The Myth of the "Fat Burning" Setting

Ok, so you just got to the gym to do your workout, and you hop on the bike all ready to get going. First, though, the machine tells you that you have to choose a "zone" to exercise in: either the "fat burning" zone or the "cardio" one. Since you're looking to lose a little weight, you set it to the "fat burning" setting in the attempt to hit those problem areas you just can't seem to get rid of. Plus, today you just don't really feel like suffering though the more intense "cardio" workout that the bike has. You can work on your fitness later, after all; right now you just want to lose some weight.

Oops! You just got sucked into one of the biggest exercise errors that people make.

How is that possible? Well, there is a reason that the "fat burning" setting on the bike (or treadmill, elliptical, etc) is easier to use than the "cardio" setting. It's because it takes less energy for your body to accomplish. Less energy means less stored fuel is being used up during your workout. So overall, if you use the "fat burning" session, it means you are burning fewer calories.

Hey, wait a sec! Why is the machine telling me I'm burning fat if I'm using less calories? Because, this isn't technically a lie. At lower intensities of exercise, your body is burning a higher proportion of energy from fat. As intensity increases, a higher percentage of calories burned will come from glycogen in your body, which is essentially a limited supply of stored sugar. But this is only because you are exercising too hard and burning too many calories for your body to only be able to use only fat as a fuel source. So the end result of the higher-intensity "cardio" exercise is that while you are burning a lower percent of calories from fat, since you are burning more total calories the fat you are burning is the same or even more.

According to the theory of the "fat burning" zone, sitting down and doing nothing would be the best weight-loss option since your body uses the highest proportion of fat for energy at that point. But you're not going to lose weight doing that, are you?

So next time you are at the gym and you step on that cardio machine, rethink using that "fat burning" zone. You'll get a better workout and better results from the "cardio" one.