I know everyone has their opinions on this but I would like to hear them. The program I am on has me doing 30mins of cardio after my workouts every other day. It states to keep my heart rate at 75-85% of my max heart rate. What does everyone else keep their heart rate at while doing cardio. My heart rate shoots up to about 170 and I really have to slow in down to get it into the 150s... opinions please.

My opinon?? Ok, when I lost the most weight around 50 lbs. (I haven't had surgery yet) the most success I had was with intervals, 4 and 4. 4 minutes of harder more intense work out with a heart rate around 170 and then another 4 minutes of heart rate around 140. I did this initially for 28 minutes and then worked up to 56 minutes. I had a trainer once tell me that my max heart rate is when I start to have trouble carrying on a conversation with someone which was around 170.

^^^ I'm doing something similar with my cardio. I only do 30mins every other day and change what machine I use each time.

• Minutes 1-2: Level One (Easy resistance)
  
• Minutes 3-5: Level Two (Moderate resistance)
  
• Minutes 6-9: Level Three (Difficult resistance)
  
• Minutes 10-11: Level Two
  
• Minutes 12-15: Level Three
  
• Minutes 16-17: Level Two
  
• Minutes 18-21: Level Three
  
• Minutes 22-24: Level Two
  
• Minutes 25-26: Level One
  

Stick with one machine for 2 weeks and switch it up, also push yourself to go for a little longer each time! If you don't have enough time, higher intesity works also! Check in and let me know how your doing!

I've just been doing a lot of reading about Maximum Aerobic Function (MAF) zone. It was developed by a guy named Phil Maffetone who has trained many endurance athletes including Mark Allen who is a 6 time Iron Man triathlon winner. He preaches that if you stay in your aerobic zone you will burn fat for fuel rather than glycogen and you will be able to sustain it for so much longer. The interesting part is they claim that if you train in that zone your performance will gradually increase over time but your heart rate will stay the same, meaning you can go farther and faster with less effort while still burning fat. The MAF zone is a basic equation of subtracting 180 minus your age and that gives you the upper end of your zone. The zone is a range of 10 beats per minute so you subtract another 10 to get the lower and upper zone to train in. There are also a few other contingencies like you subtract another 10 from both totals if you are completely out of shape and have not been training.

The end result is you train at a relatively easy aerobic effort that keeps you strictly in the fat burning zone and out of the sugar burning zone (anaerobic). I personally can't say for sure how well it works but if anyone is interested in training for endurance events it's worth researching.

I've just been doing a lot of reading about Maximum Aerobic Function (MAF) zone. It was developed by a guy named Phil Maffetone who has trained many endurance athletes including Mark Allen who is a 6 time Iron Man triathlon winner. He preaches that if you stay in your aerobic zone you will burn fat for fuel rather than glycogen and you will be able to sustain it for so much longer. The interesting part is they claim that if you train in that zone your performance will gradually increase over time but your heart rate will stay the same' date=' meaning you can go farther and faster with less effort while still burning fat. The MAF zone is a basic equation of subtracting 180 minus your age and that gives you the upper end of your zone. The zone is a range of 10 beats per minute so you subtract another 10 to get the lower and upper zone to train in. There are also a few other contingencies like you subtract another 10 from both totals if you are completely out of shape and have not been training.

The end result is you train at a relatively easy aerobic effort that keeps you strictly in the fat burning zone and out of the sugar burning zone (anaerobic). I personally can't say for sure how well it works but if anyone is interested in training for endurance events it's worth researching.[/quote']

My trainer does the 180 thing. I didn't really understand the equation and scientific process thoroughly, I just heard a number and tried to stay with it lol