Circuit Training and Heart Rate Zones for Weight Loss

R

romamor4

0
I am currently doing circuit training at my gym. We have a room set up with all of the machines and a light which tells us when to move on to the next area.

My questions are:
- I've been doing 12 reps of the next to impossible weight. Is this correct? I see many people doing as many reps as possible in the amount alotted.

- How does this correlate with my heart rate? I am using a heart rate monitor while doing the circuit. Where should my heart rate be while I am doing the circuit for weight loss? What zone is best?

I'd really appreciate any guidance out there.

Thanks so much!!:newbie:
 
You should be doing as many reps as possible in the time alotted. If, for you, this is 12 reps because you simply can't lift any more, then you're doing it right. If you find that you can't do anymore reps, but there's still a significant amount of time left over and there's no easier variation of the exercise, rest a few seconds and see if you can squeeze out another rep, and keep this up until you move to the next station.

I don't generally submit to HR zones, at least not with regards to weight loss. While it's true that in the aerobic zone (which is anything from total rest through to 50-90% of your max HR, depending on fitness*) you use fat as your primary energy source, the most relevant factor in weight loss for most people is energy in vs energy out, not so much where energy is coming from in the moment. The more energy spent, the more weight you'll lose. Your heart rate should be 100+ entering into the circuit. Beyond that, don't worry too much about where your HR sits, unless you have a medical condition that could be exascerbated by exertion.

* A very unfit, untrained individual might reach their lactic acid threshold at a range as low as 50%MHR, which should be about 80-100BPM for a person aged 20-60. Very fit, high performance athletes might not breech their lactic threshold until they reach 85-90%MHR. For most people in the gym, their lactic threshold is between 60 and 80%MHR. Below the lactic threshold is the aerobic zone.
 
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