Heart rate monitor and fat burning zone, confused

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JAT74
JAT74 Posts: 1,078 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I've just got a Polawr FT7 heart rate monitor and used it for the first time while cleaning this afternoon. In 60 minutes it told me that I burnt off 363 calories and that I was in the fat burning zone (under 130 BPM) for 33 mins and the fitness zone for 27 mins.

My goal is fat loss primarily so does this mean that I need to lower my intensity when I'm active and slow down a bit? I don't want to find myself burning loads of calories, eating most of them back and getting fitter but find that I'm not losing fat.

Later today I'm planning on doing a yoga workout JM yoga meltdown which may be slower paced than the cleaning I did earlier today so maybe better for fat loss. I have to say I'm a little confused because I'm following a 90 strength and cardio program which encourages you to work hard to burn maximum calories but what's the point if it's not going to help me lose fat, only to get fitter.

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  • JAT74
    JAT74 Posts: 1,078 Member
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  • JAT74
    JAT74 Posts: 1,078 Member
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    Bump!
  • squared16
    squared16 Posts: 41
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    I don't know much about heart rate monitors, but if you're creating a caloric deficit through eating and exercise you are going to lose "fat" or weight.
  • susannahsutton1
    susannahsutton1 Posts: 372
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    Right, it is a percentage game. In the fat burning zone, which is lower intensity, a higher percentage of the calories you burn come from fat. However, at a higher intensity you burn lots more calories overall. So when you do the maths, you will burn more fat at the higher intensity. You know, like 80% of a low number is still a low number! Google myth of fat burning zone and you will find lots of info.

    I do all my training at high intensity and I have lost something like 5% body fat points since New Year.
  • jjrichard83
    jjrichard83 Posts: 483 Member
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    The fat burning zone is determined on "averages" which makes all those charts wrong....

    Think of an average as this: There are 40 men / women in a bar. Bill Gates walks into the bar for a drink. The AVERAGE worth per person in that bar is over $1,000,000,000.00.

    Even within a single elite sports team, such as Olympic rowers in their 20s, maximum heart rates have been reported as varying from 160 to 220. Such a variation would equate to a 60 or 90 year age gap in the linear equations above, and would seem to indicate the extreme variation about these average figures. <- This was taken from wiki.
  • susannahsutton1
    susannahsutton1 Posts: 372
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    Have sent you a message with some more info

    Most important I think is to do exercise you enjoy so that you do lots of it and fat will take care of itself!

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