heart rate for burning fat?

[Lubricator]

Ok, im 17 years old and I do cardio 3-5 times a week from 20-40 mins.

The fitness dude on my gym said that i should maintain my heart rate at 60-50% O_o if i wanna lose fat. He said that if my Heart rate was around 80-90, my body will use sugar instead of fat.

Does this mean all those High intensity Interval training i did when my heart rate is up was useless? I just burned sugar instead of fat?

Today i tried to stick with my heart rate on the fat burning zone with the crosstrainer and it was HELLA SLOW. It was so slow, i was burning calories to the minimum. I usually burn about 100 calories in like 6-7 mins during my regular routine and when i tried the burning fat zone today, i was burning calories so slow like a turtle.

Can someone tell me if i should stick to this slow, sluggish fat burning zone. ugh, i wanna decrease my fat% so bad.

[MAURER]

well that sugar is probably what really makes you "fat" and not really the fat itself. carbs and sugars and such get used for energy fuel after fat. fat is the first resource. thats why many people eat low carb/sugar diets. cuz its harder to get rid of it once they pack it on. im not sure that by doing high intensity cardio, you were really burning sugar and not fat, but anyway burnnig sugar is just as beneficial as fat, maybe more, i think.

[2Scoops]

Hey, check out this link - I commented on this issue a while back...

http://www.discussfitness.com/forums/showthread.php?t=16953

[Hamz]

I read on a website somewhere, that the best indication for targeting your optimum heart rate for fat burning, is a simple test of just being able to speak while you are say on the treadmill or cross trainer.

[CJNY]

2Scoops previous post pretty much sums up my experience on this issue. Yes, you burn more carbohydrate when doing high intensity work, but that's not very important one way or the other in your quest to lower your body fat level. HIIT work seems to help you burn more body fat outside of the exercise session which, after all, is quite a bit longer time period. Many, many individuals have found this to be true and it is backed by numerous scientific studies as well.

If the guy at your gym isn't aware of this then, frankly, he doesn't deserve the title of "fitness dude".

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http://www.discussfitness.com/forums/showthread.php?p=37261
http://www.discussfitness.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8442