistance and worked up to 20 and try to push myself on increased swings per minute......it really helped my heart rate go from about 85 starting, to now up to 141........keep in creasing your resistance and it will put more stress on your heart and get your blood pumping.............its a good thing ,cardio is excellent for your heart..........good luck, Lloyd
  • sarahlong09
    sarahlong09 Posts: 55
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    Good question... I have wondered this myself. I would love to know the answet as well!
  • slbeutler
    slbeutler Posts: 205
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    I have heard so many different theories on this, so I am not sure which one is correct. One thing you could try is HIIT training, which is very effective for fat burning. It stands for High Intensity Interval Training. So basically you would mix up your workout and for 1 -2 minute intervals really push yourself, get your heart rate up and then bring it back down for 2 minutes then repeat. You would probably not do this for 45 minutes. Google HIIT training on an eliptical and I am sure you will find a prescribed program.
  • Horuke
    Horuke Posts: 11
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    Yes it is,

    This is a very common misconception,

    While the percentage of fat burned in the cardio zone is lower, more calories are burned overall including more fat calories.
  • ATT949
    ATT949 Posts: 1,245 Member
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    I cannot cite a source for this but I looked into this when I started losing weight and my understanding is that it's not material. The heart of the matter is to burn X calories, whether it's at a higher rate for a shorter time or at a lower rate for a longer time. The goal is to burn calories.

    I will admit that there's lots of discussion of this. A case in point is that Polar makes an HRM that's based on the concept of "Fat burning zone" vs aerobic zone. I know 'cause I bought one. And I stopped using it (and it's for sale) 'cause what I read convinced me otherwise! :-)
  • ATT949
    ATT949 Posts: 1,245 Member
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    "HIT" - that brought to mind the Army acronym for "sustained high intensity training" ;-)
  • aimeeturner
    aimeeturner Posts: 225 Member
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    My two recommendations are HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) and a good HRM (Heart Rate Monitor) with chest strap (I prefer the Polar brand). HIIT will shred fat but you have to be willing to really give it your all. The HRM will give you a more accurate calorie count than the machine will tell you. I wish you the best :)
  • tigersword
    tigersword Posts: 8,059 Member
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    I am trying to lose weight. I have been doing the elliptical trainer for about a month and I do 45 mins a day and my heart rate reaches heart training rate..


    Should I be sticking to a low heart rate to burn fat or is it ok to do intese workouts "heart training rate" and have a high heart rate.... the more intense the more calories im burning but im burning carbs instead of fat..... is this ok??

    Well, that depends. From what I've read, at low intensity, 50% of the calories burned are from fat. At high intensities, it's more like 20%. So, if you burn 200 calories at a low intensity for 30 minutes, 100 calories are from fat. If you burn 500 calories at a high intensity, it's still only 100 calories from fat. The rest of those calories come from carbs, and if the carbs run out, from protein, including breaking down muscle if necessary. So, it's personal preference in my opinion, but if you're sticking to higher intensity cardio, make sure you increase the amount of carbs you're eating to fuel yourself properly.

    I do a combination, not quite HIIT, but I never keep my heart rate in one specific zone for more than 5-10 minutes at a time.
  • kimby12
    kimby12 Posts: 10
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    Thank you very much to everyone! I will look into doing HIIT...sounds like I can get some fun out of it instead of just staying in one speed for the entire 45 minutes... I think perhaps ill start with 10 minutes of HIIT and then finish off at a steady pace.

    THANKS AGAIN!!
  • h3h8m3
    h3h8m3 Posts: 455 Member
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    Thank you very much to everyone! I will look into doing HIIT...sounds like I can get some fun out of it instead of just staying in one speed for the entire 45 minutes... I think perhaps ill start with 10 minutes of HIIT and then finish off at a steady pace.

    THANKS AGAIN!!

    I just want to say... if you're doing HIIT right, there is no finishing after. A proper HIIT session will not leave you energy to go to another workout. They are short, brutal and super effective. But if you finish HIIT and want to do more working out.. you didn't really just finish HIIT.

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