Don't Get Burned: Avoid the Fat-Burning Zone!

Why is it all those machines at the gym encourage us to work within the fat burning zone? It's been proven that the body burns a greater percentage of calories from fat, rather than carbohydrates, during these low-intensity / fat-burning zone workouts as opposed to high-intensity workouts.

For example, a 130-pound woman burns 50 percent of her calories from fat during cardiovascular exercise when her heart rate remains between 60 and 65 percent of her maximum heart rate.

The percentage of fat calories burned drops to 40 when her heart rate is within 80-85 percent of her maximum heart rate during cardiovascular exercise, according to the manual.

There’s just one problem: People who want to lose weight should be concerned with calories, not fat. It doesn’t matter if the calories come from fat or carbohydrates.

So the next time you're at the gym, forget about all those pre-set fat burning zone options on your cardio machine and get your ass in gear. Presuming you're in good health, choose to go at a relatively high intensity for 30 - 60 minutes and you'll burn 10-15% more calories and make your workout more efficient.