Exercise & Fat Burning

Our bodies have evolved in a world where there was usually a shortage of food, so we have developed a tremendously efficient system for converting the extra food we eat into body fat.

In general, males tend to store excess energy in and around the internal organs, and develop a pot belly. Females tend to put on body fat around the pelvis and upper limbs.

Reducing your fat levels

• The only way of reducing fat levels is to increase your activity level and reduce your intake of nutritionally rich food - eat less fat and sugar, and more natural fibre and food rich in vitamins and minerals.
• Don't reduce the number of times you eat each day, but change what you eat.
• The first secret to getting your body to use its fat stores is to increase your basic rate of metabolism - the amount of energy your body uses in everyday activities.
• If your body ticks over at a higher rate, then it is more ready to meet physical and mental stress and will recover quickly from stresses such as an exercise session or walking up a set of stairs.
• The second secret is to train your body to use fat as fuel. To train your body to get its metabolic rate up, and burn body fat, you need low intensity aerobic exercises at least every second day.
• Aerobic exercise combines the use of oxygen with either fat or sugars as fuels to create body heat and body energy.
• When trying to use fat as fuel, it's important to keep your heart rate at the right level: not too fast.
• Use the 'talk test' to ensure you are breathing evenly: you should be able to keep talking during exercise without shortness of breath. Slow down as soon as you feel your muscles are getting fatigued, but don't stop altogether.

The fat burning zone
There are several ways of ensuring you are working in the fat burning aerobic zone. The easiest way is to learn how to take your own heart rate and to keep your heart rate at an appropriate level.
Next time you are exercising, find your Adam's apple on your windpipe with the first two fingers of your hand, and then move your fingers back about 5cm until they meet a muscle at the side of the neck. You should feel the carotid artery pulsing each time your heart beats. Look at your watch and count the number of times it pulses in 10 seconds.

For body fat burning aerobic exercise, your pulse should be below:

• 25 beats per 10 seconds if you are younger than 20
• 23 beats per 10 seconds if you are younger than 30
• 21 beats per 10 seconds if you are younger than 40
• 19 beats per 10 seconds if you are younger than 50
• 17 beats per 10 seconds if you are younger than 60
• 15 beats per 10 seconds if you are younger than 70.

What are fat burning exercises?
Fat burning aerobic exercises are the slow, long duration types of exercise - walking, slow jogging, swimming, low intensity aerobics classes, easy pedalling on an exercise bike or low-resistance aerobic circuit training.
Keep yourself in your own body fat burning training zone (no shortness of breath, no muscle fatigue, low heart rate), and you will be getting benefits from your very first exercise session.

As your body adapts to exercise, you will be able to do more exercise and still be in your body fat burning training zone. It usually takes 12 weeks to get your body adapted to fat burning exercise.
Original material supplied by Monty Dortkamp, Chief Executive Officer, Fitness Australia, and Managing Director of the Australian Institute of Recreation.