# Fat Burning Zone Calculator



## Ollie B

Hi Guys,

I want to know my fat burning zone when doing cardio, im 22 years old. Can someone help me with a calculation please?


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## Jock

It is accepted that the fat burn 'zone' exists between 60% and 75% of your Maximum Heart Rate (MHR)

*Fat Burn 'Zone' (FBZ) Formula*

FBZ = 220 - Age x (60%~75%)

So for example yours would be between 120-140BPM

To be honest I don't buy too much into the notion of a fat-burning 'zone' there are a lot more factors involves such as your VO2 Max, EPOC etc which are not considered in the oversimplified formula above.

I have been doing 40mins every morning at 160 BPM which works out at approx 82% of my MHR yet I have lost about 2% bodyfat and no muscle.

Have a look at this:

http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/0895.htm

Remeber that HIIT is also a good option for fat-loss.

Jock


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## hackskii

Bump


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## the_ironman

The problem with the idea of the fat burning zone is that it doesn't take into account what happens after the workout. With more intense training, you might burn less fat/more carbs during the workout itself than working at a lower heart rate. But harder training elevates the metabolism for a lot longer so you burn more fat in the hours after training.


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## 3752

to what degree do you burn more fat in the proceeding hours and what influence does your Post cardio meal have on the fat burning??


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## 2005neillife

Hi,

I got this of Rob Riches website. Hope it helps.

Some scientific studies show that more fatty acids are broken down and utilized as fuel during a low-intensity workout than more intense cardio. However, the key is that it's not how many calories or how much fat you burn during your cardio session, it's how much training increases your metabolism afterwards that makes the difference! A single session of high-intensity exercise that lasts as little as 10-20 minutes can increase your metabolic rate by more than 15% for up to 3 hours after exercise. Recent studies also show that high-intenisty interval training can increase your resting metabolic rate by over 5% for an entire 24-hour period. Low-intensity cardio does not produce that results.


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## hackskii

2005neillife said:


> Hi,
> 
> I got this of Rob Riches website. Hope it helps.
> 
> Some scientific studies show that more fatty acids are broken down and utilized as fuel during a low-intensity workout than more intense cardio. However, the key is that it's not how many calories or how much fat you burn during your cardio session, it's how much training increases your metabolism afterwards that makes the difference! A single session of high-intensity exercise that lasts as little as 10-20 minutes can increase your metabolic rate by more than 15% for up to 3 hours after exercise. Recent studies also show that high-intenisty interval training can increase your resting metabolic rate by over 5% for an entire 24-hour period. Low-intensity cardio does not produce that results.


I have read this before, there is an article some (here) where on that.


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## 3752

well i can say from experiance that walking on a treadmill at a pace of 3-4mph at an incline for 45min definatly raises the metabolism for a few hours after the cardio has stopped.....did you guys know that the raised metabolism length does depend on what you eat after the session...


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## SD

the_ironman said:


> The problem with the idea of the fat burning zone is that it doesn't take into account what happens after the workout. With more intense training, you might burn less fat/more carbs during the workout itself than working at a lower heart rate. But harder training elevates the metabolism for a lot longer so you burn more fat in the hours after training.


The term for this is EPOCH, post exercise oxygen consumption and in the studies I have seen weight training raises it for the longest period of time, days even.

SD


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## hackskii

SportDr said:


> The term for this is EPOCH, post exercise oxygen consumption and in the studies I have seen weight training raises it for the longest period of time, days even.
> 
> SD


Not only that but depending on the intensity of weight training and lets say HIIT training GH and test levels rise.


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## HIGHLANDER1436114513

Pscarb said:


> well i can say from experiance that walking on a treadmill at a pace of 3-4mph at an incline for 45min definatly raises the metabolism for a few hours after the cardio has stopped.....did you guys know that the raised metabolism length does depend on what you eat after the session...


Paul,can you elaborate on the attached with some examples of post session feeds that support keeping the metabolism high after your session,wouldnt like to be wasting my time by gastric self distruction.

