Training & Nutrition - Heart rate question

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skiahh
07-26-06, 06:59 PM
OK, I've read the guides, rules, strageties etc about where to train using a heart rate monitor but what I don't understand is WHY 65% of MHR is the best for burning fat/losing weight. Can anyone explain this for me?

The only thing I can think of is that at 65% you're not wokring to exhaustion and you can keep the pace up for a good long time, but that doesn't really seem to make sense.

So.. why is that the best place to losing weight vs say, 75%, where you are presumably working harder?

kuan
07-26-06, 08:02 PM
You're always burning a mixture of glycogen and fat.

The more anaerobic you get, the less fat your burn.

The more anaerobic you get, the higher your HR.

65% is the HR, which, for most people, seem like they're not going anaerobic.

For some couch potatoes, 65% seems like a huge effort. Conversely, highly trained individuals can feel like they can be aerobic all day at 80%.

You can burn a lesser percentage of fat but burn more total fat at a higher HR. If you have little time and want to lose weight, burning calories should be your primary goal. Forget about fat burning zones. If you have all day, then go take a long hike.

That's sorta how it goes.