Your Health - Ask the Expert
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Fat: How is it measured?
How can I get rid of the fat around my "any body part"?
How long should I work out to burn fat?
What should my heart rate be to lose fat?
What is aerobic exercise?
What is anaerobic exercise?
What's the best exercise to do and when is the best time to workout?
Fat: How is it measured?
Body Fat (BF) is usually given as a percentage of total weight. If a 100lb person has 10% BF, that person has 10lbs of fat and 90 pounds of lean body mass (LBM=water, muscle, bone, etc.).
There are 3500 calories in 1 pound of fat.
For men < 15% is considered athletic, 25% about average.
For women < 22% is considered athletic, 30% about average.
Hydrostatic weighing (Immersion):
- Weight is measured while under water.
- Pros: Thought to be the most reliable.
- Cons: A lot of equipment is needed. Time consuming. What you eat prior to the test, can affect the accuracy.
- The %BF is calculated by measuring the electrical impedance between certain areas of the body, usually between the fingers and the toes.
- Pros: Fast.
- Cons: Not very reliable.
- Calipers are used to measure skin fold thickness.
- Pros: Thought to be very reliable. The more body parts tested, the more accurate the results. Most gyms have a caliper.
- Cons: May be embarrassing to have someone pinch your fat.
How can I get rid of the fat around my "any body part"?
You can't spot reduce! Men generally store fat around their waist, while women generally store it around their hips. There is no exercise, magical cream (yet), plastic wrap procedure, or anything else other than liposuction that will remove fat from a certain area.
The best way to get and keep a washboard stomach, or shapely hips, is by following a low carb diet and by doing plenty of aerobic and anaerobic training. Crunches, or side leg raises, while strengthening and building the muscles, will not make them appear through the layer of fat between them and the skin. Get rid of the fat and your abs will show up and/or your hips will become firm and trim.
How long should I work out to burn fat?
An aerobic work out should last at least 12 minutes. Do not count your warm up or cool down, only the amount of time your HR is within your Training Zone. The longer and more frequently you do this, the sooner you'll see an improvement (Less Fat).
Why 12 minutes?
This is the amount of time needed for the body to start producing fat burning enzymes. The idea is that you want to get your body to use fat for energy. After 12 minutes you start to burn fat at a higher rate.
What should my heart rate be to lose fat?
Heart Rate (HR) is the number of times the heart beats per minute. This is usually taken by pressing on the front, left side of the neck, or the inner wrist, and counting the number of beats. Count the number of beats in 10 seconds and multiply by 6 to get your heart rate.
When doing an aerobic workout your Maximum Heart Rate (MHR) needs to be determined. Your MHR is defined as 220 minus your age. A 20-Year old's MHR would be 200, while a 50-Year old's would be 170. While performing aerobic exercise your HR should stay within 50-80% of your MHR. This is your Training Zone. So a 20-year old should keep their HR between 100 and 160.
Keeping the HR above this zone will not provide additional aerobic benefit. In fact, it may provide no aerobic benefit at all. For best results (aerobic and fat burning), keep your HR in the aerobic zone for at least 12 minutes. The longer and more frequently you do this the more improvement you'll see.
What is aerobic exercise?
Aerobic means oxygen. Your muscles are working in an oxygen rich state. After 12 minutes it causes your body to produce fat-burning enzymes.
An aerobic exercise is one that fits the following four requirements:
- Is steady, nonstop.
- Lasts twelve minutes minimum.
- Has a comfortable pace.
- Uses the muscles of the lower body.
An easy way to measure if you're training too hard/fast is a simple talk test. If you can't carry on a conversation without huffing and puffing for breath you need to slow down. If you can carry on a conversation without stopping every now and then for a breath then you need to go a little faster.
Examples of aerobic exercises include walking, running, cycling, rowing, stair climbing and dancing.
What is anaerobic exercise?
Anaerobic means lack of oxygen. Your muscles are working in an oxygen deprived state. This causes your body to produce sugar-burning enzymes. You are expending energy faster than your body can replace it by metabolizing oxygen.
An anaerobic exercise is any activity that fails to meet the above 4 requirements (faq #7). An aerobic activity can become anaerobic if the heart rate is elevated above the training zone for a long period of time. Any start/stop activities would qualify.
Examples of anaerobic exercises include tennis, football, sprinting, skiing and weight training.
What's the best exercise to do and when is the best time to workout?
The best exercise to do is whatever exercise you enjoy. Most people like variety and will run one day and play basketball the next day. Find an activity that you enjoy and will stick with.
The best time to work out is, again, whatever time of day you like. Some people are morning people and they usually have no problem with going to the gym at 6am, others like to workout at night to relieve the stress of the day. What time of day you workout isn't important, what's important is how you're working out and if you're getting enough nutrients and rest.