Exercising in a Fat Burning Zone?! MYTH

Yet another interesting fact from my Runners World magazine. I have heard a lot of people talk about this "hype" of exercising at slower paces (50-70 percent of your max heart rate). Well this goes against anything and everything an athlete has ever been taught. I remember a trainer at the gym telling me I could ease up on my cardio because pushing harder doesn't mean I will burn more fat. I thought he was crazy, but I took his advice... and didn't see any different results.
"Running at higher intensities causes you to burn a lowere precentage of fat calories in favor of carbs," says Jason Karp, "but you use more total calories." And that's the key to slimming down.
Lower intensity exercise still has its place. Long, slow runs build aerobic fitness and endurance. But to kick start a pokey metabolism, you need intensity.

dun dun dun... which is why I LOVE INTERVAL TRAINING! They say that condensed runs that mix intensity efforts with recovery burn more calories during and AFTER workouts. Plus, it helps with boredom.

I am all for burning after I am done, too!

Want to torch some calories on the treadmill? Follow this plan from the magazine.
1. Build up to six intervals doing the workout.
2. To prevent overtraining, don't do more than 2 to 3 sessions (like this one) per week.
3.Take three to four weeks to build up a cardio base before doing these intervals. (Don't try this unless you already workout in other words)

About a 40 minute treadmill routine
Warm up 10 minutes
Run for 5 min at 1 %i ncline at a speed 90% of max heart rate (so basically run, no jogging, almost sprinting)
Recovery jog 2 mins
Run for 5 1% incline... 90-95 % rate (run)
Recovery 2 mins
Run 5 1 % incline
Recovery 2 mins
Cool down for 10 mins
Add one intercal every two weeks until you reach 6 intervals