Fat Burn vs. Cardio

[Monroe]

Ok ive been doin the treadmill a lot and I keep noticing the instructions on it. It says something like, age 30 is supposed to be like 130 or something for fat burn (i dont know the exact numbers sorry, i forgot) and like 145 or 150 for cardio. Well I feel pretty comfortable goin at like 2.4 speed on it, and sometimes it goes to 150. Is that not burning fat anymore? Whats the difference in fat burn and cardio exactly?

[julirama723]

I believe those numbers are for your heartrate? Those are based on age and weight. The most accurate way to estimate the number of calories you are burning is by using a heart rate monitor. Exercise machines give a very general (and often incorrect) reading.

If you are sweating and feel challenged, you are burning calories! However, most people try to get to a certain heartrate range to maximize fat-burning.

[BeccaBoo]

The fat-burning zone is a myth:
http://tinyurl.com/hzspw

you can do a google search and find dozens of articles on this...

That being said, as a beginner, you don't want to go over your THR (target heart rate)...

Mayo Clinic Target Heart Rate Calculator

Once you're more advanced and get into the world of HIIT and such, then the 'rules' change a bit.

[Heavy-K]

I'm certainly no scientist, but I did major in biological sciences in college, and I do know that if you're doing excercise that is making you sweat and "work hard" if you go up into "cardio" zone, your body is not going to quit burning fat and switch to only "cardio". So, I would say, keep doing what cha doing!

[Monroe]

Ahh ok I see! Usually when I get on the treadmill at 2.4 I dont really break out in a sweat till like 5-10 minutes before I'm done. Should I try stepping the speed up a little bit? Im to big to be jogging and running, that would only last a matter of seconds LOL

[CoolBlackChick]

Originally Posted by Monroe

Im to big to be jogging and running, that would only last a matter of seconds LOL

I'm learning that it is ok if it only last a matter of seconds. The important thing is that it happened.

I used to think the same thing about myself when I was 210lbs. If I had discovered this board then, I would have know that that is a myth. You just have to do it at your own pace.

I have a history of back, foot, and leg injuries, but tomorrow I will add a 4 min jog/sprint HIIT cycle to my workout.

I find the prospect of this very intimidating and my mind is already trying to talk me out of it by telling me: I'm too busy, there will be too many people on the trail, I'll do better to postpone it until X day for X reason, it's going to hurt (this is the loudest voice and what I am most afraid of due to the past). Blah, blah, blah.

If I have to get out there tomorrow and can only a walk/crawl 1 min HIIT cycle, I'm doing it! I'm beginning to feel the muscle underneath the flab and that excites me.

[Heavy-K]

Hey let me tell ya!...I feel like I am too big to jog too. Plus, I had ACL reconstruction and the pounding on the old knees and ankles is not taken lightly. So, I opt to do the gazelle and elliptical and split my time. I WILL throw in the occasional jog/walk but if so, I at least walk 30 mins. b/c I remember hearing somewhere that the avg. person needs at least 30 mins. walking to start fat burning? I don't know!! I can jog for a while but it ends up being a joint issue for me...so, for now (until I get down my lbs.) I gazelle and elliptical it!

[Checkers]

I have found that I lose the most fat when I stay in my low heart range. I do Leslie Sansone's walk aerobics and I don't even break a sweat. Plus I've gone from sweating for 45 minutes with more vigorous videos (closer to the top of my range) to low impact walk aerobics for 20-25 minutes and, for me, it's been way more effective at fat burning. It also leaves me enough energy to get all my anaerobic chores done around my little mini-farm. I find that from a motivation stand point I am way more likely to make time for these shorter, easier workouts than tougher, longer ones.

[AZNick]

I do not know if the fat burning zone is a myth or not but I usually set it between 125 or 135 BPM according to my mood and once in a while I race it to over 170 but this is not something you want to do too often when you are over 35. My max is supposed to be 220 - 38 (my age) = 182, but of course this varies from people to people.

Going for a lower rate is actually better than racing it constantly - ever heard of the guy who exercized a lot, was a health freak, taught everybody life lessons and died on a tennis court at 40? I actually know (or used to know) a couple of these guys.

Basically give yourself a good workout that makes you sweat but does not exhaust you. If you feel more energized after than before, this means you gave yourself the good workout.

Exhausting yourself is only good when competing, when you want to go beyond your limits, or of course when your a teen, since you recover very fast then, but it's not a workout.

[Lyssie]

umm.. actually, I believe that HIIT training is the most effective form for "fat burning". But, like others have said, as long as you're doing something that's raising your heartrate for a prolonged period of time, you're burning fat and raising your metabolism so you'll burn more fat throughout the day. The thing with cardio is that it's supposed to improve your cardiovascular condition, it's not like an either/or kind of thing. Obviously a cardio workout (according to your treadmill) will also burn fat, it'll just be a bit more challenging.