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Cardio
Reply With QuoteHi, and welcome to the community.Originally Posted by bearcat
What sort of change are you shooting for? And what's your starting point?I have always been active but just started working out to see a change rather than just stay in shape.
You need to define where you currently are and exactly where you'd like to go if you'd like to receive personalized advice.
Don't believe everything you read.I realize the cardio I'm doing needs to be different, but what would you suggest?
This is exactly wrong.I normally just run a few miles but I was told that if I want to burn fat I need to keep my heart rate lower than it is when I run?
I'm assuming what you've heard is something about the fat burning heart rate zone, right?
Let's look at the actual data though.
Depending on the intensity of exercise (intensity is defined as a percentage of max heart rate), you'll use various fuel substrates. There are 3 primary sources of fuel and these are fat, glucose/glycogen, and the phosphagen system.
The lower the intensity of exercise, the more the activity will be fueled by fat. The higher the intensity of exercise, the more the activity will be fueld by sugar and the phosphagen system.
People took this to mean, "Exercise at lower intensities to lose more fat."
That's wrong, though. Ya see, fuel substate used during activity matters little in terms of net fat loss. What matters most is total work done during the bout of exercise as it's the net calories expended that make the most difference.
Look at it like this: At complete rest is when the largest percentage of fuel is coming from fat oxidation. So why don't we sit on our butts all day to lose the greatest amount of fat?
A friend and author of mine, Alan Aragon, recently wrote an article with regards to this very subject. In it he states:
"Although I’m burning a greater proportion of stored fat typing this sentence, getting up and sprinting would have a greater impact on fat reduction despite its lesser proportional use of fat to power the increased intensity."
Exercising at higher intensities, even though it relies less on fat as fuel, leads to greater fat loss "at the end of the day."
The myth comes from the fact that people only ever pay attention to fat oxidation (burning) during exercise and never stop to think, "Hey, the total fat oxidation is what truly matters... not just the oxidation happening DURING the bout of exercise!"
There's no clear answer here.So... what is a good cardio workout? (Treadmill, Elliptical, Bike etc) and what do you keep your heart rate at, how long do you go?
It depends on your level of conditioning and even then, there are many different ways to structure a cardio program with varying degrees of intensity.
We can get into some of that once we're sure you understand what's been said so far.
Also, what piece of equipment you use for your cardio, if any at all, matters little.
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