I'm trying to find my target heart rate for maximum fat burning. I know the traditional formula: 220 - 47 (my age) = 173 (MHR), then take a percentage of that number. But...what percent burns the most fat? 60%, 70%, 80%? I've been consistently working out at 80 - 85%, but have noticed very little fat loss around waistline.

Now, I've found this Karvonen Formula that includes your resting heart rate in figuring your THR. It's kind of confusing.

I just want to know which method is best. I'm developing some great muscle tone, but it's still covered with layers of flab. I need to figure out what my best THR is. I don't want to waste time working out at a level that is too high for optimum fat burning. Of course, I don't want to keep it at a level that's too low, either. I'm like Goldilocks...I want it "just right."

I appreciate any help you can offer on this subject.

Thanks

[This message was edited by Advice Staff on 07-11-03 at 11:55 AM.]

I am interested in this question as well because I consistently check my heart rate during my workout's and stay at the upper level of my THR. I am defintely careful about working too hard or too little. I agree with the other poster about eating clean and such, but if you want to get the most bang for your buck finding out the proper THR is muy importante.

I look forward to the FA's advice because I am sure it will be helpful to many.

~D

This is a very misunderstood concept. It is true in a certain sense but, at this point, it's really too much information that's holding you back. This is a backstep from my usual "learn all that you can" philosophy. Hopefully I can clear it up a bit.

If you were designing a program from scratch, this would be something worth considering. This "fat burning mode" is a state where your body always burns stored body fat. It would get confusing if I told you how this worked exactly. Basically, you can train this so that scale you may have seen as a percentage of your max hr is vague, at best. Also, while working in "fat burning mode" is a great help for certain people, which would include you if you had the time, it is not even near the closest way to change your percentage of body fat, which is much better served by hammering your body, building muscle and causing your metabolism to jump in order to recover. Therefore, an attempt to stay in the "fat burning mode" will impeed progress in a program such as Si6 or P90.

You see, we have designed these programs for efficeincy, so that you can get the best posssible workout in a limited amount of time. Bodily change is really a function of calories burned vs. calories ingested. Working out for an hour in "fat burning mode" might only burn 300 calories, while hammering for an hour near your lactate threshold (where you move into anaerobic exercise) can burn over 1,000. To attempt to explain the physiology of just why this is so is, again, perhaps more info than you need to know at this stage. Bottom line, workout as hard as you can during P90, Sin6, PHH, or any of our programs.

The only time that you really want to force yourself to stay in the "fat burning mode" is when you need to save some energy for something else, or you are training your body to specifically burn fat at higher output (important if you compete at long endurance events in order to save your glycogen stores [blood sugar] for the anaerobic push that will be needed later). This is why you might see me recommending an easy to moderate morning walk, bike ride, jog, or hike to someone on an empty stomach. This is work in the "fat burning mode" that will kick-start the metabolism for the day but and help the body learn this process more efficiently without exhausting it for the hard work (p90, etc) that is going happen later.

Did this clear things up any?

[This message was edited by fitnessadvisor@beachbody.com on 09-24-02 at 05:06 PM.]

I was a little confused by part of your answer, but I'm a bit challenged with all this fitness stuff, so it's probably just me. Is the bottom line that I don't need to be concerned at all with checking my HR during the cardio workouts? You mentioned that they're designed to be "hammered out", which I take to mean working as hard as you can throughout the entire workout. Without stroking out, I assume. Maybe that's why my results have been kind of slow. You didn't mention address MHR percentages, so I figure you don't take that into account, but I'm going to ask anyway. Is 80 - 85% of my MHR enough, or do I need to push myself even further? I feel like I'm working very hard, but maybe I need to kick it up a notch. I'm just not sure how much more I have to give during those workouts. I'll try whatever you recommend.

As with many things, I may be overthinking this. But it's important to me to do the best I can so I can get the results I want. (Yeah, yeah, I need to eat better, too...but that's a whole other story.)

Thanks very much for the reply

Wow! I always learn something here.

You are correct in that you should go as hard as you can each day. Of course, this will be harder on some days than others, but that is how it always is. Do monitor your heart rate because it will give you a gauge on how you are doing. For example, as your bpm get lower as you feel you are working just as hard at something, you know you are getting into better shape. Or the opposite, like your max hr going up, which means the same thing. There is going to be a heart rate monitor article in the next newsletter that should clear this up a bit.

80-85% of max hr is quite hight and most likely above your lactate threshold, meaning that you are working in the anaerobic pathways at a intensity that you can't continue for too long. It's a good thing, but don't expect to be able to hold it. Now, figuring out your max hr is difficult without proper instrumentation because using target figures can be off by more than 10 bpm. So, again, the best way to tell what works and doesn't work for you is by monitoring and comparing the figures against yourself. This will give you a better idea about your range of performance and how to interpret it.

Your description of "fat burning mode" was the first that I have read that I was able to actually understand! Thank you!

By the way, I read in your profile that you have written books....If they are concerning fitness, why not sell them on the Beachbody site?

Jim

Thanks, Jim. While I've written stacks of fitness articles, my books have been about rockclimbing. I do have a training book I've been amassing info for but my work here has kept me too busy to spend any time on it lately. When we finally get more settled around here, I'll get back at it.

bumping this so I can find it to add to the FAQ's.