I know that there are several options regarding cardio. Here is my question....

How do you guys keep it your heart rates so low for fasted LISS? I feel like I am not doing anything if i go that slow. I have been doing cardio for awhile and I think I have gotten myself into cardiovascular shape, but when i do Cardio if my heart is below 160 i dont feel like I am doing any good. And i like to break a good sweat, so I would say i am at about 165-170 most of the time (fasted for 30 minutes). I am 30, so I guess my general max is 190, meaning for max fat loss i have to keep it between 133-160. Am i doing any damamge by keeping it higher? Right now I am doing cardio only, to drop my body fat/weight, and plan on returning to strength training as soon as I reach my fat loss goal.

Also, I use the heart monitor sensors that are on the equipment. Is it possible that I think my heart rate is that high, but its really less and Id be crazy to think im at 160-175 for that long? :confused:

Thanks!
Heather

I'm also curious about this...I feel like if I'm below 160 I'm just not going at a pace I want to be. I'm usually around ~170 as well.

when i do cardio and remain in the 140-150 range i break a good sweat, but perhaps i just sweat a lot :p

Do you know what your resting heartrate is?


Jason

Do you know what your resting heartrate is?


Jason


Im not sure. I took it today as i was just sitting around at my desk and it was 64.

when i do cardio and remain in the 140-150 range i break a good sweat, but perhaps i just sweat a lot :p

I sweat alot too, but not at that low of a heart rate. :bb:

As many of us here recommend, don't do fasted cardio at all. Go for a walk in the morning if you don't want to eat, but dear god save your muscle mass!

If you don't feel like you're getting a good workout, have a little food (a fruit and some protein) before heading to the gym. This way liver glygcpgen is retored a little, and you can spare yourself losing too much skeletal muscle. And this way, you can safely get your HR up to where you feel like you are getting a good workout.


I know that there are several options regarding cardio. Here is my question....

How do you guys keep it your heart rates so low for fasted LISS? I feel like I am not doing anything if i go that slow. I have been doing cardio for awhile and I think I have gotten myself into cardiovascular shape, but when i do Cardio if my heart is below 160 i dont feel like I am doing any good. And i like to break a good sweat, so I would say i am at about 165-170 most of the time (fasted for 30 minutes). I am 30, so I guess my general max is 190, meaning for max fat loss i have to keep it between 133-160. Am i doing any damamge by keeping it higher? Right now I am doing cardio only, to drop my body fat/weight, and plan on returning to strength training as soon as I reach my fat loss goal.

Also, I use the heart monitor sensors that are on the equipment. Is it possible that I think my heart rate is that high, but its really less and Id be crazy to think im at 160-175 for that long? :confused:

Thanks!
Heather

Ok, I went to the gym last night and instead of the machine (elliptical cross trainer)cycling through all the stats i froze it on HR. I guess the few times i happened to look I was going up a hill or something b/c for the most part, my HR was between about 155-160 and I was exerting myself just fine! I only shot up to 165-170 when i was climbing a difficult hill, so I guess I am in the zone i need to be in.

I only shot up to 165-170 when i was climbing a difficult hill, so I guess I am in the zone i need to be in.

You guess? If I'm going to put forth the effort, I'd rather be 100% positive that my efforts were spot on.

An often utilized formula for max heart rate is: MHR = 220 - Age.

I'm tired of debating cardio issues, so this'll be my last input on the whole schpiel. People can debate it from here on out until they're blue in the face. I just hope they pick one and stick with it... 'cause without cardio, a lean body isn't very easy to achieve.

Fasted, steady state cardio is just fine and will spare your lean mass if you eat to support your cardiovascular effort. HIIT is obviously higher in intensity and I think it's a great alternative for those who need to "feel like they're doing enough", but that is a silly sentiment I believe to be associated with people who haven't properly educated themselves to fitness. For some, like John, HIIT works better, and there's no arguing that. Similarly, for me, LISS works. 53-lbs. lost, 8" off my waist, and my restored health is more than proof enough for me. First and foremost, choosing a type of cardio is more a matter of figuring out what you like to do and will do consistently as opposed to what's theoretically optimal or what you think is "working hard enough". Many people here claim that HIIT is more effective overall, but if you hate doing it and avoid cardio at all costs because you don't like to do HIIT, what good is it? It's absolutely no good whatsoever if you don't do your cardio. You can show me all the pie charts, graphs, scientific papers, and expert opinions in the world that tell me HIIT is better than LISS, but I really don't give a flying fornication. I hate doing HIIT, it causes catabolism in my body, and I won't stick to it. That kinda makes it absolutely no good to me despite the many theoretical claims that it's "the best".

