Explain fat burning HR vs. Cardio HR

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Hozman121
Hozman121 Posts: 76 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
So for last few month been doing elliptical 30-60 minutes a day and high intensity. 600-700 calories burned. Well last BCA was losing weight but not much fat. Mostly water weight and lean muscle. So was told to get in the fat burning zone which I have done past week but burn half the calories. In my mind it makes more since to burn calories rather than go slower pace to keep HR in fat loss range.

So someone explain the process to me please.

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  • KatissimusDorsi
    KatissimusDorsi Posts: 79
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    The "fat burning zone" for cardio is a bit of a myth. Here's what it's referring to:

    When you're doing activity, depending on the INTENSITY of the exercise, your body will utilize fat : glucose in different ratios. Higher intensity (such as sprinting) uses more glucose than fat, and lower intensity stuff (such as something you can sustain for an hour, or even just sitting at your desk) uses more fat than glucose.

    So, in reality, if you're looking for the highest fat : glucose ratio exercise, it would be sitting on your butt doing nothing as that's about the lowest intensity you can go. However, you're not really burning too many calories so in the end it doesn't help you out that much! To look at it in numbers it'd be like:

    Sitting on the couch for 30 minutes = total calorie burn of 10 calories, 9 from fat 1 from glucose (90% fat use)
    Running on the treadmill for 30 minutes = total calorie burn of 150 calories, 75 from fat and 75 from glucose (50% fat use)

    So yeah, technically burning more fat, but calories are in the end all that matters.

    If you're eating at a caloric deficit and just doing cardio, you'll likely lose muscle. Preserve your muscle by either:

    -Strength training 2-3 times per week
    -Doing High Intensity Interval Training 2-3 times per week

    Let me know if you have any other questions!
  • Hozman121
    Hozman121 Posts: 76 Member
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    So then what your saying is I dont need to worry about trying to stay between 125-145 HR just get work hard, burn calories?

    I do lift 5-6 days a week combo of crossfit and straight weights.
  • KatissimusDorsi
    KatissimusDorsi Posts: 79
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    When it comes to just straight-up burning calories, yep!

    However, since you lift 5-6 days a week, if you want to do something high-intensity you may want to keep it brief (~10-15 minutes) and keep it to 2-3 days per week, just so you give yourself a chance to recover from your other activities.

    Alternatively you could keep it low-stress and just do leisurely walks / <insert activity you really enjoy here>

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