Cheers Highlander:bounce:


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## Ollie B

^^^ What highlander said. Dont want to be going catabolic though.


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## hackskii

I dont think cardio depletes glycogen like weight lifting does, I am not sold on the refeed being critical for cardio unless you are doing sprints.

Targeting fat burning uses little glycogen.


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## SD

hackskii said:


> I dont think cardio depletes glycogen like weight lifting does, I am not sold on the refeed being critical for cardio unless you are doing sprints.
> 
> Targeting fat burning uses little glycogen.


Over 75% Vo2 max it will!

SD


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## hackskii

SportDr said:


> Over 75% Vo2 max it will!
> 
> SD


It maybe, but I have no understanding on this subject of V02 and have never been tested for that.

Sorry, but I was under the impression that mild cardio did little for glycogen depletion.

Can you explain the 75% Vo2 max for me please?

What kind of heart rate is this?

Would a person out of shape be diffrent than a athlete in shape for this percentage?


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## SD

hackskii said:


> It maybe, but I have no understanding on this subject of V02 and have never been tested for that.
> 
> Sorry, but I was under the impression that mild cardio did little for glycogen depletion.
> 
> Can you explain the 75% Vo2 max for me please?
> 
> What kind of heart rate is this?
> 
> Would a person out of shape be diffrent than a athlete in shape for this percentage?


Hi Hacks,

Vo2 max is much more accurate than heart rate, which, using the karvonen formula 220-age etc is used to estimate effort.

Vo2 max is the measure of the quantity of oxygen your body can absorb and utilise at any given point in time measured in ml/kg/min, it requires specialist equipment to do accurately although there are tests which estimate using various formulas. Once an athlete reaches 100% vo2 max, they are fully anearobic and this will cut there endurance and performance considerably. As intesity increases so does the utilisation of glycogen as the muscles require energy on the quick!

Vo2 max is dependant on fitness, especially the presence of certain oxidative and glycolytic enzymes and cardiac output therefore a fitter athlete will have a higher ml/kg/min than an unfit one. An untrained male would typically be around 45 ml/kg/min, the same male trained 5 years later would be 65ml/kg/min, more oxygen = better performance.

Found a good explanation here also.

hth

SD


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## hackskii

Wow, that was a damn good post.

I had a friend that trains for ironman comps and he had some dude figure this out using machines that he had to breath into among other things.

They told him at which heart rate did what (aerobic threashold, anarobic threshold, and others I cant remember).

He used a heart rate monitor to train with and compete so he knew where he was at all times.

He said the test was expensive, but the dude that gave the test did this for the eliet(SP) athletes.

But I really didnt understand when he told me about it, I think he did it for lactic acid or something.


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## hackskii

Just read that, thanks SD....

Check this out:

One more thing. Just to put things in perspective, the VO2 of a typical thoroughbred horse is about 600 liters/min or 150 ml/min/kg! So compared to a horse, even an Olympic endurance champion human comes out looking like a couch potato.


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## SD

hackskii said:


> Just read that, thanks SD....
> 
> Check this out:
> 
> One more thing. Just to put things in perspective, the VO2 of a typical thoroughbred horse is about 600 liters/min or 150 ml/min/kg! So compared to a horse, even an Olympic endurance champion human comes out looking like a couch potato.


Couch potato lol.

Your friend probably did a lactate threshold test, which is where they get you running on a treadmill and gradually increase the gradient, taking small fingertip blood samples every couple of minutes, heart rate is monitored also.

The blood is analysed for lactate, which when it peaks and no longer raises, is your lactate threshold as your body has reahced its limit of anearobic metabolism. The test would show him how to stay under this threshold as when you reach it, you have had it! lol

I did many of these as the guinea pig at uni, it is not a pleasent experience!! uke:

SD


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## pyrowill

Whats the best/simplest way to measure how long your metabolic rate, or simply just to know how long it's going on for post workout


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