Cardio intensity

EnjoyTheSpin
EnjoyTheSpin Posts: 171
edited November 12 in Health and Weight Loss
I take Spinning 4-5 days per week and burn 400 calories per class. I push myself most days and train with pretty high intensity. Yesterday I just didn't have it in me. I stayed in class, but my average heart rate was 115 as compared to its usual 150. I still ended up burning 350 calories at the gym, but I didn't feel like it "counted" like it does when I really have a hard workout.

My question is, does the intensity of your workout make a difference in regard to weight loss?

Replies

  • j77r68
    j77r68 Posts: 271 Member
    i've heard when you do intensity bursts you burn more calories and is more effective with weight loss. i do fit camp and we do 1 exercise hard for 90sec than switch stations and rest for 10 sec than back into it again. During a spin class it would be full on for 3min slower for 1min than hard again for 3min. i think you get the idea. your body doesn't get "comfortable" at either extreme, you keep it guessing how hard you are going to make it work
  • j77r68
    j77r68 Posts: 271 Member
    i also just looked at another post that referred someone to builtlean.com. it has an awesome article which explains what i was telling you before. technical term for it is High Intensity Interval Training HIIT
  • Laura82NH
    Laura82NH Posts: 15 Member
    I just got a HRM a few months ago... and I am also experimenting with Cardio Intensity. Here's something that I just learned which took me by surprise -- My fat burning zone is actually alot lower than I had been previously training at... I had been using an energy system that uses carbohydrates stored in my muscle tissue (which tires you out a lot faster), and doesn't burn fat for fuel! If I train in my fat burning zone, I will actually burn fat and be able to maintain that intensity for up to 2 hrs (apparently). Although training harder in the "cardio zone" does burn more calories initially -- just not fat specifically. Kind of confusing, I know!

    My resting heart rate is about 59.... My fat burning zone is between 140 and 170. I'm 30 yrs old. (This is a slow jog for me or easy spinning, not a spin class). I get up to 205 in a Zumba class and burn so many more calories.

    I think the best thing to do is train both energy systems during the week. Some fat burning zone, and some cardio zone.

    Keep up the good work!! Don't give up :smile:
  • SteveTries
    SteveTries Posts: 723 Member
    fat burning zone is a falacy.

    It's a deliberate misconstruction of clinical studies that showed that you do indeed take a greater percentage of energy from fat sources in the "fat burn zone" than you do in an intensive higher heart rate zone. However it ignores the part of the study that shows you overall burn a greater amount of energy from fat during the exercise period in a high intensity zone PLUS you continue to burn it for some time afterwards.

    It's machine manufacturers selling their wares with the old "lose weight easily" approach
  • kathleen2001
    kathleen2001 Posts: 154
    bump
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