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Originally Posted by braisler
I am a bit surprised to see that no one here has addressed the fat-burning vs. cardio issue here. I am not an expert in sports nutrition or weight-loss, but I do know what has worked for me. I have read that you will actually burn more FAT when you are working out at a lower aerobic level than you would burn at a higher aerobic level. That is, if you are walking at a good clip with some hills for 30-60 minutes per day, you are burning more fat than you would by running. I remember reading that your target heart rate should be somewhere in the range of 60% of maximum to increase fat burning. Is my information out-of-date?
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it's a bit out of date... basically, it is correct that at lower intensities you will burn more fat than carbohydrate for energy use where at higher intensities you will burn more carbs than fat. but... those are only percentages, ratios.
lets use for an example someone who burns 75% fat when walking and only 45% when jogging. i think i heard somewhere that a good estimate is 100 calories burned per mile whether walking or running. so we'll use that number for this. so lets assume he walks 3.5 miles in an hour or runs 6 miles in an hour.
3.5 miles * 100 calories = 350 calories * 75% fat = 262.5 calories burned from fat.
6 miles * 100 calories = 600 calories * 45% fat = 270 calories burned from fat
so the higher intensity will burn more calories total, more fat calories (although it's a lesser percentage of the total) and will be better exercise for the heart.