Your Heart Rate To Burn Fat: The Myth Exposed

Heart Rate To Burn Fat

The concept of a heart rate training zone, or fat loss zone, has been around for years. You may have seen a chart or graph on your favorite piece of cardio equipment. This fat burning heart rate zone, of around 60-70% of your maximum heart rate during exercise, is said to burn more calories from fat than exercising at a more vigorous pace.

Sounds like a good idea right? A moderately paced workout to burn more fat? After all, if you want to lose weight you must burn body fat. Let's take a closer look.

What is target heart rate to burn the most fat? While exercising in this fat burning heart rate zone does burn a higher percentage of calories from fat. It also burns less total calories than working at a higher intensity. It is the total calories burned that we need to focus on--not the percentage.

As a matter of fact, you are burning the highest percentage of calories from fat when you are at complete rest. Does this mean we should be at rest to burn fat? Of course not. The more you move, the more calories you burn.

We are all burning calories every minute of every day. Even as you read this, you are burning some calories. (Most adults burn about 1-2 calories per minute at rest.) The more strenuously you exercise, the more calories you'll burn. At the end of the day, your weight loss efforts are dependent on total calories burned vs. total calories consumed.

Find Your Heart Rate To Burn Fat

You certainly can exercise in this heart rate training zone and still burn calories, but there is nothing magical or mysterious about it. In fact, it is a good idea to exercise in a variety of heart rate zones. For a beginner, it may be a good idea to stay in the heart rate training zone until your cardiovascular endurance improves. You can then begin to increase your intensity to burn more calories.

If you are more experienced, try experimenting with a variety of fat burning heart rate zones. Working at higher intensities will raise your anaerobic threshold, allowing you to burn even more total calories.

The ideal heart rate to burn fat is a myth. Hard work burns calories, burning calories reduces body fat--period.