![\"Ask](\"https:\/\/bod-blog-assets.prod.cd.beachbodyondemand.com\/bod-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Ask-the-Expert-Can-You-Be-Overweight-and-Healthy-inpost1.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\nIf you\u2019ve been fooled by the fat-burning zone on your gym\u2019s cardio machines, don\u2019t feel bad. It\u2019s one of those exercise myths that refuses to go away.<\/p>\n
Exercising in the fat-burning zone has been discredited as an effective weight loss strategy by countless fitness magazines, experts, and the American College of Sports Medicine. Yet it\u2019s still with us because it\u2019s partly true.<\/p>\n
Yes, the fat-burning zone is real, but it\u2019s not quite helpful for losing significant amounts of fat. And you\u2019re about to find out why.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Your body\u2019s fat burning zone is the heart rate level at which it burns the most calories from fat relative to other forms of fuel. Treadmills, ellipticals, and step machines are common gym contraptions that offer settings like this one, which correspond with exercise intensity.<\/p>\n
The fat burning zone setting seemingly takes the guesswork out of identifying the perfect workout intensity at which to achieve the greatest fat loss. Just push a button, keep pace, and be careful not to slip on all of that jettisoned fat as you step off the machine, right?<\/p>\n
Wrong. The term and its corresponding setting are fatteningly misleading. To help understand why, let\u2019s take a tour through the different heart rate zones.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
There are five zones of heart rate activity, which correspond to exertion levels that range from scarcely moving to death by sprinting.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
This zone governs very light activity. Talking in this zone is easy, with no meaningful increase in your breathing rate.<\/p>\n
Light effort will bring you to this zone, wherein your heart starts to beat slightly faster. You can still talk comfortably, but your breathing becomes heavier.<\/p>\n
This is the fat burn zone and, as you can see, there are still three zones remaining, making this an awfully nominal amount of effort when trying to get fat\u2019s attention.<\/p>\n
In this zone, you\u2019re working at moderate effort. Your heart beats harder and faster and, while you can hold a conversation, it takes effort given how hard you\u2019re breathing.<\/p>\n
This is hard effort. You can no longer talk in much more than bursts, and once your heart rate goes above 85 percent of MHR, exercise becomes anaerobic. That\u2019s an important factor in fat loss we\u2019ll discuss later.<\/p>\n
In this zone, you\u2019re exerting maximum effort. Your heart and lungs are now working at full capacity, making talking an impossibility.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s where we tell you why the fat-burning zone exists.<\/p>\n
Your body burns calories 24 hours a day regardless of whether you\u2019re moving or not. But when you move \u2014 be it fidgeting at your desk, playing tag with your kids, or pounding the pavement in your section of town \u2014 you burn more calories, and the extent of that burn is directly related to the intensity of your activity.<\/p>\n
Whether those calories come from fat or carbs (in the form of glucose) is also influenced by exercise intensity.<\/p>\n
Research shows that low-intensity exercise, like walking or jogging, burns a larger proportion of fat as fuel (hence the \u201cfat-burning zone\u201d on cardio machines). Moderate- to high-intensity exercise (e.g., running, sprint intervals, and circuit training) causes the body to shift primarily to glucose, which can be broken down to supply energy at a faster rate.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s the catch: The fat-burning zone may help you burn a larger proportion of calories from fat as you work out, but high-intensity exercise keeps your metabolism elevated for longer after you finish. This phenomenon is called the afterburn effect, or excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC).<\/p>\n
Think of it in terms of money. Would you rather have 90 percent of 10 dollars, or 20 percent of a hundred?<\/p>\n
Low-intensity exercise doesn\u2019t ask much of your body, diminishing the significance of the fat-burning heart rate zone\u2019s disproportionate reliance on fat. Exercising at higher intensities burns less fat as a percentage of fuel expended, but it burns far more fat overall.<\/p>\n
When you exercise, your body toggles between energy systems, broadly the aerobic and anaerobic. Once you go anaerobic (85 percent or more of MHR), your body is no longer able to provide oxygen commensurate with the demands being placed on it. So it keeps making up for that deficit for up to 48 hours afterward, helping you burn more calories (and fat) overall during recovery.<\/p>\n
The tragedy of the fat-burning zone is that it misleads people into thinking they don\u2019t have to challenge themselves to see results. That said, always listen to your body \u2014 pushing your physical limits won\u2019t feel comfortable, but it shouldn\u2019t be unbearably painful either.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Ever confessed your age to an exercise machine? Don\u2019t lie when prompted \u2014 your age is used to calculate your fat burning heart rate. If you\u2019re without the necessary gadgetry to determine your precise max heart rate, there\u2019s a handy equation:<\/p>\n
