Hi Cathe!

DebbieH

DebbieH

Cathlete
(Or anyone else who can help) I am reading Debra Waterhouse's book, "Outsmarting The Female Fat Cell" right now and was wondering something. She talks over & over about how important it is to workout at a moderate pace rather then what she calls, overexercising. According to her formula, I need to work between 108-129 beats per minute to stay in my "fat-burning" zone. Sorry, so lengthy. I guess my question is, if I go by my PRE, I am working waaaay lower then what I am used to. My endurance level is very good. For instance, I have taken up jogging the past few weeks and I find it very hard to stay at 129 beats or lower. It is much easier for me to jog at a higher pace. I am trying REAL hard to get rid of a layer of fat that covers my thighs and be able to see the muscle better. Soooo, am I better to stay at the 129 & lower if I definitley want to lose this fat or go more by my PRE?? Hope I'm clear in my question. Thanks for any advice.

Your-Friend-In-Fitness, DebbieH :)
"If You Get The Chance To Sit It Out Or Dance...I Hope You DANCE!!"
 
Hi Debbie,

I have no answers for you, just wanted to say this has bothered me too - you read one book, & it says to go slower & stay in "your fat burning zone"; & then the next book says this is a lot of hooey & all that matters in the long run is how many calories you burn. I'm inclined to believe the latter, but would love to know Cathe's expert opinion. :)

Ruth
 
Hi, Debbie. High intensity exercise is wonderful and it's not necessary to stay in the moderate range. I have naturally low blood pressure and a low heart rate and if I don't get into high intensity exercise I don't get results. The bottom line is not everything works for everyone. The key is safety! If you have the correct shoes and take the correct precautions, it's just fine to go crazy! Remember when it was believed running was bad for the joints? Well, it isn't. As long as you are biomechanically sound and careful (educated crowd!) it's an absolute fallacy that moderate is better.
 
Hi Bobbi,

I was extremely interested in your posting not only for the original question, but because I too have low blood pressure & always have. (So does my sister.) Do you find it hard to work up the energy that other people seem to have naturally? My Dr. told me that was because of the low bp. You wouldn't believe how much better that made me feel after years of putting myself down for being...lazy? Whatever, I never really had a label for it. I agree that I cannot reap the full benefits of working out unless I go high most of the time. (Especially when it comes to losing weight.)

Thanks for your posting, it makes me feel better to know I am not the only one out there with this condition! :)

Ruth
p.s. Hi Nana! What are you thinking on this subject now?
 
RE: Try some of both.

I'm not Cathe so I can only give you my personal experience.
I do Masters Swimming at the Y twice a week. The coach really
pushes us in these workouts. We do intervals etc. for an hour.
Once I began doing this, the weight really started to come off.
I also do long and slow aerobic workouts on the alternate days
(mainly because I don't have the energy to do anything more).
So my answer is to do a little of both. This is the way world
class athletes train. They vary the intensity and length of the
training from workout to workout.
 
Hey there Debbie!
Can you give me that formula? I am just curious which one you are using. I use the Karvonen formula which incorporates resting heartrate.
Thanks Grandma!! :)
Trevor
 
Ruth,

I feel very lucky to have a low heartrate and blood pressure. My Dad's was high and he died from heart disease. When I ran long distances awhile back, my RHR dropped to 44. And while I occasionally deal with depression, overall I am energetic and rather high intensity myself! ;-0
 
Speaking of world class athletes, check out running websites. There too, they alternate types of intensity. Running hard/easy.
 
Hi Trevor!

I only have a second here so I don't tie up my daughter's phone line but wanted to give you the formula. You take:

220-YOUR AGE
Multiply the # by 60% for your lower zone.

Do the same formula but multiply it by 75% for your higher zone.

An example of my zone's:

220-48=172
172X60=103 (my lower zone)

220-48=172
172X75=129 (my higher zone)

So, I would have to stay between 103-129 to be in my moderate (fat-burning) zone. What do you think?? (Or Cathe, your opinion???) Good hearing from you, Trevor. Hope your Father's Day was a funfilled day!!:7

Your-Friend-In-Fitness, DebbieH :)
"If You Get The Chance To Sit It Out Or Dance...I Hope You DANCE!!"
 
RE: Hi Trevor!

Hey Deb!
Using your formula my low end at 60% is 111 and my high end at 75% is 139.
For comparison my bpm at the same percentages using the karvonen formula are 137 and 155. So you can see the difference.
Here is the karvonen using my resting heart rate of 66bpm.

