Fat burn vs fitness minutes

lplautz
lplautz Posts: 19
edited September 30 in Health and Weight Loss
Hi everyone! I recently bought a Polar Heartrate monitor to better keep track of calories burned during exercise. I just started getting back in shape so I am doing 30 minutes on the cardio. At the end of the workout the watch typically reads 28 minutes of fitness and only about 2 minutes of fat burn. Does anyone know what this means? Am I not working out hard enough even though at the end I feel like I've had a good workout?

Replies

  • knewbill72
    knewbill72 Posts: 133 Member
    The 2 minutes represents how long you were in the Fat Burning Zone Heart Rate.
  • Raw07
    Raw07 Posts: 206
    bump
  • ♥ChUbByCoyLe♥
    ♥ChUbByCoyLe♥ Posts: 267 Member
    Maybe you are letting your heart rate get too high? That would be helping your cardiovascular health but to lose body fat you need to stay within your fat burning zone and not let your heart rate get to high. Work out your fat burning zone online.
    Hope that helps?
  • reddcat
    reddcat Posts: 314 Member
    bump. Pretty discouraging to see that huh??? Never makes me happy.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,026 Member
    Hi everyone! I recently bought a Polar Heartrate monitor to better keep track of calories burned during exercise. I just started getting back in shape so I am doing 30 minutes on the cardio. At the end of the workout the watch typically reads 28 minutes of fitness and only about 2 minutes of fat burn. Does anyone know what this means? Am I not working out hard enough even though at the end I feel like I've had a good workout?
    Fat burn actually happens at low/moderate heart rates. Higher heart rates burn glycogen. But low/moderate cardio doesn't increase resting metabolic rate. If you're doing intervals or if you're heart rate is at 75%-85% of your max, then keep doing it regardless of your "fat burning" minutes.
  • sandy729
    sandy729 Posts: 232 Member
    I noticed the lower the intensity the more fat burn. The higher the intensity the more fitness time I put in. Staying in zone 1 and low zone two will increase the fat burn.
  • Jami22
    Jami22 Posts: 253 Member
    So glad you asked! I have been using my Polar FT7 for a few weeks now and didn't know which was better. I stay in the Fitness most of the time because I use it while walking/jogging. Too bad this information isn't included in the owners manual, huh? Or at least I didn't find it in mine.
  • Disinte_GratioN
    Disinte_GratioN Posts: 60
    http://www.active.com/triathlon/Articles/The-Myth-of-the-Fat-burning-Zone.htm
    Do Some Research!
  • Disinte_GratioN
    Disinte_GratioN Posts: 60
    http://www.active.com/triathlon/Articles/The-Myth-of-the-Fat-burning-Zone.htm
    Do Some Research!


    High Intensity Work Outs will burn more calories!! Dont be fooled into thinking a simple short jog will make you lose fat!
  • graysmom2005
    graysmom2005 Posts: 1,882 Member
    My advice...ignore this. I lost 40 pounds in the "fitness zone" on my watch. I would barely get moving and I'd be out of the fat burning zone. It was silly. I wouldn't lose any weight going at the pace I'd need to stay in for the fat zone. Just stick to the calorie burn, and the weight WILL come off. :-)
  • lplautz
    lplautz Posts: 19
    Thanks! I love it too! It doesn't come with much though, very simple instructions!
  • Disinte_GratioN
    Disinte_GratioN Posts: 60
    http://youtu.be/GLjVH6DuajM
  • steve4580
    steve4580 Posts: 32
    I would not worry one bit about this. As long as you hit your calorie target every day (assuming it is not set too high or too low) and as long as you are exercising you will be fine. We didn't have HRM's in the sixties, seventies and before, and guess what: hardly anybody was overweight! Good luck!
  • sandy729
    sandy729 Posts: 232 Member
    My trainer did say that no matter what you are still burning and losing. I wanted to set my FT60 for weight loss, but he said that i would be better off improving my fitness. Either way I was going to lose weight.
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
    Yes my trainer remarked last week not to be concerned about a specific "fat burning zone".
  • 27strange
    27strange Posts: 837 Member
    On your FT7 or higher model Polar HRMs the effect will change between Fat Burn and Fitness depending on your heart rate.

    From the user manual: http://www.polar.fi/e_manuals/FT7/Polar_FT7_user_manual_English/

    In fatburn zone, training intensity is lower, and the source of energy is mainly fat. Therefore, fat burns efficiently and your metabolism, mainly fat oxidation, increases.

    In fitness zone, training intensity is higher and you are improving your cardiovascular fitness i.e. strengthening your heart and increasing blood circulation to muscles and lungs. The main energy source is carbohydrates.

    When I wear my HRM I am usually doing so during intense cardio (running, elliptical) and therefore am always up in the fitness level with heart rate between 160-180.
  • rileysowner
    rileysowner Posts: 8,336 Member
    Hi everyone! I recently bought a Polar Heartrate monitor to better keep track of calories burned during exercise. I just started getting back in shape so I am doing 30 minutes on the cardio. At the end of the workout the watch typically reads 28 minutes of fitness and only about 2 minutes of fat burn. Does anyone know what this means? Am I not working out hard enough even though at the end I feel like I've had a good workout?
    Fat burn actually happens at low/moderate heart rates. Higher heart rates burn glycogen. But low/moderate cardio doesn't increase resting metabolic rate. If you're doing intervals or if you're heart rate is at 75%-85% of your max, then keep doing it regardless of your "fat burning" minutes.

    Fat burn happens at all intensities, it just happens at a higher percentage of the total calories burned at lower intensity. At a higher intensity you will burn more calories, and while less of them come from fat, you will still burn more fat calories in the same time than you would at the lower intensity. The fat burning zone is often misrepresented and thus we have people doing hours of low/moderate cardio when they could burn more with high intensity, especially high intensity interval training. Here is one of the many post you can find through google about the myth of the fat burning zone. http://scienceblogs.com/obesitypanacea/2010/06/the_myth_of_the_fat_burning_zo.php Basically ignore that information and concentrate on the calories burned.
  • trud72
    trud72 Posts: 1,912 Member
    isnt it just best to say ALL EXERSICE whatever the burn rate is GOOD?

    or am i just totally missing the point! lol
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