I'm not overweight but I was wondering what would burn more body fat:
long distance type of workouts with a lot of even-paced long swim sessions or sprint workouts with mainly sprint intervals.
I think the heart rate correlates pretty well with the amount of work output
Maybe, but I don't believe it's completely true, I think HR is also affected by quite a few other factors (eg environmental, training fatigue) and also exhibits a lag.
I think you're forgetting about another major factor involved, time. Along with the force involved in going faster, it takes over a minute less time. To ride a mile at 20 mph would only take 3 min, but to ride the same mile at 10 mph would take 6 min.
If you are talking about the same course (same distance, same grade, all that), then no I don't think time enters into it.
Extrapolate it out. Would it take even less energy to go 25 mph? 30 mph? Suddenly pro cyclists don't look so impressive...
The main monkey wrench is changes in efficiency, as Fritz said. I don't think cycling technique efficiency changes greatly but the gearing (mechanical efficiency) obviously does. Maybe physiological efficiency changes some. But force goes up with the square of the velocity...it is really hard to imagine changes in efficiency would overcome that.
I think the heart rate correlates pretty well with the amount of work output
Maybe, but I don't believe it's completely true, I think HR is also affected by quite a few other factors (eg environmental, training fatigue) and also exhibits a lag.
I think you're forgetting about another major factor involved, time. Along with the force involved in going faster, it takes over a minute less time. To ride a mile at 20 mph would only take 3 min, but to ride the same mile at 10 mph would take 6 min.
If you are talking about the same course (same distance, same grade, all that), then no I don't think time enters into it.
Extrapolate it out. Would it take even less energy to go 25 mph? 30 mph? Suddenly pro cyclists don't look so impressive...
The main monkey wrench is changes in efficiency, as Fritz said. I don't think cycling technique efficiency changes greatly but the gearing (mechanical efficiency) obviously does. Maybe physiological efficiency changes some. But force goes up with the square of the velocity...it is really hard to imagine changes in efficiency would overcome that.
