Fitness watches and activity trackers are definitely helping people to train smarter. The majority of the trackers have three workout zones:
Peak Zone: This zone is high-intensity exercise (85 to 100 percent of your max heart rate)
Cardio Zone: Medium – high intensity exercise (70 to 84 percent of your max hr)
Fat Burn Zone: Low – medium intensity exercise (50 to 69 percent of your max hr)
Is the fat burning zone the best place to be if you want to burn fat?
The answer is NO! The fat burning zone is the idea that when exercising at lower intensities for longer periods of time, you will burn more fat than you would in any other zone. This is certainly true, working out at a lower intensity will cause the body to utilise fat as it’s fuel. But, exercising at a lower intensity will not burn as many calories as exercising at a higher intensity. In order to lose fat you need to burn the calories.
When you exercise at a higher intensity e.g (HIIT) you will also burn more calories after you have actually finished exercising. This is known as the afterburn effect or EPOC (Excess Post-Exercise Oxygen Consumption). Undertaking a lower intensity session is sometimes required to give your body a rest from higher intensity sessions (see the article I wrote on LISS workouts). Lower intensity sessions are also great for people who are starting exercise.
If you do choose to work in the fat burning zone you will need to workout for longer to burn enough calories to effect weight loss. Exercising in the “fat burning zone” isn’t that efficient if your goal is fat loss. The fastest way to lose the fat is to work hard at a higher intensity for shorter intervals.