Fat Burning Zone vs Fitness Burning Zone

blueeyes25s
blueeyes25s Posts: 78 Member
edited October 5 in Health and Weight Loss
Can someone explain to me if it's better to have your heart rate level at a fat burning zone or the fitness burning zone when working out to lose weight? Does it make a difference the lenght of time which zone your heart rate is while working out?

Replies

  • RAFValentina
    RAFValentina Posts: 1,231 Member
    If you work in so called "fitness zone" you'll burn more calories/ unit time than when working in so called"fat burning zone" ... ultimately... the bets way to burn fat is working hard for a long time... once you've depleted initial blood sugars, you'll start burning glycogen stores and when they run out, fat and when they run out muscle... if you work with a so called "fat burning zone" heart rate... you won;t feel as knackered and will probably feel OK to do a long workout where you'll start burning fat... if you work hard you'll probably be more likely to stop before this kicks in.

    At the end of the day...it's all burning calories.
  • RAFValentina
    RAFValentina Posts: 1,231 Member
    It's good to cross train and have your heart rate working at different levels though... interval training is quite good...


    I do a bike ride at a lower HR at lunch and a high heart rate run post work most days so there's some variation there! :)
  • anubis609
    anubis609 Posts: 3,966 Member
    Unless you're an endurance enthusiast who's super anal about the fine line between the few beats per minute that differentiate those zones, they really don't matter. Generally, the higher your HR, the more calories you burn.
  • amerrill1
    amerrill1 Posts: 38
    Unless you're an endurance enthusiast who's super anal about the fine line between the few beats per minute that differentiate those zones, they really don't matter. Generally, the higher your HR, the more calories you burn.

    But at what point do you burn from muscle reserves instead of fat reserves?
  • jwilliams213
    jwilliams213 Posts: 3
    As long as you're not starving yourself and you're getting nutrients into your body, including lean protein, you won't burn muscle no matter how hard you work out.
  • MrsCon40
    MrsCon40 Posts: 2,351 Member
    Why would you want to burn your fitness?
  • Rae6503
    Rae6503 Posts: 6,294 Member
    Doesn't matter how much "fat" your burn during your workouts. What matters is your calorie deficit at the end of the day.
  • amerrill1
    amerrill1 Posts: 38
    As long as you're not starving yourself and you're getting nutrients into your body, including lean protein, you won't burn muscle no matter how hard you work out.

    I was taught once that if your heart rate goes over a certain level, your body burns energy faster than it can convert fat so it has to go to the energy reserves stored within the muscles cells. What I don't remember, is at what point does that kick in?
  • killagb
    killagb Posts: 3,280 Member
    Unless you're an endurance enthusiast who's super anal about the fine line between the few beats per minute that differentiate those zones, they really don't matter. Generally, the higher your HR, the more calories you burn.

    But at what point do you burn from muscle reserves instead of fat reserves?
    Here's an article from US News regarding the fat burning myth:
    There's a lot of misinformation out there about exercise and nutrition. As an ongoing feature, I'll ask experts in those fields about their pet fitness peeves—commonly believed myths that are just plain wrong. This week, I asked Cedric Bryant, chief science officer of the American Council on Exercise, for the facts about the so-called fat-burning zone.

    Myth: I will lose body fat more efficiently by working out in the fat-burning zone—doing my aerobic workouts at a low, rather than high, intensity.

    Explanation: Many aerobic exercise programs and videos feature low-intensity workouts purporting to maximize fat burning. The argument is that low-intensity aerobic training will allow your body to use more fat as an energy source, thereby accelerating the loss of body fat. While it is true that a higher proportion of calories burned during low-intensity exercise come from fat (about 60 percent as opposed to approximately 35 percent from high-intensity programs), high-intensity exercise still burns more calories from fat in the final analysis.

    For example, if you perform 30 minutes of low-intensity aerobic exercise (i.e., at a level of 50 percent of maximal exercise capacity), you'll burn approximately 200 calories. About 120 of those, or 60 percent, come from fat. However, exercising for the same amount of time at a high intensity (i.e., 75 percent of your maximal exercise capacity) will burn approximately 400 calories, and 35 percent of them, or 140 calories, will come from stored fat. So by sticking to the fat-burning zone for their workouts, many individuals are wasting valuable time. Keep in mind that you lose weight and body fat when you expend more calories than you consume, not because you burn fat (or anything else) when you exercise.

    Of course, the less intense form of exercise has its benefits as well. For example, because many overweight people tend to find that lower-intensity exercise is more comfortable, they may, therefore, be willing to engage in such workouts. The point to remember is that low-intensity workouts do, in fact, promote weight and fat loss. You just have to do them for a longer period of time.
  • anubis609
    anubis609 Posts: 3,966 Member
    Unless you're an endurance enthusiast who's super anal about the fine line between the few beats per minute that differentiate those zones, they really don't matter. Generally, the higher your HR, the more calories you burn.

    But at what point do you burn from muscle reserves instead of fat reserves?

    The percentage difference between the two is minute enough to be considered negligible as long as you have an adequate intake of protein, you can maintain, or reduce the amount of muscle lost. Resistance training will also help with that.
  • blueeyes25s
    blueeyes25s Posts: 78 Member
    Thanks everyone. I am one who likes an intense cardio cardio workout to feel like I am getting a really good workout!
  • fiberartist219
    fiberartist219 Posts: 1,865 Member
    I work out until I'm tired. I work out hard enough to breathe hard and feel warm. I can't keep track of heart rates or zones.
  • tjradd73
    tjradd73 Posts: 3,495 Member
    "they" say that interval training is the best way to lose weight and boost your metabolism. but I agree, that as long as you are fueling your body appropriately, you should be able to pull off those big cal burns with the intense workouts that you prefer :)
  • blueeyes25s
    blueeyes25s Posts: 78 Member
    I have always been told interval training is the best and that is what I do most of the time for cardio and I will probably stick with that.
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