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Understanding Cardio Training
One of the best ways to burn that extra body fat is to start doing cardiovascular exercise (also known as aerobic exercise). If you're already doing cardiovascular activity, there are ways to make it much more efficient at burning fat. Here are some ideas (my little y2k present to you) to help you:
Move!
Choose an activity that will raise and sustain your heart rate at a consistent level. (E.g. walking, running, biking, rowing) Most competitive sports such as basketball, softball, or racquetball are not the best activities to burn fat. There is too much fluctuation in your heart rate. It's also a good idea to mix up your activities or throw in something different at least once a week. This will help you to keep you from getting bored and your body from getting overuse injuries. For example, walking outdoors is my favorite cardio/aerobic activity but, once a week I'll ride a bike, do the Nordic track, or climb stairs for a change.
Frequency and Duration
Commit to doing that activity for a total of 120 minutes a week. This 120 minutes can be broken down any way you want as long as you do no less than 20 minutes at a time or no more than 40 minutes at a time. For example, you could do four 30-minute workouts, six 20-minute workouts, three 40-minute workouts, or a combination, as long as you have done 120 minutes by the end of the week. One little catch: you can't include your warm up and cooldown time (which should be 5 minutes each) in the total.
Intensity
To be most effective at burning fat and increasing cardiovascular health, your cardiovascular activity should be done in your target heart rate range. The general formula for finding your heart rate range is:
| 220 - your age x 60% = lower limit |
| 80% = upper limit |
If you want your heart rate range to be more individualized you will want to use the formula which takes into account your resting heart rate. Your resting heart rate (RHR) is a good indication of how fit you are and is obtained either first thing in the morning or last thing at night in a lying down position. You should be completely relaxed. Using a second hand on a watch or clock, take your pulse for one whole minute. (Don't be tempted to count for 30 seconds or less and then multiply) Do this two more times and then go with the lowest number you get. You can also do this with a heart rate monitor.
Now that you have your resting heart rate (RHR), you need to plug it into the following formula:
| 60% + your RHR = lower limit |
| 220 - your age - your RHR x |
| 80% + your RHR = upper limit |
Example
Susan is 40 years old and has a resting heart rate of 52
| 60% = 77 + 52 = 129 |
| 220 - 40 = 180 - 52 = 128 x |
| 80% = 102 + 52 = 154 |
Susan's resting heart rate is an indication that she is in good physical condition. Her personal target heart rate range is:
| Lower limit = 129 |
| Upper limit = 155 |
Timing
You've heard the phrase "timing is everything", well this rings especially true when it comes to cardio. It has been proven that you will burn fat most efficiently when you do your cardio first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. The idea here is that after a nights sleep, your body has no food in its system to burn for energy and your blood sugar is stabilized so, you will begin burning fat much faster! The second best utilization of fat would be doing your cardio immediately following your weight training program. The theory being, that you have burned up most of your glycogen (your bodies immediate and preferred fuel source) doing your resistance training so, you will get into your fat storage much faster when you do your cardio.
Another tip in timing is to wait for an hour after your cardio workout before you eat anything. Your body will continue to burn a generous amount of fat for that hour.
Heart Rate Monitors
We talked about how important it is to be doing your cardio in your personal target heart rate zone. Well, it's one thing to find out what your zone is, it's another thing to make sure you're in it! The only way to insure that you are in your heart rate zone and stay there is to wear a heart rate monitor. Most people think they don't need one because they figure they can take their pulse or they can "feel" if they're working hard enough. That sounds great in theory but, in reality, it just isn't accurate or even close. If you're working in your correct heart rate zone, taking your pulse is not that easy. You have to slow down or even stop to be able to count it and that changes your heart rate! I send many people dragging their feet to buy a heart rate monitor but once they use one they can't believe how far off they were on their estimations of what their heart rate was! Heart rate monitors also give you a constant reading of your heart rate; this would be impossible to achieve by taking your pulse. Also, heart rate monitors are indispensable for people with special health concerns who need to be sure that they are working out in a safe heart rate zone.
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