The Truth about Fat-Loss

Among all the people around the world trying to get in shape, bodybuilders are without a doubt the most successful group. Even the worst bodybuilders loose more body-fat than highly successful "regular" people. Where "regular" people literally sweat blood and tears to get rid of a few pounds of blubber, even the lesser talented bodybuilder gets down to or even under the magical 10% body-fat-level.

Over the years I noticed that there is a lot of misinformation about weight-reduction by reducing body-fat throughout the scene. Getting "ripped" still seems to be one of the biggest problems in bodybuilding. Well, becoming "ripped" is not easy. The body always tries to keep a certain amount of body-fat simply to stay alive. A certain amount of body-fat is absolutely necessary within the body to ensure proper function and protection of the organs. Because of this physiological fact, it becomes harder to shed fat the closer you get to the absolute minimum percentage of body-fat .Very often bodybuilders as well as "regular" people are very confused over loosing weight or getting into decent shape. Getting into top-shape for a bodybuilding-contest involves more fine-tuning of bodily functions than getting into "shape", but the basics are generally the same. The problem arises mostly due to the load of BS that is spread in most of the related press and most gyms. Self-proclaimed "fitness-gurus" as well as even health professionals and grossly overpaid private trainers keep spreading the misinformation to their patients and giving unsuitable advice if asked for.

What's the problem..?
The false information that weight-loss can only be accomplished when aerobic-training or training within the"fat-burning -zone" is done and the mixing up of the designations "fat-loss" and "fat-burning" are responsible for the widely used but technically wrong term "fat-burning-training".

"Fat-burning" describes the function of gaining energy by oxidation of free fatty acids by breaking- down fat, preferably from the fat-depots of the body.

"Fat-loss" on the other hand describes the function of decreasing body-fat due to a negative calorie-balance i.e. ingesting fewer calories than one burns.

A loss of body fat is not dependant on strict training in the so-called "fat burning-zone" because "burning" fat does NOT necessarily mean a loss of body fat. To clear this, read the following:

The "burning" of body-fat does NOT start AFTER 30 minutes of aerobic exercise but rather works on a 24/7 basis.

The percentage of body -fat burned increases the lesser the intensity and the longer the duration of the performed activity is. On the other hand, due to the overall low energy-turnover, the absolute amount of burned fat is of course low too. The higher the intensity of activity, the lower the percentage of fat burned relative to the overall energy-turnover. The higher the intensity of action, the larger is the part of carbohydrates and the lower the amount of fat used for energy.

High-intensity activities burn far larger amounts of calories then low-intensity training. Even though the relative amount of fat burned by high-intensity-activity is lower compared to the overall calorie-turnover, the absolute amount of body-fat burned might well be larger than the amount burned through low-intensity "fat-burning-training". The more energy used during training, the more weight/body-fat the subject looses.

Slow jogging within the so called "fat-burning-zone" a low-intensity activity at a pulse-frequency of 60% of maximum, i.e. 120- to130 beats/minute burns 70- 80% fat and 20 to 30% glucose (carbohydrates).The energy-turnover averages about 8 calories per minute. This results in a fat-burn from free fatty acids of around 6 calories per minute.

Jogging at medium speed and a heart-rate of 75% to 85% of maximum HF (heart-frequency) and a pulse of 140 to 160 beats per minute increases the energy-turnover to 16cal to 18 cal/min. The burned energy used is comprised almost equally between glucose (carbohydrates) and free fatty acids (fat-depots) on a 50/50 ratio. In the latter case 8 to 9 calories burned come from stored fat. That's round about 25% to 33% MORE body-fat burned than through "fat-burning-training" within the same period of time. As we see above high-intensity-training burns more calories and MORE body-fat over the same time-span than training in the so-called "fat-burning-zone".

Two overweight trainees go to the gym four times per week and work out on a stationary bike for one hour each. Person 1works out strictly within the "fat-burning-pulse-rate" of 110-to 130 beats per minute. Person 2 works out at a slightly higher intensity, targeting on a pulse-rate of 140 -to 160 beats per minute. This is well above the generally accepted "fat-burning-pulse-rate" and does NOT target the well-known ""heart-frequency-related training-zone" for fat-loss.

After two month, person 1 which trained strictly within the"fat-burning-zone" at a "fat-burning-pulse-rate" of 110 to 120 beats per minute lost a lot LESS bodyweight/body-fat than person 2, training far above the" fat-burning-pulse-rate".

So what happened?

Person 2, training at a higher pulse-rate of 140-to 160 beats per minute burned more energy and body-fat during the same period of time than person 1 training within the proposed heart-frequency-related fat-burning-zone.

To acquire the same amount of fat-loss and loss of bodyweight as person 2, trainee number 1 would have to increase his/her training-time up to 50%.

Fat-burning does not necessarily lead to a reduction of body-fat.

The often proclaimed "fat-burning-pulse-rate" is non-existent.

There is nothing like a "heart -frequency-related training-zone" for the loss of body-fat.

Training for "fat-burning " is not the same as training for the loss of body-fat.

Fat-burning (oxidation of fatty acids) is a form of energy-provision which takes place in our bodies on a 24/7 basis. Fat-loss on the other hand, means a reduction of stored body fat. For a body-weight-reduction by a decrease of body-fat, not the fat-burning during exercise is important, rather the fat-burning after training, (Increased fat-metabolism during the recovery-phase for several hours following intense training), through a negative calorie-balance per day or calculated on a weekly basis. The more carbohydrates (glucose) are burned during intense training, the more fat is burned during recovery.

During phases of a negative energy-balance the organism uses up fat-depots to provide sufficient energy. At rest the body uses predominantly fat for energy. The higher the basic-metabolic-rate, the more body-fat is burned. The basic-metabolic-rate (BMR) is determined at absolute rest, i.e. while sleeping and is depending on individual muscle-mass and the age of the individual. On an hourly basis the body burns slightly less than the body-weight/KG in kilo-calories.

For males: bodyweight in KG times 10 plus 900, BW x 10+ 900.

For females: bodyweight in KG times 7 plus 700, BW x 7+ 700.

Based on a bodyweight of 80 kg (x2.2 for us- pounds) the BMR for a male would be 80x10+900= 1700kcal per day.

A female of 60 kg bodyweight would need 60 x 7 + 700 = 1120 kcal per day.

A very simple way of calculating ones BMR would be:

bodyweight/kg x 23 for males or

bodyweight/kg x 20 for females.

In general, the daily calorie-requirements are grossly over-estimated.

For individuals performing medium physical activities throughout the day the formula would be BMR x 1.5.

These calculations count for males and females alike. Strenuous physical activities can raise this multiplication-factor up to BMR x 2.1.

*To decrease 1 Kg of body-fat-mass a person has to use up roughly 7000 calories, not the well-known 9000 calories. The reason here for is that fat-tissue, compared to -fat from food-sources, does not only consist of fat. On a daily basis, a trainee needs to reduce his or her calorie-intake by only 250 calories to loose 1 kg of body-fat per month.

(Article written by Cristopher T. Clarc)

[click and buy] [back] [to the top]