Do you ever wonder what the difference is between the "fat burning zone" and the "cardio training zone"? Light to moderate cardio exercise is called "fat burning" because about 50 percent of the calories burned come from fat, and the other 50 percent of calories come from sugar and carbohydrates. When you work harder on a cardio machine and get your heart rate up higher, the zone becomes "cardio training."
Many people believe that one should stay in the fat burning zone to lose more body fat. However, that is not true.The fat burning zone, indeed, burns a greater percentage of fat, relative to total calories burned. But the higher intensity cardio zone burns more total calories for the same length of time. This means that the total amount of fat that is burned with these calories, actually comes out higher than the total fat burned during easier "fat burning" work.
By Kyle Peters, Personal Trainer at Steel Fitness in Bethlehem
