HR and sugar vs fat burning

siriusalien

Hi All, I just saw a post on another forum claiming that working out "too hard" can stall true weight loss by burning lean muscle instead of fat. Goes on to say that the higher HR burns sugar not fat and will in place of sugar burn muscle- thus reducing LMM
But, working at a lower HR will burn tru fat and leave LM in place..

BrianSharpe

Hi All, I just saw a post on another forum claiming that working out "too hard" can stall true weight loss by burning lean muscle instead of fat. Goes on to say that the higher HR burns sugar not fat and will in place of sugar burn muscle- thus reducing LMM
But, working at a lower HR will burn tru fat and leave LM in place..

Wrong, wrong, wrong........

http://exercise.about.com/od/weightloss/a/The-Truth-About-The-Fat-Burning-Zone.htm

http://jefflindstromfitness.com/blog/03/fat-burning-zone-vs-the-cardio-zone/

http://www.canada.com/topics/bodyandhealth/story.html?id=1740622b-d130-486c-a4d3-f05d14878ff9

When you exercise at lower intensity you will burn a higher proportion of your calories from fat but, overall, a much lower number of calories. Exercising in the "cardio" zone burns more calories overall and is still burning calories from fat.

Your body is inherently lazy when it comes to energy sources. It consumes the "easy" calories first - carbs & fat - and lean muscle mass lastly. Having said that, calories restricted diets when not accompanied by strength training almost invariably lead to a loss of lean muscle mass (this can be mitigated by consuming more protein)

siriusalien

Thanks for the response. Sure didn't sound right to me. Especially since my trainer is pushing me to work harder and get the HR up there.
He does a pretty good job of mixing up cardio and weights in each session. I'm trying to convince myself that every time I step on the scale and it's down 2, up 1 next day- that it's because I'm building muscle while loseing fat.. Maybe wishfull