It's never made sense to me why on excercise machines there's the fat burning level and the cardio level, which is more intense and gets your heart rate up higher. Would you consider the cardio level also a fat burning level, just a step up with a different name? Or is the lower level really better for burning fat?
Isn't there also some truth to the fact that working out at a cardio level puts your body at a higher energy level for a longer period of time after working out, helping burn fat while you're recovering?
2007-02-22 04:49:15 · 8 answers · asked by someguy 3 in Health ➔ Diet & Fitness
It actually has a lot to do with duration. If you exercise long enough, the intensity matters less. Here is the general rule. Say you run (which is obvious cardio) the first 20 minutes, you are burning carbohydrates alone. 20-30 minutes you are burning both carbs and fat (about 50/50) for 40+ minutes, you are burning mostly fat because all the excess carbs are gone and the stored one's are being converted to...you guessed it... fat.
2007-02-22 04:56:39 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Most of that stuff is B.S., or at least B.S. for the average guy on the machine. Like having a tachometer on a car with an automatic transmission.
There is a certain amount of truth to it, bearing in mind that you have to go a bunch longer at fat burning level to burn the same number of total calories as you do at 'Cardio level'. If you're time limited, you're better off going harder in the time available.
Last data I saw said the 'post workout elevated metabolism' was mostly B.S. also.
Of course, the numbers on the machine are generic approximations. If you really wanted to know your numbers, you would have to spend several lengthy sessions and a lot of money in an exercise physiology lab determining YOUR Max heart rate, and YOUR Lactate threshold, etc, etc.
Another alternative, get a heartrate monitor and Sally Edwards' Heart Rate Monitor book. You can come up with some fairly decent approximations on your own. Ironically, by the time you go through enough workouts to get the hang of the monitor and the various 'zones', you wouldn't be fat anymore and it would be a moot point.
2007-02-22 13:30:32 · answer #2 · answered by silverbullet 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes it is, if your heart rate is too high, you're working too hard for nothing.
I always thought the same as you but they have now made studies that this isn't so, however if you do any type of exercise where your heart rate goes up, your bodies energy level stays up and you'll still burn calories for hours after.
2007-02-22 12:55:39 · answer #3 · answered by Mightymo 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I ran into a lady where I worked a couple if years ago and ask
her how she had lost so much weight. She told me she use a
cardiopedometer that kept her from walking too fast. She showed me about how fast her stride and gate was I almost couldn't believe how slow it really was. She said if she went at a slower rate she lost faster. She told me a doctor had told he about it.
She had at that time been walking for a couple of years and
looked great. I had never heard that walking faster may not be as beneficial.
2007-02-22 12:59:16 · answer #4 · answered by kat 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes,
They have found that intervals between intense workout and low pace is more effective in burning fat.
2007-02-22 12:58:11 · answer #5 · answered by rashynur 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes
2007-02-22 12:52:19 · answer #6 · answered by setter505 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
yes
interval training- switching from mid. intensity to high intensity- will burn more fat
keep your heart elevated by doing interval training
2007-02-22 12:52:31 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
will this help?
http://exercise.about.com/cs/cardioworkouts/a/cardio101.htm
2007-02-22 12:53:25 · answer #8 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