Fat Burning Zone – NOT the Way to Lose Fat!

You’ve been deceived! Why are all those people who are exercising in the ‘fat zone’ not losing weight?

Because it’s a myth!

Here’s how it all started… when we are at rest we burn more fat to carb for energy (our body burns a mixture of glucose and fatty acids for energy throughout the day), and as we exercise the percentage changes. The harder we work, the more carbs we use and the less fat we use. Someone took that to mean that you need to exercise at low intensities to burn fat.

Firstly, I believe any trainer needs to be able to do the math! How are you going to talk sensibly about calories, diets like ’40/30/30,’ percentages of calories from protein, decoding a food label, or anything else along those lines without getting out your calculator?

Probably the biggest myth in exercise and weight loss is the concept of the so-called ‘fat burning zone’. How many times have you heard an aerobics teacher or a weight loss ‘expert’ talk about slowing down to burn more fat?

Perhaps you’ve seen the fat burning programs on cardio equipment or had your clients ask you how to exercise to burn fat?

Lets look closer at what’s going on here. At rest the average person burns fat to carbs at a rate of about 70/30. Protein is not included here because the body prefers not like to use this for fuel.

Now, as we start exercising the fat percentage goes down in favor of carbs and this continues in line with intensity (the harder you work, the more carbs to fat you burn). At maximum effort you use carbs almost exclusively.

Now can you see where one might mistakenly refer to low intensity/high fat? But, you have to understand that percentages are being confused with absolutes!

For example, would you rather have 10% of $1 million or 95% of $10,000? Well, if you asked me I would take the 10% of the million dollars because it is much more than 95% of ten thousand! It’s the same with fat and total calories:

Take a look at this example:

Two people exercising, they are both have exactly the same statistics except one is exercising at 50% to ‘burn more fat’ and the other at 80% to get fitter:

Lets assume this person is 40 yrs old and has a Vo2 Max of 40 ml.kg.min

First we calculate the heart rates (using HRR):

220-40=180
180-60=120
120*.5=60+60=120 bpm (50% of max)
120*.8=96+60=156 bpm (80% of max)

They both exercise for 30 mins. Here’s the math:

BUT THAT’S NOT ALL …..

Because the person exercising at the higher intensity will get fitter quicker – lets revisit the same two people 3 months later:

The person exercising at the higher intensity has improved their fitness capacity (Vo2 Max) by approx 10%. The other person who has stayed at the lower ‘fat burning’ intensity has remained at the same fitness level.

Look at the difference between these two people now:

Not only has this person increased the number of calories they can burn per minute at the same effort but he/she has also increased the percentage of fat burned as their system has become more efficient than before.

The other ‘fat burning zone person’ has made little impact on their fitness capacity because they have not used any overload to enhance performance.

Let me remind you, energy comes from the same pool – CALORIES! At the end of the day, it’s not what mixture you burn but the total calorie deficit you can achieve. Fat loss comes from using more calories than you need and consume.

If at the end of the week, you have created a calorie deficit you will lose weight. And if you have preserved your metabolic rate in the process you will have lost FAT.

Higher intensities increases your basal metabolic rate (BMR) more than lower intensities, thus you will burn more calories 24 hours a day! Plus the good news is that you don’t need to spend hours trying to ‘burn fat in the fat zone’.

You can maximize your efforts in the least amount of time – good news for busy people who want maximum results for less time!

An Exercise Scientist can evaluate exactly how YOU should exercise for maximum weight loss. To gauge how hard someone is working we need to know their heart rate – this is the body’s speedometer!

In addition we need to know the bodies own oxygen uptake (Vo2) to determine actual energy used.

For the best results we must preserve or increase BMR whilst simultaneously removing fat. Weight loss is a Science and can be individually tailored for maximum and more importantly PERMANENT results. .

Anything less is guess work and results will vary according to the systems used and individual body/fitness.

 

If you are a trainer reading this, you can find out more about Exercise Physiology and Metabolic Equations here [ https://ptresources.com/metscience ].

Metabolic Calculations is part of what we teach to ACSM Candidates, Personal Trainers and Allied Health Pro’s in our Metabolic Expert Series.

 

Also See Article: How to shift gears to burn fat!