Feel the burn......

I can hardly get off the couch to go pee! I shouldn't take two weeks off of the bike like I did this time. Though I have been supplementing my riding with running and have put in 13 1/2 miles this week, I still need to be on the bike. Last weekend though, the In-Laws got in the way. They need my help moving a few things. And, then there was the yard work that had to be done. Those monthly pick-ups..... Anyway, I rode to White Rock Lake, about a 9 mile trip and did a few laps. Today, however, I tried to keep my pedal speed down, as well as my heart rate, to try to burn more fat. You may or may not know that above a certain heart rate percentage, your body can only process simple carbohydrates and sugars so therefore won't burn fat. So, in order to burn the fat cells, you must be able to bring in enough oxyegen to feed the fire which turns fat into a usable energy source. If you are having trouble breathing, your probably out of your fat burning zone. To do that I ride at a slower pedal speed and try to ride long and steady. I normally ride at an average of 90-95 rpms, but to burn fat I drop it to 70-80. During aerobic activity, your body uses two kinds of stored energy for fuel: fat and carbohydrates or sugar. The intensity of your exercise session determines how much of which energy source is utilized. Long durations of low- to moderate-intensity exercise is the best way to lose fat. That's because working at 60% of maximum heart rate,or at a low-intensity, approximately 50% of the calories you burn come from fat. If you exercise at a higher intensity, say 80% of heart rate max., 60% come from sugars and only 40% of calories you are from fat. Lower intensity exercise burns more fat calories than higher intensity activities. The more intensely you exercise, the more carbohydrates (and the less fat calories) you'll expend. However, when your goal is fat loss, you have to look at the total number of calories you expend during an exercise session. Low-intensity activity burns less overall calories than high-intensity exercise. Let's say you walk at an easy pace for 45 minutes. You would burn far less calories than if you ran at a higher intensity for that same duration. Everybody has there own opinion, but I beleive that the best way to "get in shape" is to attain an overall fitness and that takes designing a workout regimen that uses many different exercises. This is the reason cross-training became the buz word a few years ago. Low-intensity burns a higher amount of fat. Higher intensity burns a high total calorie count and increases aneroebic ability, helping us to process oxygen more efficiently. Maximum intensity bursts: weight lifting, running, and sprinting or hill climbing on the bike, builds muscle which in turn makes us stronger overall. Therefore, I try to vary my exercise. Anyway today was a fat burner. I tied to climb as many hills as possible as well, until my legs gave out. If some of you don't know the hills around the lake...ask me. I know most of them. There are lots of places to veer off the normal to pick up a little added terrain. I've been on my soapbox too long, so bye for now.