What is the myth about the fat burning zone?

Answer 1

i think it occurs when you do anaerobic exercise, you can see that with your heart beat, it should be in a specific zone, most usual is by subtarcting to the maximum heart rate your age. for instance, if you are 20 years old and your maximum heart rate is 200 your heart rate should be around 180 bpm, if doing exercise and keeping this heart rate, you should be burning some fat.

Answer 2

Although not exactly a myth, the fat burning zone is often overlooked and overused. Working at a intensity between 65-75% of maximal heart rate (220-age) is often thought to be the most effective for burning fat.

The respiratory exchange ratio (RER) is often recorded to look at what fuel is utilised during exercise and a value of 0.7 is predominately fats. This intensity of exercise can often result in RER around this value. However, this can depend on your diet and current level of fitness.

Those who are more aerobically fit, often have a lower RER during exercise due to an enhanced ability to utlise fats. Mitochondria, which are the cells that create our energy from fats and carbohydrate become more efficient and move closer to the fat cells, as an adaptation to aerobic exercise.

I would suggest that working at a high intensity to improve aerobic fitness would be more beneficial for fat utilisation during exercise and rest. The high intensity exercise would also burn more calories (depending on length of exercise) which would be more beneficial when trying to lose weight.