Heart Rate Question

mochamommy

Ok.. if I work out on the arc trainer on level 6, which is the lowest resistance of 40 and highest of 95, my heart rate stays about 160-185 the whole workout and I burn close to 530 calories in 30 minutes.. while sucking air hard the whole time. If I do level 4, which is low reistance of 30 and high of 45, I stay at about 125-150 and can actually carry on a conversation but only burn about 400 calories ...which level is better for fat burning

ATT949

Ok.. if I work out on the arc trainer on level 6, which is the lowest resistance of 40 and highest of 95, my heart rate stays about 160-185 the whole workout and I burn close to 530 calories in 30 minutes.. while sucking air hard the whole time. If I do level 4, which is low reistance of 30 and high of 45, I stay at about 125-150 and can actually carry on a conversation but only burn about 400 calories ...which level is better for fat burning

"Fat burning" is marketing hype - forget about it.

The more energy you expend, the more calories you burn so it's really up to you to decide how many calories to burn off.

BrianSharpe

To expand on ATT949's answer......

In the so-called fat burning zone you do burn a higher proportion of calories from fat but, as you've correctly observed, you burn far fewer calories overall. In the context of weight loss it's total calorie expenditure that counts not the fuel source.

The only people who really benefit from training their bodies to burn more fat as fuel are endurance athletes. Compared to stored glycogen even the skinniest marathon runner has, for all intents and purposes, a limitless fuel supply from fat.