Max heart rate = 220 - age. For me, 220 - 35 = 185
Then subtract resting heart rate from max heart rate. For me, 185-66= 119.
Take the resulting number, multiply by the percentage you desire, add back your resting heart rate, and you get your desired bpm.
Using mine:
119*0.6+66=137 bpm
119*0.75+66= 155 bpm.
Geez I hope my math is right!! lol! Anyway, the karvonen essentially subtracts out your resting heart rate from the max/min calculation because your resting rate is your "baseline" so to speak.
Anyway, I wonder what Cathe thinks. Also I workout usually between 50% and 80% using the karvonen. Any comments are welcome....Cathe!! ;-)
Thanks for getting back to me Deb, hope all is great with Kennedy and your whole family.
Trevor :) :-jumpy
 
RE: Hi Trevor!

I would not really go by heart rate formulas. They only apply to about sixty percent of the population. In my opinion, the formula is outdated. Rate of perceived exertion is a much better way to measure your intensity. I think that these formulas are only good for exercise testing for deconditioned individuals so you don't push them too hard. For someone who is healthy and used to intense exercise, you don't need a specific heart rate response to know if you're working out at the right level. Your body will give you excellent feedback. Go for that feeling of being challenged but in an exhilarating way while sometimes pushing yourself to work a little harder.

Take care, Cyndie
 
RE: Hi Trevor!

Hi Cyndie!
I think some of the heart rate calculations you see are more inaccurate than others and perhaps none are dead -on accurate. However, these calculations ARE attempts to correlate data from scientific studies on human performance to the general population. And for serious athletes in the general population, perceived effort doesnt really cut it. I believe the perceived effort method is for less serious people, or should I say the average person. For a serious athlete, which I realize is not everyone on this site, feeling very uncomfortable during at least some workouts is just a fact of life. In order to make major gains and be competitive, that's just the way it is. If I am working out at 85% of my heart max, it may get very uncomfortable, but I try to plow ahead and keep my rate between my pre-set max and min. goals. Using the perceived effort method I most likely would slow down very early on because I felt winded, sweaty, tired, or whatever.
Trevor :)
 
Thanks!

Thanks everyone! I agree, Trevor, that if I went by my PRE, I would probably slow down ealier. I have found by using Debra's formula, I can go & go forever, which is good as far as reaching that "more then 30 minute" workout. I don't poop out too early. We do use the Karvonen formula, along with the PRE and the "talk-test" to make sure that my students are working at a safe rate. I know that interval training is good, but I am still very curious Cathe's thoughts on this "moderate" method. I would assume also (like Jane said) that mixing up your workouts is the best scenario. Thanks all for your thoughts!

Your-Friend-In-Fitness, DebbieH :)
"If You Get The Chance To Sit It Out Or Dance...I Hope You DANCE!!"
 
adding to confusion

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Jun-24-01 AT 11:00AM (Est)[/font][p]Like Trevor, I think the Karvonen formula is the way to go for an approximation of heart rate training zones. I also agree that most exercisers "perceive" they are working harder than they are. Nearly everyone who buys a monitor for spinning, has to pick up their intensity.

Now to add to the confusion, I was talking to my spinning instructor & her husband (road cycling coach & competitor) about training zones. He told me to compute my zones as if I were 25 (I'm 43) because of my fitness level. I'm wondering why I should use the zones at all if I'm just going to manipulate it. I've been hitting the books since then & will be loaded with questions for them next week. He also wants me to climb at a lower rate to gain power on hills :-hmmm. I don't understand how I'm going to get stronger by always going slower than I can.

Debbie, as for Waterhouse's advice, I think she presumes that most women are trying to lose fat. And for most of her target audience, the only way they can stay aerobic for an hour, is to slow down. She does advocate longer sessions of cardio doesn't she?

Confused,
Debra
 
RE: adding to confusion

Trevor, I agree with you - I finally broke down & got a heart rate monitor simply because I could not perceive when I was in the right zone or above it (unless I was literally gasping for breath), & I wanted to know how fast my rate went up, how that felt, how it felt to stay in the right zone, & how fast it went back down. To my surprise, I found getting up to a good rate was easy, maintaining it was still pretty easy, but getting back down...not so much! I found that most video cool down/stretch sections are entirely too short for me! I'm still working with it making sure I know how this all feels doing different types of workouts, & it has been very enlightening. And I also agree that knowing your heart rate keeps you from slowing down or giving up too soon, which is always a temptation! ;-)
Ruth
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Our Newsletter

Get awesome content delivered straight to your inbox.

Top