Cardio

**Tatumbugg** · 03-04-2011, 01:42 PM

Anyone have result based opinions on better heart rate during cardio?

**Far from massive** · 03-04-2011, 04:01 PM

I am not sure I understand your question, do you mean has anyone experienced an improvement (lower) in their resting heartrate after incorporating cardio into their routine?

**Tatumbugg** · 03-04-2011, 04:05 PM

I'm asking tue best heart rate to burn fat. U know how the machines sat carido zone or fat burning

**Far from massive** · 03-04-2011, 04:35 PM

Ohh gotcha, On the machines where it has a heart rate that is based on age and says cardio that is the rate at which you will see significant conditioning of the heart lungs and circulatory system, below that rate you will mostly just burn fat. As far as the best rate to bun fat it all depends on how long you can maintain a set rate of resistance. When you do an exercise to burn fat you don't burn much fat for the first 15 minutes as the blood sugar supplies sufficient energy to fuel the muscles after the first 15 minutes the blood sugar drops and fat has to be burned to supply the body with energy. So while you will burn more fat at say 160bpm than 120bpm if you can only do 13 minutes of exercise at this rate you will not burn much fat so you are better of switching to a lower heart rate that allows you to do at least a half hour preferably more each session. At what point you are better off sacrificing some BPM for some time is a matter of opinion and of course it depends on how many times per week, whether it is fasted cardio etc. My feeling is if you have the time I feel a pace that will allow you to achieve 45-60 minutes is best assuming that you are in good enough shape to get your heart into its target range for fat burning.

**Tatumbugg** · 03-04-2011, 04:48 PM

Sounds good thanks. I do 30 minutes 5 days a week. I just wanted to make sure. I herd once that cardio zone could be a negative if you trying to put on muscle.

***FireGuy*** · 03-04-2011, 04:50 PM

Originally Posted by Tatumbugg

Sounds good thanks. I do 30 minutes 5 days a week. I just wanted to make sure. I herd once that cardio zone could be a negative if you trying to put on muscle.

People will come up with all sorts of reasons to avoid it. As long as your diet is somewhat dialed in and your cardio isnt excessive you shouldnt have to worry about it eating away muscle.

**LatissimusaurousRex** · 03-04-2011, 04:53 PM

Originally Posted by Tatumbugg

I'm asking tue best heart rate to burn fat. U know how the machines sat carido zone or fat burning

Also that "fat burning zone" is a bit of a myth. It is the optimal heart rate for you to use fat as fuel, however, not enough energy expenditure to really use too much of it.

**Matt Rock** · 03-04-2011, 05:05 PM

220 - your age = you maximum heart rate.
Take 65% of that and work in that BPM range for 40 mins steady state.
rinse, repeat.

Using the above formula on an incline treadmill (12.5%) works for me.

**Tatumbugg** · 03-04-2011, 05:11 PM

Sounds right I'm 35 and I'm usually in that 130-150 range foe 30 minutes. I can't run bad knees but elliptical works good enough.

**Far from massive** · 03-04-2011, 05:17 PM

Originally Posted by FireGuy

People will come up with all sorts of reasons to avoid it. As long as your diet is somewhat dialed in and your cardio isnt excessive you shouldnt have to worry about it eating away muscle.

Yeah there was a time back in my early 20s back when I was racing road bikes when I could burn muscle doing cardio but I had a resting heart rate of 36 back then. Of course if I tried to push 400 watts for 35 minutes now they would be pulling a corpse off the machine at about 3.5 minutes LOL. I really think people really underestimate the amount of energy expenditure needed to push into any significant muscle burning.

**Tatumbugg** · 03-04-2011, 05:22 PM

I have been working hard for 4 weeks and diet is 85%in check. My bf is down and my waist is down an inch but I only lost a pound guess im bulking a little. Started test p we'd first timer can't wait to see what happens and how fast.

**clayton2127** · 03-04-2011, 10:43 PM

What about doing interval cardio? well, i dunno what its called but when you walk for a min or 2 then run for a minute or 2.. your heart rate def bumps up alot. how long would you do this for vs just doing your target heart rate for 30 min? is it even recommended?

**Far from massive** · 03-04-2011, 11:02 PM

IMHO It boils down to the same thing as doing the cardio at a higher load, as long as you can do it for the amount of time you are willing to do your cardio for then its great. By incorporating intervels you will get your heartbeat into the target range of improvment of the cardiovascular system instead of just fat burning, the only time it would be bad is if you were doing say 45 minutes at a fat burning level and by switching to intervals you were only able to do 15 minutes in that case it would be a bad choice. This is the whole idea of interval training to allow you to achieve a high heart rate and really tax the cardiovascular system yet since you soon drop back to a lower level you are able to keep going.

**clayton2127** · 03-04-2011, 11:41 PM

so is this good for just burning fat and no muscle? or atleast minimal muscle? I dont do much cardio, well at a time because i fear losing the muscle that i have worked so hard to get.. I am a cardio virgin so to speak.