optimum fat burning zone

[jamana59]

Does anyone have any interesting insight and advice that can help me burn fat as i exercise daily and never lose body fat,  when you go on the internet all the advice about your max fat burning zone is to deduct your age from 220, blah blah blah, this to me seems to generic as it doesn't take into account the we are all individuals and our bodies all work differently.  Does anyone know if this calculation is actual science or just a guesstimate based on the average person ?

I have a naturally high heart rate so the recommended fat burning zone doesn't make me feel like i am actually exercising at all, So my questions is how can i correctly determine what my optimum fat burning zone is, or is this theory correct and i have to accept that going for a walk is fat burning?

[Dominique · Accepted solution]

Don’t overthink the "fat burning zone" thing: fat is being burned primarily by being in a caloric deficit. It’s perfectly possible to burn fat without exercising at all, just as it is possible to burn no fat at all (on net balance) while exercising like crazy. Think of exercising as a way to enhance your health and fitness, rather than as a way to lose weight / burn fat. Bottom line: you need to get your nutrition right if you want to lose fat.

[bikerhiker]

The human body basically wants to burn carbs, because it is the most easiest fuel to convert quickly into energy.  The fat stored in your visceral fat and subcutaneous fat are NOT the easiest fuel to convert quickly into energy.  So therefore, no matter how hard you exercise or at what ideal heart rate zone, your body simply will burn more calories in a form of carbohydrates.  Now, it is true that some portion of fat is burned alongside carbohydrates and this is a theory behind the optimum fat burning zone.  This means that, at the optimum fat burning zone, you will burn a higher proportion of fat than you would normally do and that optimum heart rate is usually around Zone 2.  So in other words, if you exercise at this optimum heart rate, you will potentially burn a higher rate of fat as fuel.  This theory is valid, except you are starting to realize some oddity.  That oddity is that, the optimum heart rate zone is set WAY TOO LOW if you enter in your own parameters.  You will feel like at that heart rate, you are not even exercising at all!!  You are right about this.  What you didn't know is that, you were fed a set of LIES!!  And when I was working in the fitness industry, I too was feeding a lie!  When a fitness coach is making $50/hr and need repeating customers; that's how you get people to continually sign up these gym classes, running classes, cycling classes etc and at the end of those classes, all they are burning up are mostly carbs.  Eventually, most of them will get there, but it will take years -- meaning guaranteed income for these professional for years of repeating visits!!

Why is that?  Because that optimum fat burning HR zone came from a Suzuki study on fitness with high performance athletes.  Yes, it seemed that what you were neglected to be informed is that, the formula ONLY WORKS with high performance athletes.  Olympic level; professional competitive level where their resting heart rate is like between 25-35bpm!!  My RHR is 38bpm as I had competed somewhat on a national level in running when I was younger.  Now compare that the national average conducted by Fitbit's own database and was published somewhere that the lowest RHR was 62bpm and I think it was in Spain.  In the USA, the RHR is much higher.  So with a RHR so high, to achieve the athlete's optimum heart rate zone, you literally don't exercise at all.  But for a professional athlete and because of their much lower RHR (resting heart rate), the optimum HR zone is exercise.  The difference is that, they are burning a higher proportion of fat.  Just look at the Olympic level runners, cyclists and swimmers; are all of them look fat to you?  Nope.  But look at the runners and cyclists in your town or amateur meets and do they all look as thin as the professionals?  The answer is no; and yet all of these people including you were fed a set of lies.  Basically, the fitness industry TOOK a portion of Suzuki's HIIT study and then promote it as a myth.  It will take years before you reach the professional level that you can burn a higher proportion of fat like what I am doing now.  Or simply follow what Dominique said; essentially losing weight is about consuming less calories, exercise to maintain health and well being.  There is NO magic optimum HR zone.  There never was...