Cardio & fat burning question ..

[bekajo]

I am a 29 yo female, 5'7" and 143 lbs... I have been told that when I do cardio to burn fat and lose weight, my target heart rate should be 135-160ish. But when I do high intensity cardio (spinning/ elliptical with higher resistance or running) my heart rate jumps up to 170+. I'm just confused as to what the best way to burn fat/calories is... higher intensity that makes me work harder or lower intensity that keeps my heart rate in that range?

HELP!!!

Ps. I do weight train also, not just cardio so the muscle building part is covered

[Padz2003]

Hi Bekajo, I hope this will help in some way.

On a day when I am weight training I also do cardio (always after weight training, not before) on the fat burn setting with Max HR set to about 5 to 10 beats short of the max for my age for 20 minutes. Then, on days when I'm not weight Training I do 40 minutes at the same setting - I find that this helps me to burn fat effectively.

If while you are doing cardio you would be unable to hold a conversation then you are working too hard and instead should be starting off lightly at the low end of your heart rate range.

[bekajo]

Ok, that does help... I find when I run or up the resistance I would never be able to hold a conversation... I'm breathing way too hard. Thanks for the help!