Posts by dumas983

In order to burn the most calories you want your heart rate to run at 80-85% of your max heart rate. Some people may tell you that is too high, and obviously if you are out of breath and cannot function at that level then you need to take it back a step, but if you can hold a conversation at 85% then you are fine, you'll just burn more calories. I'm 24 years old and for my height and age, 85% of my max heart rate is 167. That is typically about what mine runs when I am on the elliptical and I can still hold a conversation. Another thing to keep in mind is that the HR monitors on the machines aren't accurate. If you want to get an accurate heart rate/calories burned then you should purchase a HR monitor. I've had the machines in the gym register CRAZY numbers before that weren't true. So relax and don't worry so much about the numbers... concentrate on how you feel; if you feel great you can probably even up the intensity... or better yet mix up the machines you use so that you are using different muscles. Cardio on one machine may be easy for you, but switch to another and you may find yourself being more challenged. If you want a great book that can explain the whole science behind burning calories, heart rates, dieting, etc. I highly recommend Jillian Michaels "Winning by losing". It changed my whole outlook on weight loss/management.