cardio question

[beretta96]

what do you guys do for cardio? i was using an eliptical at max elevation and 70% resistance. switched to the stairmaster, burnt the same calories but felt I just about died. Really like the leg workout it gave me but I don't understand the difference between the fat burning zone and cardio zone.

I'm more interested in burning body fat off so I tend to go all out and keep my heart rate just below 170 bpm. Apparently I was told this is wrong and should stay at 120 bpm max.

So I'm wondering what you guys do to burn fat.

thanks guys

[baza]

60-70% of 220bpm - your age.
Ie if you are 20, 220 - 200= 200. 60-70% of that = 120-140.
65% is what you want to key on. When higher, you're doing a cardio workout.
For the record, I stopped doing cardio all together and burnt way more fat than if I was doing cardio.

[cheesesteak]

^^ no cardio? you on something or just have freaky genetics?

I've been doing 30-45 minutes bike or treadmill at 123-129 bpm everyday and it's lost me a good portion of fat.

[Kaly11]

i switch up cardio all the time..i get way tooo bored doing the same thing all the time. elliptical, tredmill, skipping rope, hill sprints etc.

[meathelmet]

The whole fat burning zone is a bunch of bs imo, any where between 65-80% is effective for fat burning. The fat loss process is not about the percentage of fat calories burnt its about how many calories in total are burnt. So really you are better off to train at a higher heartrate as it is a better workout for your cardiovascular system, the afterburn effect is greater and you burn more calories total in the same amount of time. Not saying that low intensity wont work as it will do wonders for some but higher intensity will burn fat more rapidly. oh and also those calorie counters on the machines are very inaccurate, theres a good chance you burned off a few more calories on the stepmill as it is a much higher intensity workout.

[tex]

The whole fat burning zone is a bunch of bs imo, any where between 65-80% is effective for fat burning. The fat loss process is not about the percentage of fat calories burnt its about how many calories in total are burnt. So really you are better off to train at a higher heartrate as it is a better workout for your cardiovascular system, the afterburn effect is greater and you burn more calories total in the same amount of time. unless you are carb restricted......cuz then you'll be burning muscle!! slow and steady wins the race for fatloss.....high intensity for cardio health......i am not carb restricted so i do sprints, punching bag, smash tires with a sledge etc.........

[BIGABOY]

I was going to ask this qustion I was doing incline walking on the treadmill for 20 - 25 mins, now iam going to do HIIT ( High intensity interval training) where you run for one min, walk for one min , do this for 15 or 20 mins, I hit a platue with the incline walking but it worked awsome i lost 30lbs when i was doing it.
And i do cardio once a week on an emptly stomach for 20 mins which works awsome for me

BIAGBOY

[bigtavi8]

i have a decent metablosism so 30-45 mins treadmill at 125bpm, OR recumbinant bike high resitance 30 min. This is all i have done for a while now and its perfect for me. Doesnt kill my energy for my workouts, keeps the fat off, doesnt burn up muscle to fast.