The Fat Burning Zone Explained | The Science of Carbohydrate vs. Fat Burning During Exercise

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A fair comparison is probably a 2 hour zone 2 walk vs a 40 minute HIIT workout because they're comparable efforts. Effort isn't an unlimited resource which is why folk can walk every day and into old age but the same cannot be said for going to Orange Theory. At a certain age twice a week HIIT is more than the body can handle. But if you're young enough, combine the two and walk to your HIIT class and then to work and then home. But that just highlights the time efficiency of walking for exercise because it is embedded in the daily routine, every day, by those who live the longest lives on this planet.

To every average person out there trying to loose fat: Do what is feasible for you. Is it more doable for you to do a low intensity workout twice a week and maybe actually feel good doing it? Or doing HIIT and feeling like you are destroying yourself? All the science isn't worth anything if you don't feel like working out because the last workout felt like torture. For the average person eating 160 kcal less is much easier then trying to burn it in a HIIT workout to save 20 minutes. Please be honest to yourself and keep grinding. :)

Im actually more confused now

I like the the fat burning zone more. You can walk 4mph and call your mom and get an issue resolve. You can call the IRS or listen to a book or watch this video. All of a sudden you dont have to call your mom anymore because you did it while walking. You will spent twice the time. Who is going to fall down walking 4 mph and die? can you fall down while running and die? maybe not but you can be seriously hurt. So.....walk yourself to a sixpack, dont run to it. And do something while you walk, even watch youtube!

This is why diet and heavier calorie deficit are so important. If your diet already keeps you at a deficit (say 1800 per day), the cardio will always be a bonus. With NEAT and cardio in this situation, she would be burning around 2500 calories per day and that 700 cal deficit would mean it doesn't matter whether you do high intensity or medium heart rate.

So ummm 40 minutes of HIIT is pretty hard at 80% intensity. Is it just me or does that sound unlikely by the average human ? I can do like 10 minutes max 15 of HIIT

And this is where caveats matter! 1. High intensity cardio increases your chance of injury, which is particularly important for people with too much body fat and/or too little muscle mass. 2. High intensity cardio has a much greater recovery period. Most people shouldn’t be doing too many high intensity workouts back to back, but you can do several zone 2 cardio sessions. 2 days of low intensity cardio will burn more calories than one day of high intensity cardio followed by a rest day. 3. Too much high intensity cardio can be an oxidative stressor which can wreck energy levels, hormones, and muscle gains. So what’s the winner? Neither. Both have their place. Over a given lifespan, I think we should all be aspiring to train 25-45 minutes every day (3 hour minimum per week) and investing weekly training time in 40% zone 2 cardio, 25-45% mobility and proprioception, 15-35% resistance training, and 0-10% VO2max training. Zone 2 and mobility can be distributed across every day of the week, but the other types of training should be spaced out.

Absolutely love your videos, thanks for explaining this!

One thing I noticed while comparing HIIT vs LISS for fat loss is that I can eat way less when doing LISS for cardio. The times I did HIIT my hunger was through the roof after my workout was done.

I retired 8 months ago at age 59.5 after falling off my exercise routine due to the pandemic. BMI was 25, lower muscle tone, muscle cramps on slow bicycle hill climbs, could only do 4 pull ups. Started training alternating days with HIIT hill repeat bicycling (zones 2, 3, and 4) and strength training (push ups and pull ups). Gradually over 7 months, I lost 12 lbs, BMI came down to 23.2, worked up to 40 pull ups in a row (amazing for my age), and now attack the hills out of the saddle (zone 4). However, I plateaued in weight loss. I recently replaced some hill repeat bike rides with 50-60 minute sessions on a KSports Tennis Rebounder alternating forehand backhand shots with power and footwork with ball feed frequency of every 2 seconds (faster than actual court play). This is pure sustained zone 2 aerobic training with higher breathing rate and sweating but not gasping for breath. In just two weeks, this change allowed me to break through and lose 2 stubborn additional pounds of fat, BMI now 22.9, below my lean high school/college weight yet at my personal best at 40 pull ups in one set at age 60. I believe zones 3 and 4 are best for mitochondrial biogenesis (power, athletic performance, and endurance), but alternating with sustained zone 2 training is good for fat burning weight loss. I recommend an alternating combination of HIIT and pure zone 2, as well as strength training. Basically, the HIIT type training I was doing is optimal for building the "engine" (could be done on a treadmill with incline sprinting), whereas pure zone 2 training (steady moderate pace jogging on a treadmill) is optimal for "running" the engine and burning through the "fuel" and losing weight. Combinations are good for strength gains, power, endurance, fat burning, and weight loss.

This was really well put together. Thank you. I would send this to a client for sure.

Thank you for all your videos!

This made a lot of sense to me and you did read my mind with epoc before i got to ask

You're amazing! Thanks for this video. 💪

It is worth mentioning that the amount of carbs used during workout is proportional to the cravings the person would have after the workout. The higher the carbs used, the higher the cravings. This is why, if your intention is weight loss and your have bad eating habits, it is often better to utilise a workout in the fat burning zone to reduce the cravings after the workout, thus preventing overindulgence.

Thank you for this. I do a full body lifting routine Monday Wednesday and Friday mornings. I do high intensity interval training Tuesday and Thursday mornings. I walk 45 minutes in my fat burning zone every evening. I am considering dropping the interval training because it is so hard on my joints, specifically my knees. For that reason, i would choose fat burning zone workouts over interval training. MUCH easier on the body long term.

Excellent video!

When I use to run, I knew the long slow runs were fat burners, nice to have the explanations...

Hello and greetings from Greece.Love your content!Can you make a video for strength training of everyday people with like a bodybuilding workout type vs a HIIT workout type? Im a little bit confused about whats better especially for women that want to get some muscles and look slimer. The basic workout that you do 3 set of 10 of squats and resting in between sets and then go to another exercise or something like a circular training that you do 3-4 exercise the one after the other(that gets a little bit more heart rate up) and at the end of the cycle rest and then go again? I would appriciate your thoughts on this topic.Thank you very much !