Cardio/Fat burning question

[Sheik Yerbouti]

Ok, I do about 60 mins of cardio at the gym, I wear a polar heart rate monitor and it tells me how many calories I've burned, and what percentage of them is fat, usually it's around 50%, what is the other 50%? Just expended energy?
Also, I'm trying to lose weight, but water just doesn't cut it. I drink about 2 pints of gatorade per workout, am I being counterproductive due to the sugar content in gatorade? I've tried going to water, but I feel very tired compared to when I use g-ade.

 

[Special K]

Originally posted by: Sheik Yerbouti
Ok, I do about 60 mins of cardio at the gym, I wear a polar heart rate monitor and it tells me how many calories I've burned, and what percentage of them is fat, usually it's around 50%, what is the other 50%? Just expended energy?
Also, I'm trying to lose weight, but water just doesn't cut it. I drink about 2 pints of gatorade per workout, am I being counterproductive due to the sugar content in gatorade? I've tried going to water, but I feel very tired compared to when I use g-ade.

First of all, those calorie meters are just plugging numbers into generic formulas, and can't account for individual differences in metabolism, body type, and all of that. The number you see there could be way off. I seriously doubt the monitor has any way of monitoring the chemical reactions inside your body to determine what % of expended energy comes from where.

Having said that, you would probably be better off doing shorter, more intense cardio sessions. Actually you would be best served by adpoting a weightlifting program and using your diet to lose fat, rather than cardio, but that is a whole other topic for a different thread.

The gatorade is not going to hinder your fat loss attempts as long as you are still burning more calories than you consume over a long period of time. You would probably do well to start tracking everything you eat so you can know for sure:

Fitday

There's a ton more info I could give on this, but I've posted it so many times on here I don't really feel like doing it again. PM me or see the link in my sig for lots more good info.

 

[Sheik Yerbouti]

The polar monitor takes into account your body weight, height, age, resting heart rate etc. It just seems like I've hit a massive wall and I can't lose the last 20lbs I'd like to. This is more of a heart rate monitor than a calorie counter (I'm a heart patient, very long story). But I think the heart rate monitor is infinitely more accurate than the elliptical, it's usually about 1.5x what my monitor says, today, for example, per the monitor I burned 660 calories during a 60 min workout, the machine had me well over 900 cal, which asks for weight, but not age or any other variable.
Thanks for the info. I'll stick to the gatorade and keep a food log.

 

[nitsuj3580]

Have you looked into High Intensity Interval Training? If you've been doing 60 min of cardio, you should be in good shape to throw some HIIT into your routine to switch it up a bit.

 

[Sheik Yerbouti]

Originally posted by: nitsuj3580
Have you looked into High Intensity Interval Training? If you've been doing 60 min of cardio, you should be in good shape to throw some HIIT into your routine to switch it up a bit.

HIIT? What's that?

 

[Riverhound777]

Originally posted by: Sheik Yerbouti

Originally posted by: nitsuj3580
Have you looked into High Intensity Interval Training? If you've been doing 60 min of cardio, you should be in good shape to throw some HIIT into your routine to switch it up a bit.

HIIT? What's that?

It is a good way to get a great workout in a short amount of time. What i've been doing: jog for 4 minutes to warm up. Repeat running hard and jogging for 30 second intervals for 8 minutes. Then jog for another 10 minutes to cool down. Before this I was jogging for 40 minutes to an hour as a workout. After doing this one time I had to stop before the 10 minute cool-down I was so exhausted. Sucks now that is it dark when I get off work though, I haven't had the desire to run. But I am still lifting weights.

 

[AbAbber2k]

Look into your diet. Track your intake, as SpecK suggested. However I disagree with giving up your long cardio sessions for short, high intensity work. If anything I would cut 20min off your 60min cardio session and devote it to HIIT or similar high intensity "cardio" so you get some of both. The reason, in short, is that your body utilizes fat as a fuel more efficiently at moderate intensities during aerobic exercise lasting longer than about 20min. High intensity training is more anaerobic and utilizes creatine phosphate and muscle glucose for energy.

 

[Special K]

Originally posted by: AbAbber2k
Look into your diet. Track your intake, as SpecK suggested. However I disagree with giving up your long cardio sessions for short, high intensity work. If anything I would cut 20min off your 60min cardio session and devote it to HIIT or similar high intensity "cardio" so you get some of both. The reason, in short, is that your body utilizes fat as a fuel more efficiently at moderate intensities during aerobic exercise lasting longer than about 20min. High intensity training is more anaerobic and utilizes creatine phosphate and muscle glucose for energy.

Right, but high-intensity cardio boosts your overall metabolism in the hours after exercise, which burns more calories in the long run.

