{"id":80101,"date":"2025-07-21T07:54:23","date_gmt":"2025-07-21T07:54:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/80101\/"},"modified":"2025-07-21T07:54:23","modified_gmt":"2025-07-21T07:54:23","slug":"fat-burning-heart-rate-explained-and-why-its-not-as-intense-as-you-think","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/80101\/","title":{"rendered":"Fat-burning heart rate explained \u2013 and why it\u2019s not as intense as you think"},"content":{"rendered":"

Let\u2019s say your best-laid plans for a faster, lighter you have hit a wall. \u201cWhy am I not edging closer to racing weight?\u201d you might lament.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat am I doing wrong?\u201d Well, you might not be doing anything wrong. You might just need a little patience, plus a dollop of reality.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt sounds simple, but losing weight is all about creating an energy deficit,\u201d says Dr Adam Collins, associate professor of nutrition at the University of Surrey. \u201cIt\u2019s about fewer calories in and more calories out.”<\/p>\n

Of course, we know it\u2019s not that easy in practice. Weight loss isn\u2019t an exact science but, roughly, a pound of fat contains around 3,500 calories. <\/p>\n

\u201cI know from my watch that I burn 500 calories an hour on most rides,” you might conclude. “I\u2019ll just pop out for seven hours and I\u2019ll lose a pound of fat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course, there are gaps there. This approach, beyond burying your immune system<\/a> and leaving you a moody mess, doesn\u2019t account for factors such as general feeding, on-the-bike fuelling<\/a> and intensity of exercise.<\/p>\n

Still, there\u2019s good news when it comes to that latter point, which can often become a zonal sea of confusion\u2026<\/p>\n

Fat-burning intensities
\n\"\"Your FatMax heart-rate zone is the optimal intensity to burn fat. Joseph Branston \/ Our Media <\/p>\n

At rest, and at low intensities of exercise, we burn predominantly fat for fuel. As intensity increases, the body\u2019s increasingly reliant on carbohydrates<\/a> to fuel the working muscles.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s why all of us have a FatMax zone, which is the optimum fat-burning intensity.<\/p>\n

This is generally accepted as around 70-75% of maximum heart rate for trained athletes and 60-65% max HR for less-fit athletes.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour muscle becomes adapted to exercise because it\u2019s under metabolic stress and running out of fuel,\u201d says Collins. \u201cIt adapts by increasing blood supply, the number of [energy-producing] mitochondria, and improving the ability to break down fat and glucose more efficiently.\u201d<\/p>\n

This metabolic stress happens with low-intensity, long-endurance exercise, but it\u2019s not the be-all and end-all when it comes to fat.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt can also happen through higher-intensity exercise,\u201d says Collins. \u201cThis might not initially oxidise high levels of fat; instead, you\u2019ll be burning through carbohydrate and creatine phosphate.<\/p>\n

“But that energy crisis you\u2019ve created needs to be paid back. How you do that is switching to more aerobic systems during the recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is otherwise known as the afterburn effect, or EPOC. \u201cThat stands for excessive post-exercise oxygen consumption,\u201d says Collins.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour oxygen uptake is higher because it facilitates fat burning. As you recover from a hard set, you continue to mobilise fats to replenish the short-term energy you burnt through.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s why we have good news \u2013 that, in theory, all sessions will burn fat, albeit you don\u2019t want to overload with high-intensity work because you\u2019ll end up ill or injured.<\/p>\n

Glycogen-depleted, or fasted training<\/a>, is another proven session to amplify fat burning, although again it needs to be ticked off sparingly because it\u2019s tough on your immune system.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s also not required by women because they\u2019re naturally better fat burners than men,\u201d Collins explains.<\/p>\n

Less is more
\n\"\"Appetite drivers are powerful and can interfere with fat loss. Joseph Branston \/ Our Media <\/p>\n

So, you have a physical plan to burn through fat, but what about calorie intake?<\/p>\n

Well, the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention says people who lose weight gradually and steadily (around 1-2lb a week) are not only more likely to keep the weight off, but also that the weight lost is more fat than water loss compared to rapid losers of weight.<\/p>\n

That means cutting down your energy intake by even a couple of hundred calories a day could be more effective than going large.<\/p>\n

\u201cSay a cyclist\u2019s basal metabolic rate [calories burnt at rest] is 2,000 calories a day and they eat just 1,000 calories a day,\u201d says Collins.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe body responds by liberating its body fat and glycogen stores to create energy to meet that shortfall. Once you start shrinking adipocytes and removing fat, you\u2019re becoming healthier. That\u2019s the good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe problem is you have drivers of appetite regulation that are quite powerful,\u201d adds Collins.<\/p>\n

\u201cImmediately after an active phase of dieting, you can easily recoil back, especially if you\u2019ve lost a lot of weight in a short timeframe, as these drivers are even more powerful.<\/p>\n

“It\u2019s hard because the Westernised world is obesogenic \u2013 we have access to food that\u2019s highly palatable and relatively cheap.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s where motivation comes in. Of course, this is an individual thing. You might want to cut those last few pounds to crack the top 20% at Etape du Tour, or you might want to lose a stone for health purposes.<\/p>\n

Either way, maintenance of motivation comes in many forms. Making your goal real helps. This might be sticking a note on your kitchen door or going public on social media.<\/p>\n

A daily, weekly and monthly plan provides direction and structure, and gives you milestones en route to your goal.<\/p>\n

It must be tailored to you and your life \u2013 for example, training on Zwift<\/a> in your lunch hour and splitting the sessions in half to be more time efficient.<\/p>\n

Last but not least, banish negativity. Replace energy-sapping thoughts of, \u2018It\u2019s raining and my shoes will get muddy\u2019, with positive affirmations, images of sunshine or your personal mantra.<\/p>\n

Close your eyes and picture yourself as being strong, confident and at race weight.<\/p>\n

Yes, it sounds trite but, ultimately, you\u2019re only as powerful as your mind. Stay focused but prepare for the odd blip and you\u2019ll be leaner, fitter and faster in no time. Well, soon anyway\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Let\u2019s say your best-laid plans for a faster, lighter you have hit a wall. \u201cWhy am I not…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":80102,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[1198,210,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-80101","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fitness","8":"tag-fitness","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114890150441789119","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80101","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80101"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80101\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80101"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80101"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80101"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}