Target Heart rate, whats the deal?

[Matt @ Skye Service]

Is target heart rate, for losing weight a myth or the real deal?
Can anyone explain

[Toma]

Well, it is real....

Apparantly for fat loss, you wanna target a lower heart rate...something liek 120 to 140 bpm, as this way, the body gets most it's energy from fat stores.

Too intense, and hr higher then that, you use your glycogen stores.

But, there are times that it should not make a difference...like if you exercise in the AM before you eat and your glycogen stores are already depleted.

You want the best cardio on the planet??

Do squats. Then, after you can squat x amount of weight for 10 reps. Take the SAME weight and MAKE yourself pump out 20 reps. DO them like "breathing squats".... deep huge breaths at the top of the reps, pause when you have to, just make sure you do 20.

It's unbelievable, and if you do that 2 times a week (adding 5 pounds EVERY workout), you will lose more weight and improve your conditioning more then any fat schmuck that has been pumping the starimaster twice a day 5 days a week. Guaranteed.

[mcshow]

whats the deal with doing these squats, how does this make you loose weight? like what is the evidence or background to just doing this set up for squating?

[mcshow]

oh as well for target heart rate you want to keep your heart rate within 60-70% of your HRmax for optimal fat loss because it associated with burning fat rather than glycogen, however when you increase your heart rate you are causing your body to work hard and rather being to work on more of a cardiovasuclar side when you hit around 75%max HR and over

for a quick little test to take your age - 220 this gives you your max heart rate and from there you can figure out your own personal target heart range

[Tyler883]

I'm not convinced of what I'm about to say, but when I read about it, it made some sense to me.

Here's shat I heard:

That the value of walking and cardio at a low heart rate has been so addimantly encouraged( and right so) that sometimes it has implied the a person is wrong to be doing cardio at the higher heart rates.

Also, I've heard that although a lower heart rate burns more body fat, and a higher heart rate tends to burn up your glycogen............total calories burnt during the exercise may be more significant in the long run.

[tsi_neal]

I think that the target heartrate theory is garbage.

think of it this way, you work out at 70% max which is the 'fat burning' zone and say you burn 500 calories of which 80% are fat so 400 calories of fat(im making these numbers up so dont complain that they arent accurate). Now you can work out at 85-90% heartrate for the same period of time and say you burn a total of 750 calories but only 60% are fat thats still 450 fat calories. AND you get a higher total caloric burn, better cardio workout, better impact on your metabolism, and the resting fat burn will be higher.

Now as said before the numbers i used arent totally accurate, but ive seen studies that prove it with accurate results. Basically the fat burning target heart rate will burn the most fat to effort input, but is not the overall most effective way. also i wouldnt reccomed that out of shape people start with a HIGH impact cardio routine without building up to it.

[Mckenzie]

Here are some articles I have found on this subject. I have started doing cardio so I am also interested in this. It seems that tsi neal is correct.

http://www.brianmac.demon.co.uk/fatburn.htm
http://www.brianmac.demon.co.uk/hrm1.htm
http://www.abc.net.au/dimensions/dimensions_health/Transcripts/s917465.htm
http://ris.uno.edu/words_0401.pdf#search='fat%20burning%20zone'

[heavyD]

Originally posted by Toma
Well, it is real....

Apparantly for fat loss, you wanna target a lower heart rate...something liek 120 to 140 bpm, as this way, the body gets most it's energy from fat stores.

Too intense, and hr higher then that, you use your glycogen stores.

But, there are times that it should not make a difference...like if you exercise in the AM before you eat and your glycogen stores are already depleted.

You want the best cardio on the planet??

Do squats. Then, after you can squat x amount of weight for 10 reps. Take the SAME weight and MAKE yourself pump out 20 reps. DO them like "breathing squats".... deep huge breaths at the top of the reps, pause when you have to, just make sure you do 20.

It's unbelievable, and if you do that 2 times a week (adding 5 pounds EVERY workout), you will lose more weight and improve your conditioning more then any fat schmuck that has been pumping the starimaster twice a day 5 days a week. Guaranteed.

I never realized that you lose weight with them but squats are THE best way to get strong. Too many guys I see in the gym spend all their time doing benchpress or biceps. Squats are how the big guys are made.

[Matt @ Skye Service]

Wow you guys are amazing!! thanks

[Tyler883]

Originally posted by heavyD


I never realized that you lose weight with them but squats are THE best way to get strong. Too many guys I see in the gym spend all their time doing benchpress or biceps. Squats are how the big guys are made.

Yeah, I've heard the legs referred to as a "second heart". To me, it sounded like they were implying that working your legs will improve everything.

[Toma]

Well, i wont bore you with studies and research (of which there is TONS, mainly from the 60's and 70's)...

HARD squats stress the body so much that it realeases GH and test. and build muscle (and of course, that requires energy, raises metabolism etc).

In fact, I think it was UCLA that did a study on their footbal team, and the guys that did the hard squats lost 3% more fat then the cardio group in only 4 weeks!

[~Leah~]

I wouldn't call it all garbage... but I don't agree with the "cardio training zone" and "fat burning zone" things.

Think about it...

You do 30 mins of walking at 3.5 mph, lets say you burn 100 cals (your body uses carbs for energy first, then fats, then proteins)
You do 30 mins of running at 7.0 mph, lets say you burn 300 cals... obviously the higher your heart rate, the more intense workout, the more calories your body burns, the more fat you will end up losing.

[badseed]

^^ Finally, someone who is knowledgable on this topic. I've been reading this thread for awhile and every time someone has something new and clever to add.

It only makes sense and I totally agree with the post above. Your body will always use carbs first as it's primary energy source, you don't start actually metabolizing fat until your glycogen stores are depleted, this is a fact that can't be argued. Generally it takes about 30 minutes of moderate-high intensity cardio to deplete your carb stores then you start buring fat.

There is a theory of exercising in the morning when your stomach is empty to burn fat because your glycogen stores are low. But then again your intensity is limited because you have no readily available energy.

Higher intensity/same duration = increased calorie expenditure

Burn more calories than you consume = weight loss

Very simple concept, I hope some of you can grasp this.

[Tyler883]

Originally posted by badseed
^^

Higher intensity/same duration = increased calorie expenditure

Burn more calories than you consume = weight loss

Very simple concept, I hope some of you can grasp this.

Right on!

This is an example where the experts that have a whole lot of smarts may not have a lot of common sense

. ie. the target heartrate stuff is probably true, but it doesn't supercede the basic common sense rules that everyone on this thread seem to understand.

[Darkane]

Toma has a good point also, Cant forget either that muscle mass eats fat (or so ive heard) so it makes sense to increase muscle. In the legs (quads) being the largest muscle in the body will burn more fat when built. I hope this sorta made sense :) or maybe im just talking out my ass..:dunno:

[~Leah~]

Muscle matt doesn't eat fat... however, muscle burns more calories than fat... so in essense I could see how someone might come up with an idea like that... but it's another simple concept: muscle burns more calories than fat! Ta da!

[Toma]

Actually, the reality of working your legs is far more then just about building muscle....

Hard leg work, like Squats stresses the body so hard, your body releases endorphins, growth hormone and testosterone.... all of which metabolize fat when present in higher quantities.

The same hormones that are reduced as we age is why we get fatter as we get older....