Goooooo TEAM! May 26, 2008
Posted by kimayars Uncategorized
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Time to put on my cheerleader uniform (at least it’s not a cape).
Today I was talking with my husband, Jeff, about the fact that I exercise a fair amount yet don’t really see any results. I’m packing on the pounds, my clothes are getting tighter, and I’ve lost pretty much all the progress I gained last fall training for the LVHM. Hmph. What’s up with that?
I fully admit that I don’t eat particularly well, but I don’t think I eat that BAD either. Certainly from a calories-in/calories out perspective I should at least be maintaining. Jeff cooly replied, “Well, no.”
What? What do you mean, NO. A calorie eaten, a calorie burned, right? Maybe not so much.
Here’s the deal: I’m either taking it slow and easy or running my little heart out. When I take it slow, I’m not hitting some “aerobic threshold” or some techno-babble thing like that (according to Jeff). When I run hard, I’m burning only carbohydrates. The end result: I’m not burning fat, yet I’m pretty darn hungry. I can’t tell you how much I think that sucks.
The good news is, it’s an easy fix: My “easy” workouts need to have a little more effort, and my “hard runs” need to be better balanced with a lower intensity workout. In a quick Google, I found the “Karvonen Formula“. Looks simple enough…
220 - 36(age) = 184
184 - 59(resting heart rate) = 125
125 * 65%(low end of heart rate) OR 85% (high end) = 81.25 OR 106.25
81 + 59 (resting heart rate) = 140
106 + 59 (resting heart rate) = 165
So essentially, for fat burning I need to stay around or under 140bpm, and for cardio I need to work within 160bpm. I stopped wearing the telemetry strap a while ago, so I have no idea what my heartrate is. I can guarantee that it’s higher than 160bpm on my higher-intensity runs.
So, here’s my “RAH-RAH Go Team!”: I’m going to focus more on the way I run than just blindly running. I’m also going to pay more attention to what I’m eating and how much. Six months ago I tackled the “You On A Diet” program and really liked it. (I’m not doing it now because I like lattes and apple fritters better.) Time to shake those pom-poms. 
Comments
You can do it!
I think you’re on to something here.
Gary also wrote an interesting article about who people who exercise a lot often gain weight…. and it does seem to come down to feeling hungry from the workout. I think that when you burn too many carb calories you tend to be much much hungrier… and your body tricks you into over eating and you end up adding more calories in then you burned out.
If you’re open to a suggestion or two…
You’re on the right path. You’ll lose weight if you combine changes to your diet & exercise program. Yes, “AND” not “OR”.
The one problem with the Heart Rate ranges is that they are based on average human output. Nobody is average. So, yeah, good idea to shoot for a given range, but the formula, etc., is but a thumbnail, and a weak one at that. Everybody has things they do well at, and others they are not good at.
As to the workouts, one thing to consider is building your muscles. Increasing your muscle mass is a great way to, ah, change your shape by increasing the calories your body burns every day, and not just during your workout.
On a personal note, after my wife and I had been into our big workout change (functional fitness) about 6 weeks or so, we shifted our diet to the Zone, which took out all the white stuff from our diets, as “You on a Diet” does. HUGE impact. We both dropped some weight, and we also saw our shapes shift.
There are a lot of articles (and one I read recently in our national newspaper) that says that the “fat burning zone” is a myth. The myth surrounds the idea that more calories are burned at lower HRs, which is true, but because after a high intensity workout your metabolism remains higher for longer, overall you will burn more calories at high intensity. This is most “reputable” link I found just now:
http://features.prevention.com/article/0,5778,s-4-88-278-4219-1,00.html
Anyways, just keep running and work on eating a bit better… you also might want to change it up and add some weight training instead of all cardio all the time.
Good luck!
o.k. i’m going to throw in my 1.5 cents.
be carefull of the h.r. stuff. you are definitely not “average” ;o) so most likely you’re not going to be working with the right numbers anyway.i fall in the camp of those amanda mentioned. i would also add that you can burn more calories at lower heart rates because you can actually workout longer than at higher intensity. go figure.
increasing muscle mass increases ones metabolism thereby burning more calories at all times. like amanda mentions adding some strength training could help as much as anything else.
oh, and i am a huge zone diet fan. not that i am ever in the zone these days…
That you’re asking these questions and paying attention is a GREAT step! Yayyyyyyyyyyy Team!!