Specifically, the ‘fat burning zone’ is a heart rate range that when you remain within its levels, burns the highest percentage of fat. However, when you are in this fat burning zone, you are generally only producing enough energy to maintain 60 – 65% of your MHR (maximum heart rate) which is considered low intensity. When you are in this zone, approximately 50% of the total calories you burn come from fat. Unfortunately, many people do not have the luxury of remaining in this fat burning zone for a significant amount of time which cuts down the total amount of calories you are able to burn.
More often people are choosing the high intensity workouts that fall into the cardio training zone which typically are between 80 – 85% MHR. Now, it is true that when in the cardio training zone you will burn a lower percentage of fat calories for the production of energy at a close 40%, but in terms of overall calories burned, you will wins hands down.
Here is an example to show the total amount of fat calories burned in both ways:
John worked out on Monday for 30 minutes on the treadmill in his fat burning zone and burned only 200 calories. This works out to 200 x 0.5 = 100 calories from fat. John also performs high intensity training workouts and one 30 minutes session burned 300 calories. This works out to 300 x 0.3985 = 120 calories from fat. As you can see, although you technically burned a great percentage of fat from working within the fat burning zone, you can actually burn more using a high intensity method.
Both types of training have their place within a workout routine and have varying effects on the exerciser. Remaining in the fat burning zone is an effective cardio workout as a recovery to an intense, super charged strength training session and can help you body fight back to grow stronger. Likewise, a high interval training session can be a perfect workout for when you are crunched for time and need to squeeze in thirty minutes of cardio but want the most benefits possible. Include both in your workouts to enjoy all the benefits that they have to offer.
Jeremy likes to write on a range of subjects and has been doing so for a number of years. His most recent site is jewelrytree.org which delivers folks with information on purchasing a jewelry tree.
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