Moderate Cardio vs. High for fat loss

[lauralye246]

Please Help! My trainer put me on a program and I have many questions as I am a newbie. I try not to overwhelm him with soo many questions...so I figured I would come here and get some of your advice. He told me to do moderate cardio in the am before eating...like a brisk walk for 40 minutes. I enjoy kickboxing, zumba, etc., but they are high intensity and put my heart rate above fat burning stage. Actually it stays very high for the entire class. My question is should I be doing a moderate exercise when I feel like its not burning anything or go for the high intensity workout in the am. He also has me on a strict diet 1500-1700 calories high protein, low carb. I then have to do circuit training for fat loss with weights, kettlebell, plyo etc in the evening. I am looking for help on what method works best for fat loss? My goals are first and foremost to lose fat. I have to loose about 30 lbs of baby weight/fat. while also rebuilding muscle after having a baby.

[kevsworld]

Please Help! My trainer put me on a program and I have many questions as I am a newbie. I try not to overwhelm him with soo many questions...so I figured I would come here and get some of your advice. He told me to do moderate cardio in the am before eating...like a brisk walk for 40 minutes. I enjoy kickboxing, zumba, etc., but they are high intensity and put my heart rate above fat burning stage. Actually it stays very high for the entire class. My question is should I be doing a moderate exercise when I feel like its not burning anything or go for the high intensity workout in the am. He also has me on a strict diet 1500-1700 calories high protein, low carb. I then have to do circuit training for fat loss with weights, kettlebell, plyo etc in the evening. I am looking for help on what method works best for fat loss? My goals are first and foremost to lose fat. I have to loose about 30 lbs of baby weight/fat. while also rebuilding muscle after having a baby.

The "fat burning" zone is kind of a waste of time--it isn't really a very helpful concept. The biggest problem with slow and steady aerobic training is you have to spend so much time for relatively few calories burned.

Fat loss ultimately comes down to getting your diet in order and having a sensible workout plan. Feel free to send me a private message or (better yet) email me from the blog with questions.

[alfredofatale]

His plan for you sounds pretty solid, and so long as you're recovering, more activity is usually better when your goal is only fat loss(bigger caloric deficit). Now if we were talking about losing body fat while maintaining as much muscle as possible, I'd definitely take out a lot of the cardio PARTICULARLY the high intensity stuff. Hope this helps. Message me if ya have more questions. I'm also a CPT. Good luck to ya yeh.

Please Help! My trainer put me on a program and I have many questions as I am a newbie. I try not to overwhelm him with soo many questions...so I figured I would come here and get some of your advice. He told me to do moderate cardio in the am before eating...like a brisk walk for 40 minutes. I enjoy kickboxing, zumba, etc., but they are high intensity and put my heart rate above fat burning stage. Actually it stays very high for the entire class. My question is should I be doing a moderate exercise when I feel like its not burning anything or go for the high intensity workout in the am. He also has me on a strict diet 1500-1700 calories high protein, low carb. I then have to do circuit training for fat loss with weights, kettlebell, plyo etc in the evening. I am looking for help on what method works best for fat loss? My goals are first and foremost to lose fat. I have to loose about 30 lbs of baby weight/fat. while also rebuilding muscle after having a baby.

[Septembergirl]

If you've just had a baby--are you breastfeeding? If you are, you might need to be eating more, based on your activity level.

[healthybrah]

Focus on your diet. HIIT needs a base level of fitness, it's not something you just walk into. Lift and maintain a daily caloric deficit of 500 cals from your current maintenance http://www.freedieting.com/tools/calorie_calculator.htm. I would advise you to create a meal plan of nutritious filling foods such as complex carbs and protein.
The problem with moderate cardio is that although it is good for your health I've found that the hunger pangs it brings make you want to eat more than the caloric deficit it provides.

[Skippy5577]

If he is your trainer you should bury him with questions on things youa re unsure about or have more questions about. It's just like hirinign anyone to do work for you. Make sure you understand everything and get all of your questions answered.

However, this is a good place to cross-check "facts" some people will tell you.

[kevsworld]

Rusty Moore's book is an excellent resource on cardio and fat loss in general.

http://musclereview.net/visual-impact-cardio-review/

[emmranger]

In my opinion doing anything in the morning on an empty stomach is a bad idea. You need to eat something to give your body the fuel and energy it needs. Otherwise your body *may* start to attack your muscles for the energy it needs. It also kick starts your metabolism.

As for the "Fat loss zone" i have done allot of research into this. The fat loss zone will burn more fat than the the high intensity zone, but significantly less calories. High intensity zone training will burn more overall calories, so this is the optimal zone for fat loss, as more calories burned equals more weight loss. You are also still using fat to burn as energy, just slightly less of it.

Unfortunately i cannot post links as i do not have enough posts to allow me that privilege, but if you search on google for "fat loss zone" you should see a link to an article named "The Truth About the Fat Burning Zone for Weight Loss" from exercise.about.com

[Nilima]

Would you mind explaining how exactly moderate cardio increases hunger? Does the same hold true for high intensity cardio?