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Low intensity cardio


ComeAtMe

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At the moment i am doing 3-4 1hr low intense cardio sessions a week.

(trying to prevent muscle loss and promote fat loss)

I see some people do 45min sessions of low cardio.

How long should low intensity cardio last for?

what speed and incline is best on the treadmill?

Also, what heart-rate would be in the fat burning zone?

Cheers.

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When I was training fasted, I did 1hr low-intensity cardio, 5 days per week (more if I could get a sitter). But mine was on the cross-trainer so I can't help with your treadmill question (hate the damn things).

As for target heart rate, for LISS you should be aiming for 60-65% intensity. If you can't be arsed working that out, there's probabbly a wee graph on your treadmill that will tell you where you should be, based on your age. Bear in mind though that this is a very rough approximation, based upon the general approximation.

To get a better idea, try the Karvonen equation. If you haven't had your max HR tested, you can use your age-predicted max of 220 minus age. You'll also need to know your resting HR, so take it first thing in the morning, upon waking naturally (ie no alarm, phone, screaming kids etc).

Max HR - Resting HR = HR Reserve

(HR Reserve x 60%) + Resting HR = Bottom of your target range

(HR Reserve x 65%) + Resting HR = Top of your target range

This allows you to take into account your own level of fitness, and your numbers will change as your fitness improves (ie resting HR will drop). Remember, if you're using age-predicted HR max, the range will be a little fuzzy, so don't get too hung up on the exact numbers, just use them as a guide. So if your range is (say) 132-139, and your HR hits 140, don't panic.

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  • 1 month later...

Is low intensity cardio really the best for fat loss?

At lot of things i've read have involved used HIIT combined with a high intensity wieghts program that has minimal rest periods and a lot of super setting.

I think one of the theories is that while you're not burning as many calories from fat during the exercise itself. The process of rebuilding and strengthening of the muscles that you've used will go on for up to 3 days after working out (with low intensity cardio you stop burning extra calories the moment you stop exercising). During this time your resting metabolic rate is constantly higher than normal. Thus after 3 days you've burnt a lot more energy that you would have in the single 1 hour of low intensity cardio.

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