Whoa whoa whoa!! You can't burn fat via exercise????

So who wants to do an experiment? Exercise plenty, in particular cardio, but eat in a calorie surplus. See if you lose fat.

Hahaha yeah really...

who ever posted that is an idiot, you burn fat either way...in fact, you burn MORE fat when you exercise when compared to when you diet simply because your metabolic rate is much higher when you exercise

Thanks.. Glad to know I'm an idiot.

Your metabolic rate is higher due to lean muscle mass... not to exercise.

How about you post some studies supporting that statement before you go around calling others names.

Your lean muscle mass gets higher because of exercise.

Sounds like to me what she meant was you can't out exercise a bad diet.

hmmmm

If your going to steal my answer, you might as well give me credit.

My answer was not ignorant, nor is was it meant to make anyone laugh.. It's called the truth.

You lose fat through a calorie deficit... Exercise helps you maintain that deficit, but exercise it's self does not burn fat.

Get it now?

Busting the Great Myths of Fat Burning
By Tony Ryan and Martica Heaner
Your body burns either fat or carbs depending on the intensity of your activity. But when it comes to losing weight, calories are calories. You burn fat even when you're in couch-potato mode. Yet, a lot of misunderstanding prevails.

Get ready to break down some of the myths people have about burning fat:

Myth: The body completely shuts off one fuel source when it turns on the other.

The Truth: What has often been misunderstood by both exercisers and exercise instructors alike is that the body relies on both fat and carbs for energy all the time, albeit in different ratios. In fact, as you sit here reading, you may be burning about 50-60 percent fat and 50-40 percent carbohydrates. (Figure out how your metabolism is working in How to Measure Your Metabolic Rate.) You're not using much of either, however, because the amount of calories you need probably amounts to about one or two calories a minute. If you were to get up and start jogging in place, your body would need to supply you with some quick energy to do so, so the metabolism ratio might shift to drawing upon more carbohydrates, say 70 percent, and less fat, say 30 percent. If you were to continue jogging, then, in order to preserve the carbs (which can run out since you have limited stores in the body), your body would gradually shift its metabolism ratio again to say, 60 percent fat and 40 percent carbohydrates. From an energy efficiency point of view, it pays to be fit. The endurance athlete would be able to make the shift sooner, and his fat-burning percentage might be 65-75 percent. However, in practical terms this is purely technotalk, and these ratios don't make a big difference when it comes to losing weight and decreasing your body fat. For the most part, athletes are often leaner not because they might rely on slightly more fat for fuel, but because they practice their sport two to three, or more, hours a day — this burns a lot of calories. If you had the time, energy, and fitness level to work out three hours a day, being overweight would probably not be an issue. To lose weight, you need to burn more calories than your body consumes and uses everyday. Exercise is one main way to burn a lot of calories. But when it comes to weight loss, what matters is how many calories you burn, not so much whether they are fat or carbohydrate calories.
Myth: Exercise done at a low intensity, such as walking, is better at fat burning than other high-intensity activities, like running or cardio activities where you push yourself very hard.

The Truth: In a strict scientific sense, these claims are true because working at a lower intensity requires less quick energy and a higher percentage of fat is burned. But you'll also burn fewer calories than you would if, for the same amount of time, you work out at a harder intensity (running versus walking). If you're trying to lose weight, even though a higher percentage of fat is being used, a lower total amount of fat is lost.

Whether increased fat burning will result in actual weight loss is dependent upon several variables, including the total calories burned (which include both fat and carbohydrate calories) and the total fat calories burned. If you do work at a low intensity, you need to increase the time spent exercising to burn more calories. What matters most is the total number of calories burned. If you burned 250 calories every day from a short, fast jog, you'd see a bigger difference in weight and fat loss than if you walked everyday for the same amount of time. The number of fat calories you burn isn't that important, because even if you burn a lot of carb calories, these need to be replaced both by the carbs you eat in your diet and also within your body. Your fat stores will be broken down and transformed into carbohydrates when you need fuel. Even if you're burning lots of carb calories and less fat calories through exercise, your fat still inevitably gets used.

