Fat Burning Misconceptions

This statement is very familiar to us, “You need to aerobics for twenty minutes to start burning fat. Before that, you are only burning sugar.” “Walking is better than running because walking burns fat, while running does not.”

The are many misconceptions about fitness, but none greater than the misunderstandings about “fat burning”. Because fat burning is a complicated physiological issue that is not easily explained to or understood by the public. Somewhere along the way, the message that was passed on from the research scientist to the fitness professional and the media to the exercise participant was garbled. In trying to explain the mechanics of fat burning to the public, much has gotten lost in the translation.

It started about several years ago when exercise scientists discovered that the higher the intensity of the exercise, the less fat you burned. This led to a slew of exercise videos touting “fat burning” workouts at very low intensities. Aerobic instructors started to tell their clients that they weren’t burning any fat during the first twenty minutes of aerobics. Super-fit individuals who previously were happy doing high intensity workouts were now doubtful about whether they were burning fat or not.