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Anonymous
/fit/,

For maximum fat burning while doing prolonged cardio, I am hearing that one should try to stay at 75% of your max heart rate for about 45 minutes.

Heart rate being calculated by 220-age, puts me at 197 max heart rate, which means my target heart rate should be 147 or so. This seems awfully low! My 'natural' pace puts me at 160 or so. Going slow enough to be around 147 feels... way too easy.

Should I actually just not try as hard?
>> Anonymous
>>230840

Yes, but the question is, what is optimal?
>> Anonymous
>>230840

HIIT IS A SHITTY /fit/ MEME!
>> Anonymous
>>230849

It's not a meme, it's a gift from the knowledgeable in-shape crowd to fat fuck slobs that are even to lazy to google what it is. Hence HURRR WHATS HIIT every 5 new posts.
>> Anonymous
>>230846
It's incredibly difficult to say what is optimal because nothing really is.

You have a few options...

You can do high intensity work for a shorter time,
lets say 20 minutes of HIIT just as an example.

Overall you'll be burning more calories in that time due to higher expended effort. But as the body requires faster access to fuel it will prefer to use glycogen than break up fat stores, so it might use a ratio of 60 glycogen to 40 fat. However you will be using that fuel faster and your metabolism will be higher for longer.

Alternatively you could do 45 minutes of steady state cardio at a fat burning intensity, this time your body would be more likely to utilise fat as an energy source. Using, lets say 40% glycogen to 60% fat, but you would be burning calories slower due to lower expended effort... there is no optimal.

Basically, the logic is, that the lower the intensity you work at the higher the percentage of fat. And as you increase the intensity your body relies more heavily on the glycogen supplies in your muscles.

If you just want to burn fat the optimum would be to cycle for 3 hours at a moderate intensity staying at around 70% of your max heart rate. For the first 2 hours or so fat makes up approx 50% and after that it ups to 70% odd.
>> Anonymous
See: http://www.brianmac.co.uk/fatburn.htm