|
|
|
A common healthy mistake is going too easy on cardio by staying in the infamous “Fat Burning Zone”. With all our technology and zone labeling, the average person is being led astray! Use that “Fat Burning” target heart rate zone to ease into your first couple weeks. Then it’s time to bump it up and really burn some fat!
A huge plateau for current exercisers already plugging away is that they are going stale with their low to moderate intensities for long durations. I am sorry to say that in my 20 years of going to the gym, I have seen many portly people drudging away in aerobic classes and lollygagging on treadmills. Even worse, these efforts go on for months, even years without making much headway. How come? Target heart rate zones are relative! All things being equal, the average person at any age can go beyond the Fat Burning Zone! Perhaps the Fat Burning Zone could better be called Cardiac Rehab Zone or something more appropriately precautious for a beginner. The masses need not be confused and I always have to correct this healthy mistake!
Studies on the benefits of aerobic exercise have been misconstrued leading America (and several of it’s trainers) to believe that it is necessary to spend anywhere from 20-40 minutes before fat burning begins. This is the far from the truth. The fact is that it’s very, very easy to burn fat. The more at rest we are, the higher the percentage of fat we are burning. Sitting around doing nothing, we are using a higher ratio of fat for the majority of the body’s energy needs than when we exercise. Wow! Is that a twist to what everybody tells you or what? It’s not about the ratios or percentages! Don't believe me? Take a look at those gymnasts and sprinters! Not too many fat ones are there?
If we are always burning fat, why aren’t we all skinny? I’m sure that we have all spent literally years of our lives burning high percentages of fat. The obvious problem with sitting around is that the total calories burned watching television is too low. Who cares if you’re burning 90%, 80%, 70% fat? High percentages of fat being burned mean less total calories! I don’t want to know my stinking ratios! I want to burn some fat! We don’t get lean by reading a book or cruising on the stationary bike in the gym. Both are burning high percentages of fat. We need to crank it up! Kicking it up a notch means burning more fat per minute. Even if your ratio of fat to carbs is leaning more towards the carbs, minute vs minute, the higher intensity burns more fat per minute. Who cares about the percentages! Until you hit the very top anaerobic zone, you burn more fat per minute the harder you work.
|
|
|
|
|
