Group: General Fitness & Exercise

Created: 2011/12/31, Members: 383, Messages: 54581

Various general exercise related discussions. Find out what it takes to reach your fitness goals through daily effective exercise. With so many options we try to find out what works best.

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Cardio Question

clarkem
clarkem
Posts: 2
Joined: 2004/01/09
United States
2004/01/30, 12:02 PM
Every cardio machine at my gym has a graph that has two zones for your heart rate: "fat loss zone" & "cardiovascular zone". The fat loss zone covers the lower range of the graph. So if your heart rate is slower you are burning more fat. Wouldn't you burn more fat if your heart rate were higher? This is my logic: faster pace = higher heart rate = more calories burned = more fat burned. So aren't these graphs a bunch of B.S.? Or is there such a thing as "fat loss zone"? Please correct me if my logic is wrong.
bb1fit
bb1fit
Posts: 11,105
Joined: 2001/06/30
United States
2004/01/30, 01:02 PM
The answer is yes....many of those machines came out when and even now it was thought that longer durations at a slower pace burned more fat.

For best results, do HIIT, where you get your heart rate up for X amount of time, then drop it back down to a active rest at a lower pace, then crank it back up to X again, and so on. This works the best, and will burn more fat over a daily basis(keep baseline metabolism up) moreso than other forms of cardio. You can do this on any equipment, even on a track or steps outside.

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If you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything....
EGChic207
EGChic207
Posts: 288
Joined: 2002/03/25
United States
2004/01/30, 02:28 PM
Yea I really don't mess with those machine readings....what I do is for me go for a 40 minute cardio run and every 3 minutes or so I go at a faster pace and if they have it, press the resistance or incline button to make the strides more difficult...and like bb1fit said, vary your workout with HITT

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Tiffany Der

"You have to make it through the rain in order to see the Rainbow........."