Which Workouts Are Best For Fat Burning
It's all down to preference at the end of the day, as long as we do some form of exercise it'll be better than nothing - trust me!
10, 20, 30, 60, 90 mins - it all comes down to time and goals. If we’re to be realistic, we can't always plan the workouts we want to complete due to time and scheduling.
Burning calories is good but it's not always the be all and end all. Instead, focus on performance and you'll be hitting two birds with one stone.
Think about it, you'll improve technique, strength, balance, coordination and stamina all whilst burning fat.
Now to be specific:
To hit your goals of toning and burning fat, we must first understand the different training zones.
Zone 1
Healthy heart zone: 50-60% of your max heart rate
Benefits will include: slimming down, lowering of the heart rate, improvement of muscle mass and lowering of cholesterol.
Zone 2
Temperature zone: 60%-70% of your max heart rate
Benefits will include: building muscle mass, losing fat, training your fat mobilization, training your muscles to burn fat and strengthening the myocardium.
Zone 3
Aerobic zone: 70%-80% of your max heart rate
Benefits will include: improved overall functional capacity with increase in the number and size of blood vessels, respiratory rate, increase in size and strength of the heart and improvements in cardiac output and stroke volume.
Zone 4
Threshold zone: 80%-90% of your max heart rate
Max calorie burning zone
Benefits will include: maximum fat burning, if you're fit enough to train with a little extra oxygen to burn more fat.
Note. You won't burn fat if you train above the fat burning zone, you'll burn fat during effort - carbohydrates will be the source to burning calories.
Zone 5
Performance redline zone: 90%-100% of your max heart rate
Peak race zone - especially for athletes
Benefits will include: highest amount of burned calories but the lowest percentage of fat calories, this zone is solely meant to get a fit and healthy lifestyle.
Note. Exercising in this zone for too long can be painful and lead to overtraining, bad performance and possible injury.
By keeping this in mind you'll be sure to reach your goals more efficiently and effectively.
You can use this simple calculation to estimate your Maximum Heart Rate using this simple equation:
220 - your age
For example, for a 40 year person, the estimated maximum age-related heart rate would be calculated as 220-40 yrs = 180 beats per minute (bpm).
With this knowledge, you'll have a better understanding of how to maintain the zone for your desired goals.
Workouts for fat burning will include
LISS training: Low Intensity Steady state Cardio i.e. uphill treadmill walks, bike ride, cross trainer, swimming.
Workouts for calorie burning with some fat burning effects
Strength training
HIIT Training
Sports
Be Inspired. Be Great!
#PushingYOUtoGreatness
Lewis Paris, Director, Founder & Award-Winning Personal Trainer at Lewis Paris Fitness
