'The Fat Burning Zone'? What is It?

When it comes to weight loss or getting 'ripped' (very toned look) people are always looking for shortcuts and the secret to fat loss. The most famous one in exercise is called the 'Fat Burning Zone'. What is the 'Fat Burning Zone'? 

I don't want to disappoint you and I am also not a self-professed expert. What I am is a normal person just like you who is being realistic. Here is one tip you may find helpful. Cut down your meat consumption by half in the next 30 days and watch what happens! A body builder will freak out if you tell him this.  If you drink soda cut it off all together in the next 30 days and watch what happens. Change nothing else in your diet but these two things and you will be amazed at how easy it is to lose weight and especially strip some pounds of fat right off. Why is that you may ask? You just stopped adding a whole bunch of saturated fat calories, eliminated an excess load of sugar and cut unnecessary calories from your diet. You also cut off a chemical lab of hormones, antibiotics and industrialized products from your body. These two things when done at 100% commitment may cause some positive changes to your health. 

You may ask, "What does this have to do with 'Fat Burning Zone"? It's simple, your body now has time to burn of fat calories that have been sitting dormant in your body since the bad sources have been partially cut. 

Let's move forward with the answer to the mysterious 'Fat Burning Zone'. Guess what? There is no such thing as the 'Fat Burning Zone'. Did you just say, 'What'? Yes, I know some trainer at the gym, or some magazine you read or the treadmill you get on says there is a 'Fat Burning Zone'. Time to LOL (Laugh Out Loud). You will see this funny chart on cardio training equipment and various books and charts on the 'Fat Burning Zone'.  The suggestion is that by working out at lighter intensities and more specifically between 70 - 75% of your MHR (Maximum Heart Rate) during cardiovascular training that your body will primarily burn fat as a source of fuel, LOL. So let us look at it from a realistic stand point. What if I told you that you could burn more fat calories at a higher training zone rather than what I would call a lazy 70 - 75% training zone. It may be reasonable if you are new to exercise to get you in shape to train at higher intensities but in the long run it doesn't make sense. 

Here is an example for NASM's Essentials of Personal Training Fitness: An individual exercises for 20 minutes walking at a 3.0 mph pace results in an RQ (Respiratory Quotient) of 0.80. What does this mean? The result is 67% energy consumption from Fat and 33% from Carbohydrates. So in the 20 minutes of exercise this person burns 64 calories from Fat and 32 calories from Carbohydrates. This person burned a total of 96 calories, the result of burning 4.8 calories per minute. What if they did the same workout in 20 minutes but at an RQ of 0.86 which results in only 46% of fuel coming from Fat and 54% from Carbohydrates. Yet, this resulted in burning 9.75 calories per minute and a total of 104 calories of which 90 calories were from Fat . Which would you rather burn? 64 calories of Fat at the lighter intensity or 90 calories of Fat at the higher intensity. How about 96 calories or 194 calories. You see, the "Fat Burning Zone" guide is all great if you want to burn less fat in the same amount of time and burn less calories in the same given time but if you really want to be in the 'Fat Burning Zone' you got to put in hard work. The pay off is so great you will thank yourself. :D