Your Fat Burning Zone
Your FBZ = (220 - age)*.75. The older you are the lower this number will be. This is the heart rate at which your body will burn fat most efficiently. you should strive to achieve and maintain this heart rate while doing cardio in order to burn as much fat as possible. At this rate you will also be able to continue your cardio workout without losing your breath and having to stop. It is an approximation so if you feel that you can push yourself a little harder then by all means go ahead. Most people can usually go about 10 points higher without any problems. Just don't overdue it because increasing your heart rate too much can cause you to pass out or worse. Keep your heart rate below your Maximum Heart Rate. Exceeding this level is very dangerous especially if you have a history of heart related problems in your family. To find this number just subtract your age from 220. For me this would be:
220-32 = 188 (Max Heart Rate)
There is a debate in the weight loss industry about whether it's better to burn fat or calories. Some say that sticking to your Fat Burning Zone is not the best thing to do. They feel that you should increase your heart rate beyond this point and strive for burning calories instead of fat. I say it depends on two things, your weight and your RMR.
If you are obese (according to your BMI) you can just go for burning fat because it won't take much for you to lose excess weight. This will also work for a lot of people who are overweight. However, as you lose weight and drop from the obese category of the BMI chart it may become harder for you to drop weight at some point. When this happens you may need to switch from burning fat to burning calories. To do this you have to
1. Monitor your RMR
2. Keep your calorie intake below your RMR
3. Burn calories instead of fat with a cardio workout that increases your heart rate above your FBZ.
Burning fat is always better than burning calories in my opinion. The goal of most people is to be lean and toned. Burning fat is a better way to achieve this because it helps you to maintain as much muscle tone as possible while losing weight. Burning too many calories on the other hand may cause you to drop weight too quickly which leads to loose skin. You also sacrifice a great amount of muscle tissue when you burn a lot of calories. For instance if you restrict calories without strength training for every 1 pound of weight that you lose 60% will be muscle and only 40% will be fat. This will lead to your body looking flabby instead of toned. These two pitfalls of burning calories are the reasons why I prefer burning fat. However, as stated before most people at some point will have to switch to burning calories instead of fat if they want to continue to drop weight. As long as you can get the job done using the Fat Burning Zone method stick to that. When that stops working then switch to burning calories. Just remember to incorporate strength training to maintain your muscle tone and to work smart not hard.
It is not necessary to work extremely hard to get results. The person who is running like they stole something on the treadmill next to you in the gym doesn't necessarily get the best workout.
Neither does the guy or girl who stays on the treadmill for a full hour.
You can do what these people do in half the time and with less effort while keeping your heart rate in your Fat Burning Zone. Here is how:
By varying the speed at which you walk, jog, or run on the treadmill you will burn more calories per hour than the guy who keeps a steady fast pace. Also by increasing and decreasing the incline of the tread mill you will burn twice as many calories than someone who runs with no incline. This means that you can do in a half hour what the guy running for an hour is doing. A proper 30 minute routine should be similar to this:
walk 3 minutes
run 3 minutes
walk 3 minutes
run 3 minutes
walk 3 minutes incline 0.5
run 3 minutes incline 1.0
walk 3 minutes incline 1.0
run 3 minutes incline 1.5
walk 3 minutes incline 2.0
run 3 minutes incline 2.5
You can change this routine to fit your level of intensity but remember to stay within your Fat Burning Zone. With this routine you will get the same effect of the guy running 10 miles per hour and you will do it in half the time it takes for the guy running for 1 hour.
Finding Your Pulse
Most treadmills and bikes in the gym will tell you what your heart rate is and how many calories you have burned if you enter your weight and other info into their computers before starting but it is still useful to know how to find your pulse on your own. With a stopwatch in hand place two fingers on your neck or wrist to find your pulse. Count how many times your heart beats in 10 seconds and multiply this number by 6. The result you get is your current heart rate.
Getting Up to Speed
It's best to try to do your cardio with as little in your stomach as possible. A lot of people like to do their cardio workout first thing in the morning. Based on how our bodies create and use calories this seems like it should be the best time to burn fat. If you burn up the glycogen in your system and you have no food in your stomach, your body will start to burn the fat stored in your muscle tissue for energy. Most people have nothing in their stomachs in the morning so by doing their cardio in the morning their bodies have no choice but to burn fat for energy. However if you cannot workout first thing in the morning you have to burn up the glycogen in your system before your body starts to burn fat. If you don't do this then your 30 minutes of cardio will be almost useless because you won't be burning fat you will only be burning the glycogen in your system. You will still be burning calories regardless of that fact but in order to be trim and toned you need to burn the fat stored in your muscle tissue not just excess calories.
Lets say you go to the gym after work. At this point your body may still have ample stores of glycogen in your system from your lunch. In order to get the most out of your cardio workout you need to burn off this glycogen before starting your cardio. To do this you should start your strength training first. After 30 minutes to an hour of strength training you should have burned up most of your glycogen stores. At this point when you get on the treadmill your entire 30 minutes will be spent burning the fat stored in your muscle tissue. Just remember to stay within or slightly above your FBZ.
By varying the speed at which you walk, jog, or run on the treadmill you will burn more calories per hour than the guy who keeps a steady fast pace. Also by increasing and decreasing the incline of the tread mill you will burn twice as many calories than someone who runs with no incline. This means that you can do in a half hour what the guy running for an hour is doing. A proper 30 minute routine should be similar to this:
walk 3 minutes
run 3 minutes
walk 3 minutes
run 3 minutes
walk 3 minutes incline 0.5
run 3 minutes incline 1.0
walk 3 minutes incline 1.0
run 3 minutes incline 1.5
walk 3 minutes incline 2.0
run 3 minutes incline 2.5
You can change this routine to fit your level of intensity but remember to stay within your Fat Burning Zone. With this routine you will get the same effect of the guy running 10 miles per hour and you will do it in half the time it takes for the guy running for 1 hour.
Finding Your Pulse
Most treadmills and bikes in the gym will tell you what your heart rate is and how many calories you have burned if you enter your weight and other info into their computers before starting but it is still useful to know how to find your pulse on your own. With a stopwatch in hand place two fingers on your neck or wrist to find your pulse. Count how many times your heart beats in 10 seconds and multiply this number by 6. The result you get is your current heart rate.
Getting Up to Speed
It's best to try to do your cardio with as little in your stomach as possible. A lot of people like to do their cardio workout first thing in the morning. Based on how our bodies create and use calories this seems like it should be the best time to burn fat. If you burn up the glycogen in your system and you have no food in your stomach, your body will start to burn the fat stored in your muscle tissue for energy. Most people have nothing in their stomachs in the morning so by doing their cardio in the morning their bodies have no choice but to burn fat for energy. However if you cannot workout first thing in the morning you have to burn up the glycogen in your system before your body starts to burn fat. If you don't do this then your 30 minutes of cardio will be almost useless because you won't be burning fat you will only be burning the glycogen in your system. You will still be burning calories regardless of that fact but in order to be trim and toned you need to burn the fat stored in your muscle tissue not just excess calories.
Lets say you go to the gym after work. At this point your body may still have ample stores of glycogen in your system from your lunch. In order to get the most out of your cardio workout you need to burn off this glycogen before starting your cardio. To do this you should start your strength training first. After 30 minutes to an hour of strength training you should have burned up most of your glycogen stores. At this point when you get on the treadmill your entire 30 minutes will be spent burning the fat stored in your muscle tissue. Just remember to stay within or slightly above your FBZ.
