Gravity Fx Fitness

I write a lot about high intensity exercise and getting your heart rate elevated for fat loss…..

but some times you need to dial the intensity down a little bit and just enjoy some lower intensity activity or recreation – stopping to smell the roses, so to speak.

I did that the other day with my bike ride.  A couple weeks ago I rode for an hour and forty minutes at a pretty intense pace – burning a touch over 1500 calories, according to my HR monitor.

It seemed like my metabolism was elevated for the next few days, which it probably was.

This time however, I needed a slower pace and forced myself to just take it easy and enjoy the beautiful weather, taking in all the scenery of the mighty Mississippi.  The “geek” in me decided to wear the HR monitor anyway, just to see how much difference in calorie burn there was.

I pedaled for an hour and a half, taking a few minutes break once or twice.  My average heart rate percentage was 68%, with a max of 80%, compared with the previous bike ride at 82% average.

I burned just over 1000 calories, which is still fairly significant – another benefit to having a large frame, more calories burned, when comparing the same pace to someone lighter in weight.

So while I still like high intensity exercise for losing fat, you can’t go all out all the time.  You will get burned out one way or the other – physically, mentally, or hormonally.

Bottom line – to get the best results you have to mix things up once in a while.  Your body will adapt to doing the same thing all the time and you might not get the same results as you once did.

You know what they say, variety is the spice of life.

Get moving!

Brian

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