Ignore The Charts - Pay Attention To Your Own Heart To Lose Weight And Maximize Fitness

If you spend any time at the local gym or fitness club, you have likely seen the huge, laminated posters that show you the so called nirvana of exercise, the fat burning zone. Those posters and even some of the trainers that you encounter may tell you that you need to work out until you are at 60-70% of your maximum heart rate, justifying this advice by saying that it is where the body burns the most fat. However, that outdated information is not only wrong, it does not take into account the differences in individual energy consumption. It also does not take into account that during exercise, particularly very intense workouts, your body is actually burning carbohydrates rather than fat for energy.

The human body burns more fat when it is at rest, rather than during exercise. While you are resting or recovering after a workout, 60% of your body’s energy comes from stored fat while 35% comes from carbohydrates. Knowing this, most people assume that they should then be working out with lowered intensity to tap into that fat burning. The problem with the thinking is simple: lowered intensity typically means lowered overall calorie burn for most people. If you are going to work out with the very low intensity, you have to increase your duration dramatically.

Using a basic heart rate monitor can help you to keep track of your body and how it reacts to different forms of exercise. A more advanced monitor can help you track your calories burned during your workout and will also show you how efficiently you are breathing as well as other key numbers. What works for one body may not work for another, which is why most personal trainers work with a client for a few days before recommending a fitness program.

Going full out does not always sound so appealing to most exercisers, especially those that are beginners or have physical restrictions of any kind. A better option to consider is using interval training which allows you to go all out for a minute or two and then dropping back to a more comfortable level to recover for an equal amount of time. The intervals are repeated like that until the full time for the workout has been reached. Studies have shown that most exercisers may burn as much as two times the number of calories when they work out this way, during their exercise but may also continue burning calories for as long as twenty four hours after the workout ends.

Low intensity workouts may benefit those who have knee, shoulder or other joint problems as well as those who are severely overweight and may not be able to keep up with a faster paced, higher intensity workout. Walking can help those people gain their fitness and may enable them to work up to the higher intensity exercises in time.

1. Prev:How Many Calories To Maintain Weight? - Are You Overating
2. Next:Foods That Causes Belly Fat – Avoid These Fat Gaining Foods