It has been said that the best way to burn fat is to train within the fat burning zone. This fat burning zone is understood to be around the training intensity of 60-70% of your max heart rate*. Even though training at this intensity might use a higher percentage of calories from fat for fuel, there is a problem with this way of thinking.
Staying within the fat burning zone can cause the overall total calories burned to be fairly low, and losing weight is all about total caloric expenditure! So keeping the intensity down and the heart rate lower just so you can stay in the "fat burning zone", can have a negative affect on the total calories you burn from a work out session. For example, walking on a treadmill at 4 mph for 60 minutes can burn somewhere around 300 to 350 calories (or more depending on your weight), while running at 7 mph for half the time can burn around 350 to 400 calories. Try don't be so focused on your heart rate that you are not pushing yourself and getting the most effective work out you possibly can. Don't get me wrong heart rate is a great way to gage your intensity, but also think about how your body is feeling during the exercise, and how difficult it is.
A great way to gage this is your Rate of Perceived Exertion or RPE. This scale can help you determine the intensity level of your training by how difficult you feel the exercise is. The higher the rating you give yourself during exercise, the higher the intensity that you are working at.
Here is a great Treadmill work out to try so you can increase the intensity and total calorie expenditure that only takes a little more than 30 minutes.
Walk at a speed of 4 mph at an incline of 12 for 3 minutes, run at 7mph at an incline of 0 for 1 minute. Repeat 8 times. Cool down walk at 3 mph at 0 incline for 3 minutes. Total work out 35 minutes.
Adjust the speeds if needed to match your fitness level, but make sure to keep it challenging!
*Max heart rate = 220 - age.
A great way to gage this is your Rate of Perceived Exertion or RPE. This scale can help you determine the intensity level of your training by how difficult you feel the exercise is. The higher the rating you give yourself during exercise, the higher the intensity that you are working at.
Here is a great Treadmill work out to try so you can increase the intensity and total calorie expenditure that only takes a little more than 30 minutes.
Walk at a speed of 4 mph at an incline of 12 for 3 minutes, run at 7mph at an incline of 0 for 1 minute. Repeat 8 times. Cool down walk at 3 mph at 0 incline for 3 minutes. Total work out 35 minutes.
Adjust the speeds if needed to match your fitness level, but make sure to keep it challenging!
*Max heart rate = 220 - age.
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