There was a recent discussion on the Dragondoor.com forum about “cardio” and in a subsequent response on his blog Brett Jones , MRKC had the audacity to say the following:

“…the message coming from the general fitness industry which separates cardio and strength work and perpetuates the myth of fat burning zones etc… (yes I said the fat burning zone is a myth). “

Myth?

What silliness!

What outrage!

What nonsense!

This guy knows strength, but he is soooo off base about cardio, right??

Everybody knows that kind of exercise is best for losing bodyfat is “aerobics for 30-45 minutes 4-6 times per week at 60-70% of your Maximum Heart Rate (MHR).” ( MHR is calculated by subtracting your age from the number 220. )

Right?

Wrong, wrong, wrong. And I am gonna tell you why.

That kind of exercise is supposed to get you into something called the “fat-burn zone”, where a greater percentage of the calories burned come from fat. The concept is that since the human body burns a greater percentage of fat during low intensity exercise than it does at higher intensities, then that is the optimal way to burn fat overall.

See, the problem is the “as a percentage” bit. At higher intensities the body may only burn 35% of calories from fat while at lower intensities it may burn 50% or more of the calories from fat.

However, look at the bigger picture: at higher intensities you burn way more total calories, and more fat calories overall than you do at lower intensities. Would you rather have 50% of $100 dollars or 35% of $300?

So, while it is true that the body burns a greater percentage of fat at lower intensities than at higher intensities, that doesn’t account for the total calories burned, which is far more important.

Wanna get into the REAL fat-burn zone? Swing, snatch, press and TGU for a lot of reps. Cut all sugar and flour from your diet. Watch lard sizzle away…..