Nice one/ Your run pace is faster than mine!
Wow, thatās amazing Jon
A bit late to ask now, but do you think walking for 2.5 hours a day will have helped or hindered recovery from the weekendās cycling. I wore heart rate monitor this morning and Iām averaging ~ 50% of maximum heart rate and never going above 60%- takes me about an hour and 15 mins to walk to or from work.
Would I have been more sensible to get the bus?
Yes, just a little faster - That surprises me a little as my fitness level is pretty low. I guess that you are working to your plan, being very careful and have plenty reserves of energy? This run for me empties my tank. At the moment I want, on occasions, to find cheap and quicker ways of using energy than just walking. I cannot use kettle bells because of my shoulder issue (booked to see physio in August) and jogging fits the bill nicely. I am rather hoping I will do some sort of 6k/10k run in the future. We shall see.
Following the couch to 5k thing sounds sensible to avoid injury.
My pace is deliberately being held back to focus on distance and recovery. Typically the plan Iām on dictates 12 min miles and then some tempo runs of 9-10 min miles. Iām going slower at the minute to adjust to ābarefootā running in Vibrams.
If you want to metabolise fat then perhaps instead of emptying your tank which probably has your heart rate at zone 4, it would be better to spend more time at moderate exertion zone 2&3 which is more likely to trigger fat burning.
The major disadvantage of going for it and maxing your heart rate for prolonged periods is the stress on your system and the release of cortisol - if thatās swimming round your bloodstream then itās very hard to burn fat or build muscle.
If you want a low impact way of getting your heart rate up and down to burn fat then I would recommend short Tabata workouts. Pick 3-5 low impact exercises and do them in short hard bursts of 20 seconds with 10 seconds rest in a circuit. This induces the afterburner effect which means youāll burn calories during and after the workout over 24 hrs.
http://www.active.com/fitness/articles/what-is-tabata-training
Id pick things like -
- star jumps
- bodyweight squats
- mountain climbers
- burpees
- lunges
- etc
I.e. Nothing with weights at the moment.
You can get apps for your phone to count you down and tell you to start, rest etc.
My jogging is a small part my exercise so far, not even 30 minutes every third day - Most of my exercise is walking or domestic duties. Over the last week my HR has been 10 hrs zone fat burn 53mins cardio and 25mins peak.
Thatās reasonable isnāt it?
I will try Tabata thanks but I generally struggle with engaging with gym type stuff.
Yeah looks good.
Tabata is good because you can do a short sharp circuit of 4 mins or 8 mins or 12 mins etc in your front room etc so thereās no time to get bored.
Have we not had the āfat burning zone is a marketing ploy by the fitness industry because people donāt actually want to make an effort she theyāre working outā thing on here already?
Building up slow is good because it will minimise risk of injury. You burn more fat working out hard than working out easy.
I know someone who claims to work out exclusively in the fat burning zone. They are fat.
Didnāt say easy. I said spend more time in heart rate zones 2&3. Zone 1 is easy - thatās for warm up and cool down. Spending most of your time in zone 4 is counterproductive for the reasons I outlined above.
One sample. Iāll bet they donāt workout with enough frequency (which is one of the advantages of sub max workouts), and they eat too bloody much.
We can only speculate
What is the āfat burning zoneā as %mhr?
As the saying goes āyou canāt outrun a bad dietā
60-70% of mhr. Mhr is typically 220- age as a very rough guide.
I do actually think itās a good idea to do a decent volume of lower intensity exercise rather than just concentrating on high intensity, but not because it burns fat.
That said, Iāll admit Iām not entirely sure what heart rate range weāre talking about here.
My 5.5 hour ride on Sunday was done at 65-80% of MHR, with very occasional peaks above that on hills up to 87%. Average was 74%MHR
Remember thereās a difference between burning calories and burning fat. At maximal effort your body will reach for every drop of rapidly available energy from the food in your stomach to the glycogen in your muscles.
At the moderate level of intensity over slightly longer periods (including the afterburner effect) the body will reach for your fat stores because the urgency is greatly reduced.
30 minute session of weights last night - upper body. Can certainly tell this morning!
Interesting that - Iāve always felt that Iāve dropped weight with exercise that is little and regular. And Iām always disappointed at weight loss when Iām training for big rides and doing say, one or two long ones per week