People seem to share the same ignorant stigma about all forms of exercise. You perceive that you're not doing enough because you share that stigma the rest of the world seems to have - people believe that if exercise isn't completely taxing, they think they're not doing enough. They think they could and most think they should do more. Nothing could be further from the truth.

First of all, taxing oneself every time you work out, in my opinion, will eventually lead a person to overtrain, burn out on exercising, or both. Remember, you're going to exercise for the rest of your life. Therefore I believe that exercise should be approached with the mindset that it's a marathon that you enjoy running, not a sprint that you grudgingly force yourself to engage in. In my opinion, slow and steady will win that kind of race every time out.

Now... for the more technical portion of this rant. Lower intensity, extended duration cardio uses oxygen to mobilize fat. In order for your body to continuously and evenly distribute oxygen throughout your body, you must maintain a moderate heart rate - not a sky-high heart rate. Fat is "burned" in the presence of oxygen. When your heart rate exceeds about 70%~75% of its maximum capacity, the lungs are no longer able to absorb, replenish and resupply the bloodstream with enough oxygen to continue utilizing fat stores alone for energy. (As such, for a 28-year old woman as you are, your max heart rate during LISS would be around 145). At that point, the body begins using muscle glycogen to fuel the body (look into the ATP/ADP cycle). You're no longer consuming enough oxygen to burn fat; you're now getting into the realm of shorter duration, more intense cardio.

Me? My heart rate never exceeds about 140~145 any morning I do LISS. If it does, I back it down a bit. 53-lbs. later, you can't tell me that my approach is not optimal for me. If you'd asked me to do HIIT from the get-go, I'd still be 187-lbs. because I hate doing it. Period. I don't much like LISS often times, but it works, it's necessary, and I know exactly how to eat to maximize the type of cardio I do. I've increased my lean mass by 5-lbs. and decreased my body fat by the same amount over the past 5 months on a relatively constant caloric deficit. I don't think I could have made similar gains utilizing HIIT, but then again, that's not something I care to find out, either.

So... if you take anything away from this, it's that you don't have to beat yourself to a pulp to gain from exercise. Consistency and nutrition mean more to cardiovascular exercise than the exercise itself and don't be mislead by an effort you perceived to be less than maximal. You're are most certainly gaining from the effort, you're just not dog-tired when you finish. I think this is a very beneficial lesson to learn and no matter how often I've shouted it in these forums, you get more people walking in the door thinking they have to practically die on the elliptical machine to lose body fat.

So be it, people. Kill yourselves. While your carcass is lying in the ditch on the side of the fitness highway, I'll casually stroll by leaving lost body fat behind me. I don't believe that anyone can operate at a maximal capacity without eventually, and inevitably, falling off the proverbial wagon.

Good luck.

-R

I am 30 years old, not 28.

Thanks for the info.


You guess? If I'm going to put forth the effort, I'd rather be 100% positive that my efforts were spot on.

An often utilized formula for max heart rate is: MHR = 220 - Age.

I'm tired of debating cardio issues, so this'll be my last input on the whole schpiel. People can debate it from here on out until they're blue in the face. I just hope they pick one and stick with it... 'cause without cardio, a lean body isn't very easy to achieve.

Fasted, steady state cardio is just fine and will spare your lean mass if you eat to support your cardiovascular effort. HIIT is obviously higher in intensity and I think it's a great alternative for those who need to "feel like they're doing enough", but that is a silly sentiment I believe to be associated with people who haven't properly educated themselves to fitness. For some, like John, HIIT works better, and there's no arguing that. Similarly, for me, LISS works. 53-lbs. lost, 8" off my waist, and my restored health is more than proof enough for me. First and foremost, choosing a type of cardio is more a matter of figuring out what you like to do and will do consistently as opposed to what's theoretically optimal or what you think is "working hard enough". Many people here claim that HIIT is more effective overall, but if you hate doing it and avoid cardio at all costs because you don't like to do HIIT, what good is it? It's absolutely no good whatsoever if you don't do your cardio. You can show me all the pie charts, graphs, scientific papers, and expert opinions in the world that tell me HIIT is better than LISS, but I really don't give a flying fornication. I hate doing HIIT, it causes catabolism in my body, and I won't stick to it. That kinda makes it absolutely no good to me despite the many theoretical claims that it's "the best".

