Endurance workout

Endurance sports form the basis for calorie consumption during sport. In addition, endurance training improves the cardiovascular system and can make you happy if you are committed.

Endurance training includes all the sports that are exercised over a longer period of time under moderate strain, such as walking, jogging, cycling, swimming, rowing, hiking.

By moving for a long time, usually at least 30 minutes, a noticeable amount of calories is consumed. The longer you are on the road, the greater the energy consumption. Therefore, extensive cycling tours or full-day hikes are very effective.

If you have not been active in sports before, you sometimes have to find out what endurance sports you enjoy. It is also worth trying out the various sports extensively. To give every sport a chance to show its positive side, it makes sense to test it thoroughly, because new sports are often a little tedious at the beginning. Once you have become accustomed to the movement sequence, it is easier to judge whether you enjoy this form of movement or not.

Of course, you don't have to choose a single endurance sport. On the contrary: it makes sense to practice several different sports alternately, because each of these sports challenges the body in different ways.

It also makes sense for the preferred sports to change over time. For beginners, walking is usually easier than jogging because it is less strenuous and puts less strain on the joints. But after a while, it may be more enjoyable to switch to jogging because it burns calories more effectively and can make running a lot more fun.

The myth of the fat burning pulse

Many endurance athletes who want to lose weight are recommended to train in the pulse zone of so-called fat burning in order to lose weight as effectively as possible.

But to lose weight training in the fat burning area is nonsense, because the underlying mechanism is misunderstood by most, also by many trainers.

The medical knowledge behind this is that both carbohydrates and fat are consumed as an energy source when the muscles are exercised - mind you: in the muscle. So it's about the small fat stores that are directly present in the muscle. The fat stores under the skin and in the belly have nothing to do with it.

When moving slowly with a relatively low pulse, the proportion of fat burning in the muscle is higher than the proportion of carbohydrate burning. But the total energy consumption is low.

The ratio of carbohydrate and fat burning changes with faster movement and higher heart rate. More carbohydrates are burned in proportion. Above all, however, total energy consumption is increasing significantly. In practice, the energy consumed by burning fat at a higher pulse rate is significantly higher than at a lower pulse rate. Added to this is the sharp increase in the amount of carbohydrate burned.

A small calculation example can illustrate the principle:

If you jog in the so-called area of the fat burning pulse, with about 65% of your maximum heart rate (about 125 beats/min), then the energy production is distributed as follows:

Fat = 60% and carbohydrates = 40%.

A total of 480 kcal is consumed per hour. The proportion of fat burning is 288 kcal.

If, on the other hand, you jog in the so-called cardio range with 80% of the maximum heart rate (approx. 150 pulse beats/min), then the energy generation is distributed as follows:

Fat = 40% and carbohydrates = 60%.

A total of about 960 kcal per hour is consumed. The proportion of fat burning is 384.

Although the percentage of fat burning is higher in slower training than in fast training, fast training burns more fat overall than slow training. In addition, the total energy consumption of a fast workout is higher than that of a slow workout.

Since it does not matter whether carbohydrates or fats are burned in the muscle, training in the higher pulse range has a considerably better effect than training in the lower pulse range.

Only for competitive athletes who train for extreme endurance performance does targeted training in the fat burning area make sense, because this enables them to perform longer sports performances without collapsing. But this is a completely different matter than training for a slimmer stomach.

Exercise intensity

As we have seen, it is pointless to train in the fat burning pulse area for the sake of a supposedly optimal fat reduction. Nevertheless, it makes a lot of sense to think about the intensity of his endurance training.

Especially at the beginning it is rather harmful if you start racing at top speed, because then you are usually exhausted after a very short time and can no longer do anything.

Too intensive training also puts more strain on the muscles and joints than moderate training.

It also plays a role how long you want to or can train.

If you want to cycle for a whole day, it is logical to take it slower than if you only have half an hour.

The intensity of the training should therefore depend on the one hand on the personal level of fitness and on the other hand on the time available.

The most effective way to train is to stick it out to the planned end and then be really exhausted and sweaty. However, you should not suffer injuries or severe muscle ache, because otherwise you will not be able to train on the following days. A very slight sore muscle, however, is okay. It shows that you have exercised your muscles hard.