Fat Burning Heart Rate vs. Cardio Heart Rate

ElementalMoe · October 2011

Hey all - I have a question.

Wednesday I had my workout hijacked by a personal trainer who offered me a free session (It was good!)

Normally, I would do 45 minutes on the elliptical, but I would go very hard-out - I'm 30 and weigh 165lbs. - And my heart rate would normally be in the 170 range, and I'd be doing an average of 7 miles per hour.

The trainer said that to burn more fat, I should decrease my intensity, yet when I looked online, it does say that the higher the intensity, the more calories you burn.

I did my 45 minutes on the elliptical yesterday, and I averaged a heart rate of 140, and 5 miles per hour. I didn't burn as many calories.

My question is, is it truly better the work out in the fat-burning zone, if I want to burn fat, or does any harm come from being in the cardio zone?

Thanks!

smcassaro · October 2011

Someone explained it like this & it helped me to understand:

As an example say in the fat burning zone you burn 60% calories from fat, while in the cardio Zone you burn 45% from fat. So in a 30 minute workout you may burn 240 cals in the fat burning zone but 360 in the cardio zone. 60% of 240 is 144 cals from fat in fat burning zone, whereas 45% of 360 is 162 cals from fat in the cardio zone.

Hope this helps!

hbrittingham · October 2011

Good question. I would like to know the same thing. I am the same weight as you, but a bit older and I usually try to keep my heart rate up around 160-170.

MyCoachNYLA · October 2011

Hey all - I have a question.

Wednesday I had my workout hijacked by a personal trainer who offered me a free session (It was good!)

Normally, I would do 45 minutes on the elliptical, but I would go very hard-out - I'm 30 and weigh 165lbs. - And my heart rate would normally be in the 170 range, and I'd be doing an average of 7 miles per hour.

The trainer said that to burn more fat, I should decrease my intensity, yet when I looked online, it does say that the higher the intensity, the more calories you burn.

I did my 45 minutes on the elliptical yesterday, and I averaged a heart rate of 140, and 5 miles per hour. I didn't burn as many calories.

My question is, is it truly better the work out in the fat-burning zone, if I want to burn fat, or does any harm come from being in the cardio zone?

Thanks!

Its the quality of the calories (unit of heat) that you are looking to "burn" (heat up) but more specifically, you want your body to pull the expenditure from the right place, the fat cell - not lean mass FYI - your trainer is on the mark. Also, if you want to get more bang for your buck (fat burn) - incorporate interval training / HITT training as part of your cardio routine. 45 min. on the elliptical is a slower way to get to your result where the interval/HITT training is a more efficient way to get your body to fess up on the fat burn.

Great question and thanks for the post.

newmercies7 · October 2011

That's an excellent question and one I wondered about too. I hope someone knowledgable answers your question, so we will both know. I work out in the fatburning mode, myself, and that wears me out for 30 minutes! :drinker:

Erica0718 · October 2011

Bump.

ElementalMoe · October 2011

[/quote]

Its the quality of the calories (unit of heat) that you are looking to "burn" (heat up) but more specifically, you want your body to pull the expenditure from the right place, the fat cell - not lean mass FYI - your trainer is on the mark. Also, if you want to get more bang for your buck (fat burn) - incorporate interval training / HITT training as part of your cardio routine. 45 min. on the elliptical is a slower way to get to your result where the interval/HITT training is a more efficient way to get your body to fess up on the fat burn.

Great question and thanks for the post.
[/quote]

Thank you! This is just the kind of answer I was looking for!

firedragon064 · October 2011

Interval or HIIT is the best.
It's true you may lose more fat during the work out when you exercise in the burn fat zone but
but HIIT your metabolism is still up after the work out you still keep on burn more calorie.
You also want to do exercise that use large muscle..... ask him about crossfit.
Your trainer still used the old school method.

Lyadeia · October 2011

If you do intense cardio, you will burn hella more calories than moderate. They say you will lose lean mass doing intense cardio, though. But, what I have learned from Tom Venuto is that this is why you do intense cardio AND weight training. Weight training preserves the muscle while the intense cardio burns the fat faster.

I used to do nothing but cardio and became skinny fat. I started doing both, and I kept my muscle while burning fat. More recently, I have been lifting more to get stronger, and I know that when I add my cardio back next month I will lose fat but still have nice muscles that are really strong.

Tigermad · October 2011

There is no way I can stay in my fat burning zone. I would be going a snails pace. That's why I stay in the cardio zone mostly. Don't any of you think the fat burning zone is way too slow?

skylark94 · October 2011

There is no way I can stay in my fat burning zone. I would be going a snails pace. That's why I stay in the cardio zone mostly. Don't any of you think the fat burning zone is way too slow?

YES! For me the fat burning zone is about 125 bpm. I don't even break a sweat at that rate. Today while on the elliptical I was running 4-5 mph and my HR stayed between 150 and 170 depending on the resistance setting. My HRM said I burned 615 calories and I worked up a good sweat.

Alycra · October 2011

There is no way I can stay in my fat burning zone. I would be going a snails pace. That's why I stay in the cardio zone mostly. Don't any of you think the fat burning zone is way too slow?

This is the problem I have. I don't even feel like I am even working out when I am in the fat burning zone.

Fat Burning Heart Rate vs. Cardio Heart Rate

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