If you’re exercising hard and not dropping body fat, you might be falling into this trap…
This is something even “experienced” coaches miss all the time.
I have worked with busy professionals for over a decade and one thing I can tell you is that most of them are FAR from lazy, yet their bodies don’t show it.
In most cases, a lack of specificity in heart rate zones or a lack of understanding around what “fuel” your body is using was sabotaging their results.
With the changes below, I have helped more busy humans drop the stubborn fat they couldn’t lose WITHOUT working any harder (in some cases, much less).
Understanding Heart Rate Zones
First things first, we need to understand heart rate zones. So below I have shared an image of the different zones, ranging from zone 2 (55-65%) up to zone 5 (85-90%).
Notice that as you age, these heart rates range to drop. Also, the less fit you are, the less effort is required to get up to these high heart rates. This combination means many people can be in zone 3 or 4 without even pushing that hard.
Fuel Sources
Secondly, I need to highlight what energy stores you might be tapping into at these different heart rate zones…
Provided you’re a relatively healthy individual when in zone 1 or 2 (under 65%), you’ll likely be tapping into fat as your main fuel source as it’s low enough intensity that it can utilise this without too much urgency.
As you move into zones 3 and 4, your body starts requiring this energy much quicker so it can’t rely on fat as its main fuel source. This is where (if available) will use carbohydrates as its main fuel source.
The trouble is, most people trying to lose weight, are severely undereating in many cases and not eating enough to restore glycogen, so when training at these heart rates, the body has no carbohydrates to burn and has to turn to its next available fuel source – muscle.
Why Muscle Not Fat?
Because it takes drastically longer to down fat… It only takes a few minutes to break down muscle.
So imagine what’s happening here when you’re always training in zones 3 & 4. You keep breaking down your muscle, occasionally carbohydrates when you eat enough and never really tap into fat stores.
So over time, you’re actually decreasing your metabolic rate by reducing your total muscle mass which only makes it easier to store more fat!
Outcome: Less muscle, more fat.
I see this ALL THE TIME.
People are getting fitter in these fitness classes or long rides/runs, yet they’re not dropping the fat.
Side note: I said healthy because if you’re over 25-30% body fat your body is jammed in the fat storage mode and you’ll likely well underestimate your heart rate zone as going for a walk will put you in zone 3 quickly – meaning you can’t access this fat as energy.
Fun fact: This is why you see people with large stomachs usually have no bum, that’s because your body starts chewing away at its largest muscle groups because it can’t tap into fat!
SO WHAT DO I DO??
First, aim to strip back at least 80% of your cardio activity to zone 2 so you’re able to stay in this fat-burning zone. If you do want to go for a mountain bike ride or run, make sure to eat enough carbohydrates the night before to FUEL the workout and protect muscles.
Second, we haven’t yet talked about zone 5. We usually access this in the form of weight training or HIIT – High Intensity Interval Training.
For anyone that says they do high-intensity exercise in their 45-60-minute classes, I am willing to bet this is zone 4 at best (unless really unfit) because you can’t stay at this kind of heart rate for an hour unless you’re an Olympic athlete…
Now weight training is its own kettle of fish as this is more about harnessing the power of the “afterburn effect” more than the heart rate zone as it’s more muscle stimulus focused. But this is too much to cover in one post.
True HIIT training is where you’re reaching such an accumulation of lactic acid that you can’t go any more. Think spin bike with max weight on it or sprinting up a sand dune.
When we tap into this zone, we aren’t there long. So we’ll be using carbohydrates mostly as fuel and then benefit from the same afterburn effect of elevated metabolic rate and fat-burning capacity POST training.
Coach note: Fat burning does not happen IN the workout, it’s all about how your body responds to that workout over the next few days, with one of the main benefits being it makes you more insulin-sensitive and therefore utilise food much better – rather than storing it.
So in summary, if you’re exercising hard at not seeing the results you’re after. Pay attention to what heart rate zone you’re training in. If the goal is fat loss, this will give you a lot more specificity in how you train.
Too many people are training hard yet don’t look like they do, this post should help change that if you read this far 🙂
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