HRM - Fat -vs-Fitness

MrsORourke

My name is Jen...and I am fat (no denial here)! That's why I'm here afterall. ) Today was the first time I've used my brand spankin new Polar FT7. The nifty little gadget let me know if I was in my fat burn zone, or my fitness zone today based on my heart rate. Most of the time I was in the "fitness" zone. I want to burn fat - yet I do not want to slow down my pace to stay in the "fat burn" zone. What's a girl to do? Does it REALLY matter? As long as I keep it up with the healthy eating and exercise, I'm going to lose fat regardless, right? Anyone care to shed some light?

TIA!

lambertj

I have a Polar FT4 and I go full out on all my cardio, i never stay in the fat burning zone, it seems too slow to me.

CMmrsfloyd

If you're working hard enough that your heart rate is up, you're burning calories even if the HRM says your in the 'fitness' zone rather than the 'fat burning' zone. Honestly I say ignore the zones and just work your butt off. You're burning calories regardless.

froeschli

the fat burning zone is where you burn the most fat percentage of all calories burned. BUT if you work out at a higher heart rate, you burn more calories overall, which is the main goal.
and even if the fat percentage is lower, with the overall calories higher, there is a good chance you are burning more fat than you would be in the fat burning zone anyways...

am i making sense here?

ashiggins

I've heard that the "fat burning zone" is kind of an old idea in fitness. Any trainer that I've met says to go as hard as you can and ignore the "zones"

MrsORourke

Yes, that makes total sense. I see no point in burning fewer calories by taking it easier to stay in the fat burn zone. Higher calorie burn seems smarter to me (and makes me feel stellar!).

TY!!

BrianSharpe

the fat burning zone is where you burn the most fat percentage of all calories burned. BUT if you work out at a higher heart rate, you burn more calories overall, which is the main goal.
and even if the fat percentage is lower, with the overall calories higher, there is a good chance you are burning more fat than you would be in the fat burning zone anyways...

am i making sense here?

+1 exactly

at 80% MaxHR you're still burning about 25% of your calories from fat

Eireann15

I also have a Polar Heart Rate Monitor and when I am doing some good cardio (like running, and even some other things) I am often not in the fat burning zone. I am almost always in the highest zone, where my heart rate is high and I am burning more calories. I don't follow it too much!

meshashesha2012

I have a Polar FT4 and I go full out on all my cardio, i never stay in the fat burning zone, it seems too slow to me.

this is what i do as well. the heart rate level for fat burning zone bores me. i go as high as i wasnt. you might be burning a greater percentage of fat in the "fat burning zone" but you burn more total calories with a higher heart rate

mmapags

The whole zone thing has been debunked but the HRM companies still like to use it as marketing sizzle. From a heart rate and calorie burning point of view, when your heart rate is in a "zone" between 55% and 75% of max, your body is burning mostly fat for fuel. As you get above that your body switches to burning more glycogen (stored glucose energy in you muscles and liver). The closer you get to max heart rate due to intensity, the less you are using fat and the more you are using glycogen.

But then there is the EPOC (Excess Post-exercise Oxygen Consumption) factor. The lower your intensity, the less EPOC and vice versa. So if you walked for 30 minutes, your may burn, say 300 calories of mostly fat and you are done. If you ran for 30 minutes you may burn 400 calories during the run and another 200 from EPOC. (not precise numbers but close enough to illustrate the point). Also, the more intense your exercise, the more you realize other benefits like the production of HGH as well as other hormonal and endurance benefits.

Bottom line, go as hard as you want and ignore the 'fat burning zone! It's also fine sometimes to just do low intensity too. It's all good. But there are benefits from higher intensity exercise that you don't get from lower intensity so I would never eliminate it altogether. I do low intensity sometimes as a break between higher intensity days.

juicemoogan

This also depends on the goals you enter into your Polar.

If you enter "weight loss" as your goal it will promt you to stay in that zone. If you enter "improve fitnesS" it may give you another option.

Play around with your settings.

I find new things all the time by pushing buttons..