While I was playing basketball the other day at Lifetime Fitness Center, a friend asked me the question if you really burned more calories or fat while doing a workout in your “fat burning zone?”

This seems to be a confusing question for many people, especially when they see on many cardio machines workout programs called “fat burning.” It gives you the idea that this is the kind of workout that will burn the most amount of calories and fat.

Well, this is not really true. But first, let me qualify it. If you are a person who is very much out of shape or have not worked out in quite some time (more than 3 months), then doing a cardio workout in the fat burning zone is a smart choice (50% - 65% MHR). The workout will be safer and won’t be as strenuous for you and you’ll be able to exercise longer and burn a descent amount of calories and fat. This is the ideal time to do a cardio workout in your “fat burning zone.”

Another ideal time to do a “fat burning” workout if you regard yourself to be very fit is when you need to do a “light” workout. It’s recommended to balance your workout loads with very intense, medium and light workouts. You simply cannot do very intense workouts on a regular basis day after day and week after week. Your body cannot take it and will burn out.

However, if you are a person in above average shape, doing a cardio workout in your “fat burning zone” on a regular basis is a waste of time. You need to kick it up a couple notches to at least your “aerobic zone,” (65% - 85% MHR), and preferably bring it up to your “anaerobic zone” for brief intervals.

Here’s the key point why:

The more intense the exercise, the more and longer your post-workout metabolic rate is elevated and the more calories you burn.

Want proof? No problem. Just put on a heart rate monitor watch which tracks your calories burned while working out. Compare various exercise activities while wearing your heart rate monitor watch. You’ll notice big differences in the amount of calories burned within specific time frames.

For me, I usually burn around 1,200 calories while playing competitive pick-up basketball (anaerobic zone) for about 45 – 50 minutes. However, walking for 50 minutes I may burn around 170 calories (fat burning zone).

So, if you have the ability to kick up the intensity level a couple notches, do it! Start an interval training program and you’ll see incredible results within a few weeks. If you are not sure you are ready, get your doctor’s approval before starting an interval-training program. It’s better to be sure.

After you get your doctor’s approval, try HIIT.

HIIT is a new training technique that blasts both boredom and fat.

Check out what experts are saying:

“In research, HIIT has been shown to burn adipose (fat) tissue more effectively than low-intensity exercise - up to 50% more efficiently.”

“HIIT speeds up your metabolism and keeps it revved up for some time after your workout. The bottom line is that HIIT training burns a greater number of total calories than low-intensity training, and more calories burned equals less fat on your body.”

What is HIIT?

High-Intensity Interval Training: is an exercise strategy that improves performance with short training sessions. These sessions involve a warm up period, several short, maximum-intensity efforts that are separated by moderate recovery intervals, and a cool down period.

In other words, your 60 minutes of low-intensity cardio is replaced with more effective, High Intensity Interval Training for as little as 15 minutes. The addition of explosions of speed into your comfortable pace will increase your power, muscle tone, speed, strength, endurance and best of all will melt the inches off.

Here is an example of a HIIT program - this can be done on any form of cardio equipment or even jogging outside or swimming laps:

Start with an easy 4 minute warm up, casually increasing your pace to the one that you usually maintain for your workout. Once you are sufficiently warm, sky rocket your intensity for 30 seconds. Return to your normal pace for the next 30 seconds and then sky rocket again. Repeat this 30-30 interval for 6 minutes and then gradually decrease your intensity as you enter a cooling off pace.

After your HIIT session you can expect to burn more calories due to an increase in your metabolism - sounds good, right? If you aren’t ready to jump into a full-fledged HIIT session, try one of the following modified HIIT workouts:

Modified HIIT 1:

Start with at least a 5 minute warm up, casually increasing your pace to the one that you usually maintain for your workout. Once you are sufficiently warm, increase your intensity for a full minute. Return to your normal pace and remain here until you have recovered enough to go again. Repeat this 1 minute interval with full recovery time between each one for the full extent of your workout and then gradually decrease your intensity as you enter a cooling off pace.

Modified HIIT 2:

Start with at least a 5 minute warm up, casually increasing your pace to the one that you usually maintain for your workout. Once you are sufficiently warm, change your speed and intensity for 2 minutes. Return to your normal pace for 2 minutes and then change your intensity and speed again. The key is to keep your body guessing - you aren’t doing full intensity work, but you also aren’t staying at the same pace for the entire length of the workout. Repeat this 2 minute interval for the full extent of your workout and then gradually decrease your intensity as you enter a cooling off pace.

Send me your comments on this. Take care.