Heart rate and fat loss?!
Question: I workout at least 3x a week, 3 days weight training and three to five days cardio. When I do cardio I aim to burn 500 to 1000 calories each time, which usually takes 45minutes to 1 and 1/2 hour. My weight loss has started to plateau (for about 2 months)and I change up my resisitance and pace all the time but I always have my heart rate in the cardio zone. I thought that the whole idea of fat loss was to epend more calories than you take in but that doesn't seem to be working for me right now. Does burning fewer calories and staying the fatloss heart rate zone really better than burning more calories? Any advice?
My body fat is slowly decreasing and I know that matters more than weight but I know I should be losing more fat.
Answers: I workout at least 3x a week, 3 days weight training and three to five days cardio. When I do cardio I aim to burn 500 to 1000 calories each time, which usually takes 45minutes to 1 and 1/2 hour. My weight loss has started to plateau (for about 2 months)and I change up my resisitance and pace all the time but I always have my heart rate in the cardio zone. I thought that the whole idea of fat loss was to epend more calories than you take in but that doesn't seem to be working for me right now. Does burning fewer calories and staying the fatloss heart rate zone really better than burning more calories? Any advice?
My body fat is slowly decreasing and I know that matters more than weight but I know I should be losing more fat.
if you are heart healthy you can train harder. training in the "fat burning" zone is an antiquated and outdated philosophy that has been proven not to be optimum for fat loss.
real fat loss occurs as the result of an increased resting metabolic rate (RMR) the hours after exercise. when you exercise at a high level of intensity the body will attempt to restore itself to the pre-exercise state. this causes the body to consume more oxygen, this causes an increase in the metabolic rate and fatty acid oxidation is increased.
to train at this level of intensity you have to constantly push yourself. forget about how many calories are burned per session and focus on the distance traveled. if you run for 45 minutes at level "x" and cover 10 miles today, the next cardio session you at least need to match that but the goal would be to travel 10.1-10.2 miles. and the next session 10.2-10.3, etc.
by constantly increasing the amount of "work" that is being performed in the same amount of time you force your body to adapt. at the conclusion of your training session you need to be out of breath and unable to hold a normal conversation.
obviously this type of training is not easy but it is optimum for fat loss and for increasing cardiovascular fitness. training at this high of a level of intensity daily would cause CNS burn out very quickly for all but the elite athlete. I would only do this every other day. on other days you can sure do cardio but at a much lower level of itensity. personally I do my low intensity cardio on the treadmill and my high intensity cardio on the recumbent bicycle.
check your diet and cals as well. I use indirect calorimetry to measure the BMR of all of my clients to insure that they are consuming sufficient calories as their body composition and level of fitness increases. check your gym to see if this is available
The difficulty with cardio is that your body learns to adapt, same as with weight. Adding weight is easy, but adding time to cardio is, well, time-consuming! Once your body has adapted to your cardio, fat burning will slow down dramatically. The weight training will probably be a good long term answer, as it increase metabolism. Try optimize your cardio sessions, what works well is a mild, fasted cardio session. Without energy in your blood, your body will slowly depend on your stored fat and unfortunately muscle. This is a big dilemma, as you can't target fat effectively. Just keep going regular cardio and go up with weight training.
Oh, and the heart-rate zone is really just above resting and below maximum. If your heart is pumping nicely (good speed) it means your body is working to get nutrients from your stores and oxygen from the air.