It boils — not burns — down to this: During the same amount of time you don't use more calories at lower exercise intensities. If you're trying to lose weight and you have only 30 minutes to work out, you would burn fewer calories walking at a moderate pace compared to walking at a fast pace. Working out at higher intensities may cause you to burn a lower percentage of fat, but since you burn more total calories, you still use more fat calories. (See Following a Cardio Plan for Weight Loss to get tips on what exercises can help you shed pounds.) Low- to moderate-intensity exercise can burn a significant number of calories over a period of time. If you aren't fit enough to push yourself to work at a high intensity, or you have a physical weakness that prevents you from doing so, you can still burn a lot of calories by doing low-intensity workouts for a longer period of time.

Myth: Running, cycling, or other cardio activities are more fat burning once you've been doing them for more than 15 or 20 minutes.

The Truth: Technically, once you've been exercising for 15 or 20 minutes, your body has made the shift to using a higher percentage of fat for fuel. But again, if you're trying to lose weight, it's about the total number of calories burned, not necessarily the fuel source.

For example, say that at rest you burn up to 60 percent fat. When you enter the initial phases of intense exercise, the ratio changes. You may now burn only 30 percent fat because your body is using quick-energy carbohydrates. Once the exercise is sustained, the body switches back to using a higher percentage of fat to fuel the movement (up to 75 percent fat). In this aerobic phase of exercise, a higher percentage of fat is being used for energy. But if you aren't working out for a very long period, you may still burn more total calories and, therefore, more fat calories working out harder. Put another way, if burning as many calories as you can is the best way to lose weight, even a dummy can figure out which activity of the following is going to give the best results (answer: jogging and sprinting), even though their fat-burning quota is on the low end of the ratio.

Activity

Calories Burned

Fat Percentage

Calories from Fat

Watching TV for 20 minutes

40 calories

60 percent

24 calories

Walking for 20 minutes

100 calories

65 percent

65 calories

Jogging & sprinting for 20 minutes

250 calories

40 percent

100 calories

If you are trained properly running can burn lots of fat.

Some people here will tell you that running causes your body to store fat.

And others will tell you that simply running will build tremendous amounts of muscle. Wait, this isn't the thread where we completely misrepresent what other people actually said? Oh, my bad. Carry on then.

"You burn fat eating in a calorie deficit.. Exercise is just to make your body look better."

I'm going to guess this was probably in response to someone saying "If I eat back my exercise calories, then doesn't that defeat the purpose of working out?! Won't I just maintain!?"

For all you people arguing that exercise burns fat..

There's no argument. It does.

Just not as much as people generally believe.

When you loose weight, you loose both fat and muscle. You exercise to build/ keep muscle so your weight loss is more fat than muscle. You loose weight be eating less calories than your total daily caloric output (also called TDEE- Total Daily Energy Expenditure). In other words, every calorie you use during the day to walk around, breathe, eat, keep your organs going, etc. So, yes- you can loose weight without exercise. HOWEVER, exercise (especially with strength training) will tone you, make you look good and keep your metabolism in check.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/strength-training/HQ01710/

PS- the reason the Olympic runners are so slender is because they're eating less or *at* what calories they use. Heck, if they're building muscle, they might eat more. As they train 1000x what I do, I'm also sure they eat a metric eff-load more than me, regardless LOL

who ever posted that is an idiot, you burn fat either way...in fact, you burn MORE fat when you exercise when compared to when you diet simply because your metabolic rate is much higher when you exercise

Thanks.. Glad to know I'm an idiot.

Your metabolic rate is higher due to lean muscle mass... not to exercise.

How about you post some studies supporting that statement before you go around calling others names.

Actually, recent research suggests that exercise triggers the activation of muscarinic cholinoceptors, which are responsible for modulating metabolism. (Wanner et al, 2011; McArdle and Kann, 2009)

You have to take everything you read on the forums with a grain of salt.
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Think how much water retention that would cause, though.

There was an article on the Yahoo home page over the weekend. It said the only way to lose weight is to eat less. Exercise alone will not do it. Two years ago I walked 2-3 hrs a day and didn't change my diet.I didn't lose a pound. I now do both-diet and walking and/or weights and I have had success. I think everyone 's body is different and you have to do what is best for you!

A few years ago, I used to walk 4 miles (in an hour) 4 days a week. I gained 20 pounds, but my body fat went from 29% to 16%. I went from a size 8 to a 0. A pound of muscle takes up less space than a pound of fat. Pay attention to your body fat and measurements more than the weight number on the scales.

Well said.

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