The myth of the Fat-buring Zone

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  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    I just read an interesting article regarding the "Fat-burning Zone" and thought I would share.

    http://www.active.com/triathlon/Articles/The-Myth-of-the-Fat-burning-Zone.htm

    Sadly, while a lot of other good explanation in there, there are tidbits that are wrong and have been debunked.
    Every pound of muscle you put on requires approximately 50 calories per day to maintain. This doesn't take into account the calories burned developing that muscle, or the calories burned while maintaining that muscle. These 50 calories are the amount needed by that muscle to just sit there.

    It's been shown in studies that a lb of fat takes 2 cal/day to maintain, muscle is 8 cal/day. One study has eluded to 35 potentially, but it is by itself.

    So if you lose 50 lbs of fat, and just keep your current lean muscle, your BMR has gone down by 100 cal/day. And chances are the diet/exercise combo has actually caused some muscle loss. And carrying around less weight means less energy needed to do so, so less maintenance calories.

    What a good reason to revisit the maintenance and goal figures in your profile/settings often.
  • Meggles63
    Meggles63 Posts: 916 Member
    So, if I'm very close to/at maintenance, and trying to preserve muscle, yet want to lower bf%, wouldn't it be better to work out in the "fat burning" zone rather than up in the higher zone?

    Or does it matter?
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    So, if I'm very close to/at maintenance, and trying to preserve muscle, yet want to lower bf%, wouldn't it be better to work out in the "fat burning" zone rather than up in the higher zone?

    If you want to make the most of your workout time available, if it is limited, then higher zone will be better.
    You will burn slightly more fat calories, and more calories in general. But it's not like you are going through your glucose stores and tearing down muscle, unless you are going a long time.

    Make sure to eat a good snack afterwards of even carbs/protein.
    The carbs will go to replenish the glucose stores you just used, the protein to repair any muscle that needs strengthening.

    If you are marathon/triathlon training and doing 2hrs plus for the workouts several days in a row, then yes the fat burning zone would be better. Because as you keep using up the glucose stores (about 2000 calories worth rough avg) and get close to running out, your body starts breaking down muscle to use the protein for energy to help burn the fat.

    So too high a zone for this specific type of workout would be breaking down muscle.

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