Recovery Run and Fat Burn

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For example, if your maximum heart rate is 180 and your resting heart rate is 50, subtract 50 from 180 to get 130. Then calculate 65 percent of 130 to get 84.5. Then add your resting heart rate of 50 to 84.5; the result, 134.5, is about the heart rate to aim for on an easy, recovery run. (Don’t worry about the 0.5 part.)

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First of all, as your body becomes more adapted to aerobic, slow runs, it’s going to use fat more efficiently, Ghazarians says. “This process is known as the fat adaptation effect,” he explains. “Faster anaerobic runs upwards of two hours mainly deplete stored muscle glycogen from carbohydrates. Slower aerobic runs, on the other hand, use approximately 50 percent fat for energy while the remaining 50 percent is a combination of glucose and protein for energy.”

The reason for this? Fat oxidation requires oxygen—and it’s very hard to run long distances at an all-out fast pace. “Long, slow distance runs are easier to sustain. So during these runs, your body has to constantly replenish the oxygen reserves it’s using to continue to produce energy,” he says. “And since fat metabolism requires oxygen, you condition your body to use fat as its main energy source rather than carbs. Eventually, this adaptation will allow you to run longer distances without having to refuel.”

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