Heart Rates?!?!

dan6311

Could anyone help me clear up what is the ideal heart rate when running?!

I've read about keeping it low, about 65% of your MHR (the 'fat burning zone'), and not to exceed 85% of your MHR. Some say that at 65% you burn more fat, and some say that at 85% you burn more glucose but this burns more calories (which are stored as fat if there's excess).

I do 45min running, 9kph on flat - a steady pace that I have no problem keeping at. I have a cheap heart rate monitor which says that after about 25min onwards, my MHR is between 85% and about 92%. I'm 26years old, 5'9, just under 14 stone, and I want to get down to about 12.5stone.

So, am I doing more harm than good at the moment with my heart rate at 85%+ (if I''m getting an accurate reading)?

What's the most effective way to lose weight?!

splinter

Tone down the pace of the exercise so your around the 65% range.

Try not to let your HR go over 130bpm!

dan6311

I've tried cardio at 65%, I don't get out of breath doing it and feel like I'm wasting my time lol! Even at 85% I'm not that much out of breath - I can have short conversations

TheCrazyCal

its not about not being able to breathe lol.

the higher the % you do cardio at the more muscle gets burnt along with fat.
its a lil bit statistCAL really.
if you wanna get fit keep % high, if you wanna drop fat walk as fast as you can...

if youre walking i`d go for an hour-or double the time you run...
4 mile walks are just right for me..takes about 50 mins.


simples.

ahh reread and you already do 45 min runs..
are you not happy with the results from running then?


tbh i always start rolling my eyes when i read stuff like this and start wondering about the real purpose of a question...

if you do cardio after training you burn fat 300% faster blah blah..
if you do cardio on an empty tum tum first thing in morning..blah blah..

if you need to look at stuff on this microscopic level somethings waaaay off.

einsteins mind was the key to all things...to understand more than to know.

www.extremenutrition.co.uk

www.needles-r-us.co.uk

Pikey

Why are you running; for fitness or fat burning, if you are a bodybuilder looking to burn fat and not muscle don't run it's a different sport?

If you're looking to be fit and carry some excess muscle go for it.

My wife is a distance runner, just about to do her 7th marathon she runs them as opposed to does the distance, i.e. no walking, she's also looking at doing at 40 mile ultra this summer.

She doesn’t worry about % heart rates as is the case for almost every other hard core distance runner I know of which I know a fair few, she runs any given distance at a pace which she can maintain for that distance i.e. 7 min miles 7:30 min miles etc dependant on distance. So if you are running for fitness pick a pace you can maintain for the run and step it up for the last 15% of the run.

While H is lean I know a fair few distance runners who aren't that lean and it never ceases to amaze me how many runners I see at races coming in at respectable times who are carrying a noticable amount of excess fat.

dan6311

To be honest, I just want to lose body fat more than anything, and I want to lose it in the most effective way I can. Once I've lost the body fat I then plan on building lean muscle over a year or so. There are so many different opinions and 'correct' ways of doing it that I just try to read as much as I can to try and get a general view, but I find the best advice usually comes from people with first hand experience - like people on this site. It's getting to become very frustrating with so many people saying different things.
It's hard to find simple answers!!

Pikey

To lose fat while sparing as much muscle as you can you need a good diet which is high in protein low in fat and provides enough carbs to stop you going totally catabolic while leaving you calorie deficient. If you engage in a moderate amount of low intensity cardio you can eat a few more calories, this approach is the norm with almost all competitive bodybuilders. High intensity cardio burns far too much muscle.