Eating certain foods, water with lemon, lifting weights for the most part, or running sprints do not burn fat. Any of these may burn calories or create a caloric deficit, but do not necessarily burn fat. Burning fat is dependent on reaching and maintaining a target heart rate for an extended time. There are three energy systems that allow for muscle contraction. These energy systems are ATP-PC, anaerobic glycolysis, and aerobic metabolism. Fat burning takes place during aerobic metabolism which happens at sixty to eighty percent of age predicted max heart rate (APMHR) or determined by an annual stress test as well as individual risk factors for disease and fifty to seventy percent of VO2 max. Below this heart rate and vo2 range, the person is not burning much and above this heart rate or vo2 the individual is burning good stuff such as glycogen stores and lean body mass.
Burning body fat does take some effort. The fat burning zone is not overly hard or intense exercise, but it does require an individual to burn 3500 calories to eliminate one pound of fat. So, based on a metabolic equation let us provide an example of the calories burned by an exerciser or client. This individual weight is two hundred twenty pounds and is in his target heart rate zone while walking at 3.6 mph on a twelve percent grade for thirty minutes. Based on metabolic calculations, this person consumes 102 liters of oxygen for the exercise bout and burns 510 calories. This means that if this person trains once per day at this intensity, it will take seven straight days of exercise to burn one pound of fat. At this point, I would like to say that this is the math and it is not my fault. It is important to maintain the appropriate target heart rate at a reasonably moderate intensity for thirty to sixty minutes. Fat burning is often described as aerobic exercise using long, slow distances. The goal is to burn two and a half pounds per week targeting fat metabolism. Per ACSM if an individual loses more than this, he or she is sacrificing muscle. Ultimate fat burning takes place near the upper limit of target heart rate and lasts as long possible up to an hour limit or what time permits. Even for the aerobic animals out there, an hour of cardiovascular exercise can be very exhausting. Please work at your own pace while slowly and gradually adding time and intensity. Gimmicks, wise tales, a magic pill, of a specific food item does not burn body fat. People do! Please visit tpnperfectbodies.com for more information and take advantage of our two-week free trial.