Good News Tucson - A Family Values Magazine

Getting The Most Out Of Cardio Exercise by Vera Knight

There are so many opinions out there regarding how long and how hard you need to do cardio exercise in order to lose weight. Is it better to workout long and slow at the low end of your target heart rate zone or is it better to go at a high intensity for a shorter time in the top range of your heart rate zone?

This is one of the most confusing topics facing exercisers, especially when all you really want to know is what burns the most fat! The rage a few years ago was that lower-intensity for longer periods of time were best to maximize fat loss. Many fitness professionals were recommending low-intensity. The idea is if you work at a higher intensity you would burn less fat and more sugar. Many people jumped on the bandwagon and lowered their intensity. Unfortunately, they may have been misled.

In reality it all comes down to the activity that burns the greatest total calories. When fat burned is looked at as a percentage, it becomes clearer. For example, during a low intensity hour-long workout you burn a total of 250 calories, 50% of those calories are fat, or 125 calories. Compare that to a high intensity workout for 30 minutes, burning 350 calories. 35% of those calories are fat which comes out to 122 calories from fat. In half the time!

A greater percentage of fat is burned during low-intensity activity and during higher-intensity activity, the body burns more carbohydrates and sugars and less percentage of fat. But remember the total amount of fat burned is actually a percentage of the total calories burned. Therefore, if you are not burning a lot of calories then you're not burning a lot of fat. Be prepared to go longer if you go easy.

If you are just getting started it's advisable to begin in the low range. However, after you have the exercise habit, you'll want to up the intensity. When you're working out hard you can have a shorter workout. Time is a huge factor for many people, so if you don't have hours to spend in the gym, you can get faster results in less time with high-intensity.

The bottom line is that for maximum fat loss, you need to maximize the number of calories burned. According to the American College of Sports Medicine, a fat loss work out should be at least 300 calories. This is about a 3 mile jog or power walk.

A great approach to cardio training and what we encourage our clients to do is to mix it up. Go hard and fast, easy and long, and sometimes in between. You can try a 20 minute interval workout Monday and Friday. Do a 30-40 minute intermediate workout Tuesday and Thursday, and a have a long slow session on Wednesday. Change it up and your cardio vascular system will be fit and you will burn fat calories.

Vera Knight is an ACE certified Master Trainer and Fitness & Wellness Coach, with over 10 years in the fitness industry, and owner of Focus Fitness Personal Training Studio where fitness happens in an environment that's motivating, uplifting, inspiring and welcoming. Contact Vera at www.focusfitnesstucson.com, 1116 S. Pantano Rd., Tucson 85710, (520) 404-2069 or (520) 891-9883.