Heart Rate-The Big Debate! Part 3

About 15 years ago it was "discovered" that working in 60-70% of your THR would burn more fat than working out at a higher intensity. Basically you could still lose weight without completely busting your butt!

I want to explain what "the fat burning zone" and "cardio zone" is. So you can make the informed choice.

Metabolism

During your metabolic process you need to burn something as energy. This will either be carbs, fat or muscle. You never burn just one type of energy at a time. You are either burning more fat than carbs, more carbs than fat etc. And hopefully never muscle.

Fat Burning/Weight Maintenance Zone

Did you know you are burning fat when you are at rest, even sleeping? It's true! You don't burn much fat but your metabolic system is using stored fat as your fuel. The average person uses about 60% fat and 40% carbohydrates for each calorie that is expended. So your primary fuel source is fat.

Now you have to know you are not going to lose weight while you are sleeping! So what's the deal with this fat burning zone?

You may be burning more fat as an energy source working out at 60-70% of your THR but is it the most effective way to lose weight?

Cardio Zone

We call working out at 70-80% of your THR the cardio zone because this is the intensity required to receive heart benefits.

The more active you become and the higher the intensity, the more carbs are being burned primarily as a fuel source. Less fat cells are being burned but more calories overall are expended. At relatively low intensities you burn 3-5 calories per/min. At higher intensities the rate of energy expenditure increases to 7-9 calories per/min.

Do The Math

If losing weight is a numbers game where you want a calorie deficit, you want to eat less and burn more.

If energy is work and work = force x distance it's pretty simple to say that the harder and longer you work out the more calories you will burn.

Our case study is 130lbs, who is walking/jogging to lose weight.

walking burns approx. 2.4 cal/hr/per lb

Jogging burns approx. 4.2 cal/hr/per lb

For an hour of walking she burns 144 calories

For an hour of jogging she burns 546 calories

Just that simple comparison shows how much of a difference a higher intensity makes!

When people ask me about what zone to work out in, I tell them to do what they can. Ideally you always want to challenge yourself. You WANT to work out hard to get the most out of your work out.

For a beginner the fat burning (or weight maintenance zone) for a longer duration will be beneficial to them because beginners will lose weight as long as they are doing something. If being able to work out at an easy intensity gets them in to the gym then GREAT! Besides, they can always look forward to increasing intensity in the future. As long as they try to complete 20 minutes a week at a more challenging intensity for heart benefits then they are on the right track.

If someone with more experience asks me about what zone to train in for weight loss I highly suggest they work on increasing intensity before increasing duration. To put an avid runner down to the fat burning zone is retrogressive.

For people trying to gain weight I understand that putting on mass in a healthy way is hard and you want to do cardio to get rid of that unsightly fat layer, without losing any hard earned gains. My recommendation is 20 minutes of high intensity twice week. Just enough cardio for burning calories and some heart benefits but not enough to burn off the protein bar!

Metabolism, heart rate and calorie burning is a complex subject with many different opinions. As usual, do your research and do what's right for you.

Your Yod-ivational Quote

“Do or do not... there is no try.”

-Yoda

Heart Rate is Great-Part TWO

One (of many) benefits of taking and measuring your heart rate is it's important to know when you should slow down. This is especially important for beginners. Working out in your target heart rate range (THR) is a great way for people new to exercising to work out without the fear that they are going to faint/pass out/throw up etc.

Your Max HR is the highest number of times your heart can contract per/min. It's definitely not the number that should be reached during your work outs!

Max HR is linked to age and will decrease as a person gets older. Athletes and active people have a higher Max HR than average.

The most accurate way to find out your Max HR would be to do a stress test on a bike or treadmill. Basically you are doing cardio exercise until you almost pass out/throw up etc to find out how high your heart rate can go. This kind of test should be preformed with a medical professional present. This is kind of scary, IMO! A much easier and safer way to figure out your Max HR is by using a simple formula. PHEW! *wipes sweat beads* It won't be 100% accurate but it will give you a good idea of what range you want to work out in. In combination with listening to your body, you'll do just fine!

Intensity Ranges

50-60% of Max HR=Warm up

60-70% of Max HR=Weight maintenance

70-80% of Max HR=Cardio/Aerobic

80-90% of Max HR=Anaerobic Threshold zone

90-100% of Max HR=Danger!

So now lets figure out our max HR and THR

To do this, you need to figure out your max heart rate first. This is always

220-your age

Let's take a 39 year old client as our example

220-39=181

So now we know that this 39 y/o should ALWAYS work out under 181bpm.

To find the target heart rate you need to multiply the Max HR by the percentage of intensity you want to use.

Let's say that our 39 y/o wants to do cardio to burn lots of calories and receive tons of healthy heart benefits. Going on the intensity percentage chart above we see this person needs to exercise at 70-80% of their Max HR.

Max Heart Rate x Percent of intensity used

220-AGE=181 x 70-80%

181 x .7 =126.7

181 x .8=144.8

So as you can see, our client needs to work out in a HR range of 126.7-144.8 bpm to work out in the cardio zone.

If you know your RHR then for a more accurate result do:
(220-age) - RHR x (intensity) + RHR

Knowing this will make your work outs MUCH more effective

Try it!

Upcoming Article in HR series
Part 3: The controversy surrounding the "Fat Burning" zone
Part 4: HR Monitors and how they are beneficial to your training

Target Heart Rate is Great-Part One

I've been asked many times about training in your target HR zone. It's a doozy of a topic, not to mention controversial. I'm going to cover it in a series of posts.

We'll start with the basics:

What is a heart rate?

The heart rate (HR) is defined as the number of contractions (heart beats) and expressed as beats per minute. (bpm)

What is the average HR?

The average resting heart rate (RHR), which is the heart's bpm at rest is 70 for adult men, 75 for women and much lower for athletes. Lance Armstrong's RHR is 32-34 bpm!!

Its been said that your heart has X amount of beats in its lifetime, therefore you want an efficient heart rate that beats when/as necessary. This is achieved by a having a healthy heart. Cardiovascular activity, which strengthens the heart and trains it to recover more quickly plus an optimal diet will help to make your heart happy and beat slower at rest.

Taking your HR

You can check your HR by taking your pulse in various ways:

-inside of the wrist (the thumb side!)

-Neck

-Inside of elbow, under bicep muscle

-Behind the knee

-Over the abdomen

**FYI-You can't take your pulse with your thumb because the thumb has a pulse of its own.**

When taking your HR during exercise it's best to look at a clock and watch the seconds hand for 10 secs while counting the pulse beats. Then multiplying the number by 6 to get your current HR per/min.

Upcoming Article in HR series

Part 2: Determining Max Heart rate HR Training Zones

Part 3: The controversy surrounding the "Fat Burning" zone

Part 4: HR Monitors and how they are beneficial to your training

Your Motivational Quote...

"I hated every minute of training, but I said, "Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion."

-Muhammad Ali

This is a great quote. It really speaks to me. Getting your butt out there to train isn't always what you want to do. It takes discipline and consistency. You'll thank your own tough love when you're rockin' a hot bod at the beach next summer or completing your first marathon!

Do you doubt yourself? Here's another quote from Mr. Ali that's encouraging and funny too!

"If they can make penicillin out of mouldy bread, they can sure make something out of you."

Think about it:)