Low Intensity Exercising: One Way to Burn Fat

Hello All!!!  I hope you are all doing great.  Well yesterday I went hiking all day at Mt. Baldy (San Antonio Mountain), CA with a couple of buddies.  We ended up doing a 11.8 mile loop starting at Manker Flats, all the way to the summit (10064 ft).  Then down the front side of the mountain back to the car.  It took a total of 7 hours, 4 hours to summit, then 3 hours to descent.  Fortunately for me, I burned 5200 calories by the end of the day!!!!!!  That is about a pound and a half of fat being burning from a full day of hiking.
To better clarify, 1 pound of fat is equal to 3500 calories.  Theoretically speaking, if you burned 500 calories per exercise session, 7 days a week, then at the end of the week you would have burned 1 pound of fat.
If you are like everyone else and you start strong on a fitness program, working out diligently and sticking to a program, then after about 2 or 3 months, you slowly start to fizzle away because of several reasons.  Ranging from boredom, to performance plateau, and/or over-training, as well as several other factors depending on each individual, then you should try to mix up your routine so you can enjoy every exercise session.
By performing low intensity physical training, meaning keeping your heart rate between 60%-70% of your max heart rate, your body goes into fat burning mode and you start to burn fat. 
Now you have to decide what kind of activities are low intensity.  Well, if you live in Southern California, you have a plethora of activities to choose from.  For example, you can do any of the following to supplement going to the gym:  hiking, kayaking, bike riding, walking on the beach, walking around the neighborhood, swimming laps or for fun, etc.  Once you know and plan your activity you then have to know what heart rate to shoot for when completing your fat burning session.  Obviously, the best and easiest way to track your heart rate during exercise is with a heart rate monitor, but for people who do not have HR monitors have to figure out your proper target HR zones for your body to switch into fat burning mode.  To figure out your specific fat burning zone, you can do the following -

1. Find your max heart rate by subtracting your age from 220.  (220-age)
2. Now find your fat burning zone.  Like stated above, 60%-70% of max heart is your fat burning zone.  So multiply 0.6 (or any number between 60%-70%) by your max HR.                        (ex. 194 X 0.6 = 116) 
3. If you do not own a HR monitor, you can gauge your exercise intensity by using the talk test.  If you can hold a conversation without loosing your breathe during exercise, then you are most likely exercising in the fat burning.

IMPORTANT:  YOU MUST BE EXERCISING FOR AT LEAST 20 MINUTES BEFORE YOU BODY GOES INTO FAT BURNING MODE.  That means if you go out for a 15 or 20 minute walk, you are NOT doing any good for yourself.  You have to shoot for at least 30 minutes per session, preferably 1 hour or more per fat burning session for the best results.

One more thing to keep in mind when thinking of ways to make your fitness sessions more pleasurable, if you don't want to exercise on your own, then call a friend or arrange a group outing.  Exercising with a friend or group definitely makes your sessions more fun and helps the time fly right on by.

Now that you know there are so many things that you can do outdoors and outside the gym that are low impact, low intensity and perfect for the fat burning session, you can start to encourage your family and friends to join on your exercise adventures.  Trust me on this one, if you start to mix up your fitness routines, not only will you enjoy your exercise sessions, but you will feel great at the end of the day.

If you have any questions on different low impact activities or how to most effectively train in your proper HR zones, drop me a line and I will assist you with whatever you need.