Fat burn vs fitness according to HRM?

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judykat7
judykat7 Posts: 576 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I use a Polar FT40 and it shows Fat Burn or Fitness based on my heart rate. I need to lose fat for sure and I am all about improving my fitness. Should I be targeting my workouts to stay in one zone or the other to some degree? I am just not sure what these zones mean to me as a way of accomplishing my fitness/weight loss goals. Thank you in advance for any knowledge you can provide.

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  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    It doesn't matter, just burn some cals. Go as hard as you can for as long as you can, eat reasonably and you'll be fine.
  • mraychel03
    mraychel03 Posts: 13
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    If you stay in the Fat burning zone you are more likely to lose fat not muscle weight. When you get in the higher heart rates you are improving your cardiovascular systems. So your lungs and such. You still lose weight but you burn muscle also. If your new to fitness I would stay to the lower fat burning zone. If you want to kick it up a notch and feel the burn go for the higher heart rates.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    If you stay in the Fat burning zone you are more likely to lose fat not muscle weight.
    true, though you're not really burning muscle in either case.
    When you get in the higher heart rates you are improving your cardiovascular systems.
    You are actually doing this in both zones, though you could argue it has a greater impact the higher your HR is
    You still lose weight but you burn muscle also.
    No. Or at least not for most people, and certainly not for the average MFPer
  • SadFaerie
    SadFaerie Posts: 243 Member
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    http://www.builtlean.com/2013/04/01/fat-burning-zone-myth/
  • RockClimber69
    RockClimber69 Posts: 82 Member
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    Fat burning zone is a myth.
  • ze_hombre
    ze_hombre Posts: 377 Member
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    If you stay in the Fat burning zone you are more likely to lose fat not muscle weight.
    true, though you're not really burning muscle in either case.
    When you get in the higher heart rates you are improving your cardiovascular systems.
    You are actually doing this in both zones, though you could argue it has a greater impact the higher your HR is
    You still lose weight but you burn muscle also.
    No. Or at least not for most people, and certainly not for the average MFPer

    This.

    The higher zones makes your body produce more lactic acid and therefore makes you sore the next day. I personally like keeping myself 20-30 or more BPM below the lactic zones. I would rather get in an hour of solid, slow running than 20 minutes of high pace sprinting. Some say that the two activities are the same as far as fitness is concerned, but me personally if I am going to get dressed for a run or ride then I want to get my time's worth.
  • TR0berts
    TR0berts Posts: 7,739 Member
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    The higher zones makes your body produce more lactic acid and therefore makes you sore the next day.



    Nope. The lactic acid is gone within a few hours. You're sore the next day because your body is busy repairing itself.
  • SadFaerie
    SadFaerie Posts: 243 Member
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    You still lose weight but you burn muscle also.
    No. Or at least not for most people, and certainly not for the average MFPer
    If you know the secret to losing only fat and no muscle at all, share it with the bodybuilding community, you'll make plenty buck.
  • judykat7
    judykat7 Posts: 576 Member
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    Thank you. I have been exercising since the end of November 2012. I would say that there have not been 5 days since then that I didn't do something. The fitness zone kicks in pretty fast according to the HRM, way before a sweat or any soreness for me would. Just on a casual walk I would have to be uber careful to keep my heart rate low enough not to change to the fitness zone. It kicks in different each day I believe depending on where it is when I begin my workout but somewhere in the high 90s it is already switched to fitness. But I thought if it was really going to help me lose inches rather than pounds I could try to keep it down. But I think I will just ignore it and do what feels good for me. Thanks again.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    You still lose weight but you burn muscle also.
    No. Or at least not for most people, and certainly not for the average MFPer
    If you know the secret to losing only fat and no muscle at all, share it with the bodybuilding community, you'll make plenty buck.

    Perhaps my response was poorly worded, or perhaps you're picking at it for whatever reason.

    Weight loss will come from a combination of fat, lean body mass (some of that is muscle) and water. How much comes from which varies, but it has little to do with whether you are in the fat burning zone or the fitness zone.
  • Shock_Wave
    Shock_Wave Posts: 1,573 Member
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    Call polar and ask them what their view is on this topic and why they put that on there. Then post back here with the answer so we can all get both sides of the story. That would be great.

    ETA: Obviously we know the more calories you burn on a weight loss diet can result in a higher fat loss percentage. I would assume the zones are more for getting in better shape and showing you that through your heart rate and cals burned through exercise. The better shape you get in the harder it is to burn more of the same amount of cals as it would be when you were out of shape in the same amount of time, unless you upped your hr zone and got more intense with your exercises. So in the end it makes it easier to know what you have to do in your work outs lets say if you wanted to burn 250 cals in 30 min. of time and this helps out huge if you are counting cals and only have a limited amount of time to work out to burn them.
  • SadFaerie
    SadFaerie Posts: 243 Member
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    Perhaps my response was poorly worded, or perhaps you're picking at it for whatever reason.

    Weight loss will come from a combination of fat, lean body mass (some of that is muscle) and water. How much comes from which varies, but it has little to do with whether you are in the fat burning zone or the fitness zone.
    Sorry, my bad, it's the quote marks that made me read your response look as if you were saying that average MFPer doesn't burn muscle while burning. My only excuse is that it's been over 100F all day and my body switched to zombie mode.
  • jacksonpt
    jacksonpt Posts: 10,413 Member
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    Perhaps my response was poorly worded, or perhaps you're picking at it for whatever reason.

    Weight loss will come from a combination of fat, lean body mass (some of that is muscle) and water. How much comes from which varies, but it has little to do with whether you are in the fat burning zone or the fitness zone.
    Sorry, my bad, it's the quote marks that made me read your response look as if you were saying that average MFPer doesn't burn muscle while burning. My only excuse is that it's been over 100F all day and my body switched to zombie mode.

    I don't believe the average MFPer does burn muscle, at least not because of the HR zone they are in when they exercise. Do they because they eat too little or whatever? Sure, but that's related to diet, not HR zones.

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