208-(0.7 x your age)<\/strong><\/p>\n From here, you\u2019ll be able to calculate your heart rate in all of the zones by simply multiplying the total from above by the corresponding percentage of MHR.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Next time you\u2019re on a cardio kick, use these tips to get more fat-burning benefits from your workouts.<\/p>\n You can still use the zone settings on a treadmill or stationary bike as a guide, but don\u2019t zone out after that. Assess how you feel during your workout. Is it too hard? Too easy?<\/p>\n Manually change speed and elevation to challenge yourself. Hint: If you can carry a conversation while moving, bump up the intensity!<\/p>\n Steady-state cardio shouldn\u2019t be your only strategy if you want to optimize fat loss.<\/p>\n Indeed, strength training is an even more effective strategy in that regard, because it keeps your metabolism elevated for longer after you work out, helping you burn more calories overall.<\/p>\n And the benefits don\u2019t stop there \u2014 especially if you\u2019re a cardio junkie, as resistance training can help increase running speed, economy, and power output.<\/p>\n What\u2019s more, studies show that it can increase time to exhaustion and reduce your risk of injury. So try replacing at least one cardio session per week with a strength session.<\/p>\n HIIT is an exercise strategy in which you alternate periods of intense activity (80 to 90 percent of your maximum effort, or heart rate zone 4) with less intense periods of rest.<\/p>\n Circuit training, sprint drills, and stadium stair running are all examples of HIIT. You\u2019ll also find it in most of the workout programs on Beachbody On Demand.<\/p>\n The idea is that you repeatedly push your body to its limits, focusing on workout density and intensity rather than duration.<\/p>\n Studies show that HIIT causes the greatest increase in \u201cexcess post-exercise oxygen consumption\u201d (EPOC), which is the amount of oxygen required to restore the body to its normal resting state.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s why that matters to you: The higher your EPOC, the more calories you\u2019ll burn post-workout.<\/p>\n Although HIIT is the most effective form of exercise for losing weight, it\u2019s not always the best choice for beginners. If you\u2019re new to exercise, or are getting back into it after a long absence, save HIIT for when you\u2019ve built a solid fitness foundation. That way, you can optimize fat loss without increasing your risk of overtraining or injury.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you\u2019ve been fooled by the fat-burning zone on your gym\u2019s cardio machines, don\u2019t feel bad. It\u2019s one of those exercise myths that refuses to go away. Exercising in the fat-burning zone has been discredited as an effective weight loss strategy by countless fitness magazines, experts, and the American College of Sports Medicine. Yet it\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2826,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2825","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fitness"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2825","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2825"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2825\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2827,"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2825\/revisions\/2827"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2826"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2825"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2825"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movewithnicole.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2825"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fat burning zone chart<\/h3>\n
\n\n
\n Age<\/strong><\/td>\n MHR<\/strong><\/td>\n Fat Burn HR<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 18-19<\/td>\n 195<\/td>\n 117-137<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 20-21<\/td>\n 194<\/td>\n 116-136<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 22<\/td>\n 193<\/td>\n 116-135<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 23<\/td>\n 192<\/td>\n 115-134<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 24-25<\/td>\n 191<\/td>\n 115-134<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 26<\/td>\n 190<\/td>\n 114-133<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 27<\/td>\n 189<\/td>\n 113-132<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 28-29<\/td>\n 188<\/td>\n 113-132<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 30<\/td>\n 187<\/td>\n 112-131<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 31-32<\/td>\n 186<\/td>\n 112-130<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 33<\/td>\n 185<\/td>\n 111-130<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 34-35<\/td>\n 184<\/td>\n 110-129<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 36<\/td>\n 183<\/td>\n 110-128<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 37<\/td>\n 182<\/td>\n 109-127<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 38-39<\/td>\n 181<\/td>\n 109-127<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 40<\/td>\n 180<\/td>\n 108-126<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 41-42<\/td>\n 179<\/td>\n 107-125<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 43<\/td>\n 178<\/td>\n 107-125<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 44-45<\/td>\n 177<\/td>\n 106-124<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 46<\/td>\n 176<\/td>\n 106-123<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 47<\/td>\n 175<\/td>\n 105-123<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 48-49<\/td>\n 174<\/td>\n 104-122<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 50<\/td>\n 173<\/td>\n 104-121<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 51-52<\/td>\n 172<\/td>\n 103-120<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 53<\/td>\n 171<\/td>\n 103-120<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n 54-55<\/td>\n 170<\/td>\n 102-119<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n Workout Tips for Getting Into the (Real) Fat-Burning Zone<\/h2>\n
![\"Woman](\"https:\/\/bod-blog-assets.prod.cd.beachbodyondemand.com\/bod-blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/19142723\/Why-You-Need-Help-Losing-Weight.600.bike_.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/p>\n1. Use the manual setting on workout machines<\/h3>\n
2. Include resistance training<\/h3>\n
3. Try high-intensity interval training (HIIT)<\/h3>\n