On Cardio machines, you’ll often find a graph showing you where your heart rate should be to burn fat or a fat-burn program
This is usually based on the formula using your Maximum Heart Rate (MHR):
220 - Age x 60%-70
Fat Burning Zone
The idea is that maintaining your heart rate within the MHR 60%-70% intensity range will maximize fat burn. The question is, is this true? There is some truth to this.
Optimal heart rate range for fat burn – 60%-70% of MHR
Optimal heart rate range for cardio – 70%-85% of MHR
When you exercise, You burn fat and carbs, and the ratio of fat to carbs changes depending on the intensity.
Lower-intensity activities such as walking will burn a higher percentage of fat than a high-intensity activity such as sprinting.
At 60%-70% of your maximum heart rate, you’ll burn about 50% from fat stores which is where this idea of “fat burn zone” comes from. However, there are 3 factors to consider…
Factors to consider
#1 Being in a consistent calorie deficit
,It doesn’t matter how much fat you burn doing cardio, if you’re not in a calorie deficit, you will not lose fat.
#2 Total calories burned during exercise
The total calories burned during high-intensity cardio are less than that of low-intensity cardio because you can’t do it for as long. Whereas, with low-intensity cardio, you can go much longer and burn more calories.
#3 Total fat loss in the long run
The key to losing fat is consistency. If you burn lots of fat in a day or one week whilst in a calorie deficit, you will lose fat. But if for the following 3 weeks, you burn the same amount of fat through cardio but you’re overeating, the net fat loss for the 4 weeks will be zero. You may even gain some fat depending how much you overeat by.
Best cardio for fat burn?
Calories burnt during exercises are not that important, what’s important is the staying in a calorie deficit.
So, what is the best cardio for fat burn?
1️⃣Something you can stick to
2️⃣Whatever burns the most calories for you
3️⃣Whatever helps you be in a consistent calorie deficit
Even if you choose to do “the most optimal” fat-burning cardio, if you can’t be consistent with it and with staying in a calorie deficit, you probably won’t do it which means in the long run you’ll struggle to achieve your goal.
