Fat Burning Zone Question

LongMom

Hey people!

So I got a HRM for Christmas - thanks hubby! It's pretty cool. I thought it would help by giving me a more accurate count of calories burned - especially when I'm doing my Zumba-on-steroids Fuzion class

Then I read a post on here and got myself all confused - what else is new

So here's my question, if I'm dancing for 45 mins in the 80% - 100% heart rate zone, am I getting a good workout? Am I burning the wrong kind of calories/fat? Is this NOT helping me lose weight?

Hoping some of you can make this all a little clearer for me - I can always count on MFP!

bluiz13

i'll be interested to hear the responses as i too have posted this question and not gotten "SOLID" answers that i understand lol....
i'm thinking burning any kind of calories is GREAT

RDTaylor13

Hey people!

So I got a HRM for Christmas - thanks hubby! It's pretty cool. I thought it would help by giving me a more accurate count of calories burned - especially when I'm doing my Zumba-on-steroids Fuzion class

Then I read a post on here and got myself all confused - what else is new

So here's my question, if I'm dancing for 45 mins in the 80% - 100% heart rate zone, am I getting a good workout? Am I burning the wrong kind of calories/fat? Is this NOT helping me lose weight?

Hoping some of you can make this all a little clearer for me - I can always count on MFP!

As far as I understand it, from 50% - 65% just helps your blood pressure, and colesterol.
from 65%- 75% your in a fat burning zone. where 90% of the calories burned are from fat.
and 75%-85% is in the aerobic zone, which is an all around burn (from fat, and carbs) and great for your cardiovascular system.

but thats just what I heard. I'm sure someone will verify this, and another will contradict it.

LongMom

As far as I understand it, from 50% - 65% just helps your blood pressure, and colesterol.
from 65%- 75% your in a fat burning zone. where 90% of the calories burned are from fat.
and 75%-85% is in the aerobic zone, which is an all around burn (from fat, and carbs) and great for your cardiovascular system.

but thats just what I heard. I'm sure someone will verify this, and another will contradict it.

That makes sense! Thanks! I know there are going to me many different opinions on this topic - there always are. I'm not EVER going to stop dancing my *kitten* off, but I would like to know if I have to compensate in other areas to maximize my efforts and achieve an actual loss of *kitten*

lilRicki

I've read that when you read "fat burning zone" on your cardio machines, that it's a bunch of crap and has been disproven...stick to the "cardio zone" that's where your heart rate is suppose to be...any kind of movement is beneficial but if you want to lose weight you need to get your HR up for more than 20 minutes straight.

kiuney

The "zone" stuff is really confusing and more of a marketing ploy than anything else. It has to do with the source of your energy. With more moderate exercise, you are accessing stored fat for energy (called fatty acid oxidation). With higher intensity exercise, you're utilizing glucose stores. However, this is unimportant. Higher intensity exercise equates to a higher calorie burn which is a GOOD thing.

The take-home lesson here is that you ought to have variety in your workouts... Longer, more moderate workouts and shorter, intense workouts.

Hope that helps.

TateFTW

Your worried about burning the "wrong kind" of calories? Talk about overthinking it.

LongMom

Your worried about burning the "wrong kind" of calories? Talk about overthinking it.

I overthink everything in my life

LongMom

The "zone" stuff is really confusing and more of a marketing ploy than anything else. It has to do with the source of your energy. With more moderate exercise, you are accessing stored fat for energy (called fatty acid oxidation). With higher intensity exercise, you're utilizing glucose stores. However, this is unimportant. Higher intensity exercise equates to a higher calorie burn which is a GOOD thing.

The take-home lesson here is that you ought to have variety in your workouts... Longer, more moderate workouts and shorter, intense workouts.

Hope that helps.

This DOES help - thanks! The "marketing ploy" logic makes a lot of sense

TateFTW

Studies that show a certain form of exercise burning more fat than others are misleading. Energy we use comes from different sources, sometimes glucose, sometimes stored fat. You access stored fat by consuming less than you use. If your exercise uses more fat, then glucose will be used for your other activities throughout the day. If you exercise uses glucose, then fat will be used for your other activities throughout the day as long as you take in fewer calories then you use.

In other words, it doesn't matter.

kiuney

The "zone" stuff is really confusing and more of a marketing ploy than anything else. It has to do with the source of your energy. With more moderate exercise, you are accessing stored fat for energy (called fatty acid oxidation). With higher intensity exercise, you're utilizing glucose stores. However, this is unimportant. Higher intensity exercise equates to a higher calorie burn which is a GOOD thing.

The take-home lesson here is that you ought to have variety in your workouts... Longer, more moderate workouts and shorter, intense workouts.

Hope that helps.

This DOES help - thanks! The "marketing ploy" logic makes a lot of sense

Good! I'm glad. The other thing to keep in mind is that the more fit you become, the heart rate ranges become less important (in all likelihood, you'll work in a higher range than you "should"). I use mine to keep track of my calorie burn - not so I believe that I burned xyz calories but just as a measure of how hard my body worked.