People seem to share the same ignorant stigma about all forms of exercise. You perceive that you're not doing enough because you share that stigma the rest of the world seems to have - people believe that if exercise isn't completely taxing, they think they're not doing enough. They think they could and most think they should do more. Nothing could be further from the truth.

First of all, taxing oneself every time you work out, in my opinion, will eventually lead a person to overtrain, burn out on exercising, or both. Remember, you're going to exercise for the rest of your life. Therefore I believe that exercise should be approached with the mindset that it's a marathon that you enjoy running, not a sprint that you grudgingly force yourself to engage in. In my opinion, slow and steady will win that kind of race every time out.

Now... for the more technical portion of this rant. Lower intensity, extended duration cardio uses oxygen to mobilize fat. In order for your body to continuously and evenly distribute oxygen throughout your body, you must maintain a moderate heart rate - not a sky-high heart rate. Fat is "burned" in the presence of oxygen. When your heart rate exceeds about 70%~75% of its maximum capacity, the lungs are no longer able to absorb, replenish and resupply the bloodstream with enough oxygen to continue utilizing fat stores alone for energy. (As such, for a 28-year old woman as you are, your max heart rate during LISS would be around 145). At that point, the body begins using muscle glycogen to fuel the body (look into the ATP/ADP cycle). You're no longer consuming enough oxygen to burn fat; you're now getting into the realm of shorter duration, more intense cardio.

Me? My heart rate never exceeds about 140~145 any morning I do LISS. If it does, I back it down a bit. 53-lbs. later, you can't tell me that my approach is not optimal for me. If you'd asked me to do HIIT from the get-go, I'd still be 187-lbs. because I hate doing it. Period. I don't much like LISS often times, but it works, it's necessary, and I know exactly how to eat to maximize the type of cardio I do. I've increased my lean mass by 5-lbs. and decreased my body fat by the same amount over the past 5 months on a relatively constant caloric deficit. I don't think I could have made similar gains utilizing HIIT, but then again, that's not something I care to find out, either.

So... if you take anything away from this, it's that you don't have to beat yourself to a pulp to gain from exercise. Consistency and nutrition mean more to cardiovascular exercise than the exercise itself and don't be mislead by an effort you perceived to be less than maximal. You're are most certainly gaining from the effort, you're just not dog-tired when you finish. I think this is a very beneficial lesson to learn and no matter how often I've shouted it in these forums, you get more people walking in the door thinking they have to practically die on the elliptical machine to lose body fat.

So be it, people. Kill yourselves. While your carcass is lying in the ditch on the side of the fitness highway, I'll casually stroll by leaving lost body fat behind me. I don't believe that anyone can operate at a maximal capacity without eventually, and inevitably, falling off the proverbial wagon.

Good luck.

-R

First and foremost, choosing a type of cardio is more a matter of figuring out what you like to do and will do consistently as opposed to what's theoretically optimal or what you think is "working hard enough". Many people here claim that HIIT is more effective overall, but if you hate doing it and avoid cardio at all costs because you don't like to do HIIT, what good is it? It's absolutely no good whatsoever if you don't do your cardio.
That is a very good point. Doesn't matter as much what kind of cardio you do, as long as you do it. :bb:

Yeah, I feel good when I am done and I dont dread doing it so I am in the right place for me.

That is a very good point. Doesn't matter as much what kind of cardio you do, as long as you do it. :bb:

To help answer the original question, I can keep my heart rate low by setting the elliptical machine to the proper level of resistance that will keep my heart rate in the proper range. Then, I read books. There are so many good books that I want to read and I can devote 40 or 45 minutes to reading every time I LISS. About every 10 mintues or so, I check my heart rate. If it is out-of-range, I adjust. I usually need to adjust once each session, but sometimes not. I set the resistance and then I read. I take my mind off my body and don't worry about it. It's been working so far.

Hope this helps.