The Fat Max

Your maximum fat burning workout level

Whether you are overweight or an athlete, you need to know your maximum fat burning point when you exercise.

Everyone uses stored fat as the richest source of fuel during exercise.

For overweight people, using your own excess fat solves the life-threatening problem of obesity in the modern world. It is the focus of all successful diet programs.

For athletes, staying in their fat max zone helps prevent glycogen depletion and exhaustion, allowing greater endurance.

Your exercise level and peak oxygen consumption

The maximum rate of fat oxidation is the level of exercise intensity and oxygen consumption that promotes the greatest use of fatty acids for fuel by skeletal muscle.

This level is different for men and women, young and old, obese and lean people according to research to date.

In general, fat oxidation during low intensity exercise like slow walking is the same for most people. This level keeps peak oxygen consumption at 0-30%.

Differences in oxidation show up with moderate and intense aerobic exercise. For some, especially for the lean, fat burning increases with intense exercise.

For overweight people, the fat max burning can paradoxically be reduced at the more intense levels of exercise.

But the good news is, as people lose weight, their bodies can return to more effective fat burning levels.

You'll need to know your heart rate to calculate your current maximum fat burning level.

After you've determined your heart rate target, make sure you stay there by monitoring your heart rate during your exercise workout or daily activities.

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