The Real Fat Burning Zone
In our last post The Truth About the Fat Burning Zone we dissected the renowned and highly ubiquitous low intensity “fat burning zone” theory. While we managed to debunk many of the myths that surround its legendary status, we inevitably opened Pandora’s box with regards to the big picture of fat/weight-loss. Over the next few posts we are going to add some much needed context, dive into what the science says and how this affects our training decisions…
Not to worry, we’ll keep the geek speak to a minimum! Promise.
The Truth About the “Fat Burning Zone”
By now we are all familiar with the “fat burning zone” theory… that wondrous aerobic training ideal that rapidly took on an almost mythical like status for its alleged capacity to melt fat off the frames of its disciples. According to the adage, if fat loss is our goal it is within this relatively low intensity range of 50-70% maximum heart rate (MHR) that the majority of our exercise minutes should be spent. Hence the origin of the long, slow, steady state aerobic zone workouts that now don the screens of cardio machines the world over and continue to pervade most weight loss programs today despite…