Going Long and Slow to Burn Calories
Most athletes looking to lose weight stick to long, slow cardio workouts, since the maximum fat-burning rate occurs at moderate exercise intensity (a.k.a. the fat zone). But if you're looking to trim a belt size, you need to do high-intensity intervals—they simply burn far more calories overall. Plus high-intensity exercise ramps up your resting metabolism by stimulating what's called excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC). "Your body will continue to burn calories as it replaces the oxygen you expended during your workout," says Nick Winkelman, a performance specialist with Arizona-based Athletes' Performance. Here's a simple way of looking at it: To lose weight, you need to burn more energy than you take in. High-intensity training is the most effective way to do this—especially if you get only ten hours per week to work out.
The Fix: Replace one or two weekly endurance workouts with high-intensity intervals. Example: Warm up at 65 percent of your maximum heart rate (MHR) for five minutes and then do a one-to-two-minute interval at 90 to 95 percent of your MHR. Return to your warm-up pace until your heart rate drops back down to 65 percent of MHR. Repeat until you can no longer get down to 65 percent of MHR within a couple of minutes—that is, until you're sweating bullets. Then cool down.
Comments
So how does the avg Joe determine maximum heart rate? And, PLEASE, don't quote that ridiculous heart rate chart. I've been tested (VOmax, etc) and I KNOW my MHR is 200 BPM and I know I go anerobic at 175 BPM. If I train - as you recommend - at 1-2 minutes at 95% that means I'm at 190 for 1-2 minutes...and I say "B FRIGGIN S!!!" to that. I've hit 190 maybe 2 or 3 times in the last couple of yrs & always at the end of the run on hot days. We need meaningful guidelines on heart rate.
Flag ThisI do this type of interval work in spin class all winter long, and on my fast 60 minute fitness rides outside in summer. Just get it up there for a few minutes and then slow it down, and then do it again. Dont worry about the numbers so much. I dont even wear a monitor. I listen to my bod and feel my pulse. Works for me!
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