Fat burning during exercise varies widely between individualsStudy reveals limitations of commercial exercise machines, emphasizing the need for a more personalized approach to exercise
Date: August 10, 2023
Source: The Mount Sinai Hospital / Mount Sinai School of Medicine
Summary: The best heart rate for burning fat differs for each individual and often does not align with the 'fat burning zone' on commercial exercise machines, researchers report. Instead, the researchers said, clinical exercise testing -- a diagnostic procedure to measure a person's physiological response to exercise -- may be a more useful tool to help individuals achieve intended fat loss goals.
Instead, the researchers said, clinical exercise testing -- a diagnostic procedure to measure a person's physiological response to exercise -- may be a more useful tool to help individuals achieve intended fat loss goals. The study, which used a machine learning-based modeling approach, was published online today in Nutrition, Metabolism and Cardiovascular Disease.
"People with a goal of weight or fat loss may be interested in exercising at the intensity which allows for the maximal rate of fat burning. Most commercial exercise machines offer a 'fat-burning zone' option, depending upon age, sex, and heart rate," says lead author Hannah Kittrell, MS, RD, CDN, a PhD candidate at Icahn Mount Sinai in the Augmented Intelligence in Medicine and Science laboratory. "However, the typically recommended fat-burning zone has not been validated, thus individuals may be exercising at intensities that are not aligned with their personalized weight loss goals."
Ms. Kittrell is also Director of the Mount Sinai Physiolab, a clinical body composition and exercise physiology laboratory at Mount Sinai Morningside.
The term FATmax is sometimes used to represent the exercise intensity and associated heart rate at which the body reaches its highest fat-burning rate during aerobic exercise. At this point, fat is a significant fuel source and therefore this intensity may be of interest to those seeking to optimize fat loss during workouts.
As part of the study, the researchers compared heart rate at FATmax, as measured during a clinical exercise test, to predicted heart rate at percentages of maximal effort within the typically recommended "fat-burning zone." In a sample of 26 individuals, the researchers found that there was poor agreement between measured and predicted heart rate, with a mean difference of 23 beats per minute between the two measures. This suggests that general recommendations for a "fat-burning zone" may not provide accurate guidance.
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Source:
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/08/230810180107.htm