 

[Riverhound777]

Originally posted by: Special K

Originally posted by: AbAbber2k
Look into your diet. Track your intake, as SpecK suggested. However I disagree with giving up your long cardio sessions for short, high intensity work. If anything I would cut 20min off your 60min cardio session and devote it to HIIT or similar high intensity "cardio" so you get some of both. The reason, in short, is that your body utilizes fat as a fuel more efficiently at moderate intensities during aerobic exercise lasting longer than about 20min. High intensity training is more anaerobic and utilizes creatine phosphate and muscle glucose for energy.

Right, but high-intensity cardio boosts your overall metabolism in the hours after exercise, which burns more calories in the long run.

Plus, jogging for 40 minutes and then doing HIIT would kill me, dunno about others. Actually, there is no way I could do it.

 

[wheresmybacon]

Originally posted by: Sheik Yerbouti
Ok, I do about 60 mins of cardio at the gym, I wear a polar heart rate monitor and it tells me how many calories I've burned, and what percentage of them is fat, usually it's around 50%, what is the other 50%? Just expended energy?
Also, I'm trying to lose weight, but water just doesn't cut it. I drink about 2 pints of gatorade per workout, am I being counterproductive due to the sugar content in gatorade? I've tried going to water, but I feel very tired compared to when I use g-ade.

yes.

gatorade is about the worst thing you can drink if you're doing cardio to lose weight. it's full of sugar. if you drink it WHILE you're doing cardio your body is going to use the sugar from it as fuel, effectively halting lipolysis.

 

[Phlargo]

I personally believe that you shouldn't be consuming 2 quarts of Gatorade if you're trying to lose weight. Cut the sugar out of your diet and you'll assist your weight loss. HIIT is a good plan.

But make sure you combo in some resistance training there - big muscle group training is great for weight loss - things like lunges - use your thighs, back, and gluteal muscles after doing a cardiovascular/fat burning eliptical or jogging workout. You may also consider a small amount of caffeine prior to your workout if your heart is in good shape - it'll bring your heart rate up slightly and likely promote a longer cool down time after the workout (an increase in your BMR for a few hours following the workout, further promoting fat loss).

Eat more often - 4 meals (400-600 calories) a day, 4 snacks (100-200 calories)

 

[WhiteKnight]

Originally posted by: Riverhound777

Originally posted by: Sheik Yerbouti

Originally posted by: nitsuj3580
Have you looked into High Intensity Interval Training? If you've been doing 60 min of cardio, you should be in good shape to throw some HIIT into your routine to switch it up a bit.

HIIT? What's that?

It is a good way to get a great workout in a short amount of time. What i've been doing: jog for 4 minutes to warm up. Repeat running hard and jogging for 30 second intervals for 8 minutes. Then jog for another 10 minutes to cool down. Before this I was jogging for 40 minutes to an hour as a workout. After doing this one time I had to stop before the 10 minute cool-down I was so exhausted. Sucks now that is it dark when I get off work though, I haven't had the desire to run. But I am still lifting weights.

Ah, that sounds like Guerilla Training aka Tabata Protocol (spelling?). This workout will KICK YOUR A$$. I did it with 4 min warm up, 8 series of 15s jog, 15s balls to the wall sprint (4 min total), then warm down. I'm in pretty decent shape, but this routine knocked me on my butt every time.

Also, you won't burn fat when insulin is high. Consuming sugar causes an insulin spike. Drop the Gatorade and just drink water if your goal is weight/fat loss.

 

[Dacalo]

Have you seen how much calories are there in a bottle of Gatorade? A few hundred. It's nice to drink when you want to sustain your energy level during a period of time, but it's the almost the worst thing you can drink if you want to burn fat.

And I agree with others regarding HIIT.

 

[Sheik Yerbouti]

Originally posted by: Phlargo
I personally believe that you shouldn't be consuming 2 quarts of Gatorade if you're trying to lose weight. Cut the sugar out of your diet and you'll assist your weight loss. HIIT is a good plan.

But make sure you combo in some resistance training there - big muscle group training is great for weight loss - things like lunges - use your thighs, back, and gluteal muscles after doing a cardiovascular/fat burning eliptical or jogging workout. You may also consider a small amount of caffeine prior to your workout if your heart is in good shape - it'll bring your heart rate up slightly and likely promote a longer cool down time after the workout (an increase in your BMR for a few hours following the workout, further promoting fat loss).

Eat more often - 4 meals (400-600 calories) a day, 4 snacks (100-200 calories)

It's actually 2 pints, not 2 quarts, but I still know it's alot of calories. I only drink it while I'm working out, when I'm at work, it's water or tea with nothing in it. I can't do any left side upper body work but I do work quads after my cardio as well as my calves. Thanks again for all the input.

 

[new2AMD]

HIIT works for me. I do 4 minute warm up, 12 minute interval training (30sec run 30 sec jog) 4 mintue cool down.