In relation to effective fat burning...

today, while i was searching for an alternative medium of cardio exercises, due to a bum shin (i think i'm working on a stress fracture :p), i discovered the elliptical machines, in all thier unknown woner. on them i read various goal heart rates to mantain whilest working out on them; each with a particular age and suggested heart rates. i read that in order to optimally burn fat was to work at light to moderate intensities, rather than the intense circumstances i often find myself under while running with my track team at school. it made sense, to my less-than-wordly-knowledgable ways, that that would be an effective key to burning fat most effectively. so far i haven't been able to discern this through my readings, and was hoping someone more seasoned that myself in the realm of physical conditioning could help me? which i think makes my real query;

are very intense cardio excerices better for burning fat say vs. light or moderate ones?

Original Post by parkereditor:

are very intense cardio excerices better for burning fat say vs. light or moderate ones?

Yes.

You are correct you need to make sure to keep your heart rate in your target zone! The longer you keep it their the more Cals you will burn.

The best fat burner is to do moderate cardio to bursts of intense cardio. Start off with warming up for a few minutes, then up the intensity to jogging for a few minutes and then, if you can, sprint for one full minute, then return to light jogging for a few, then sprinting again for one, and so on. This works great because it helps eliminate visceral fat, the stubborn fat in your abdomen. then once this has become too easy for you, add more time to sprinting. you want to shock your body with low to high movements because your body will soon adapt to it, and the fat wont go anywhere!  you can even do this on the eliptical too. but i have read that you will see more results if you were to do this on a treadmill then on an eliptical, because the movements on the eliptical is not a natural body movement that we do in everyday life. with a treadmill your whole body is engaged. also another great piece of cardio equipment is the stairmaster, because it has cardio and resistance which helps you burn more.  and you can do moderate to intense on there as well!  i hope this helps! good luck!

The notion of an ideal zone for fat burning in terms of effort is bad science. The short answer is that more is better. High intensity burns more calories, and the more calories you lose, the more weight you lose.

There is some fudge to that. With the recognition that something like a calorie burn meter is only vaguely accurate, I often find that I will go much further putting myself at a slightly less high intensity pace, thus netting out a greater calorie loss. Likewise, if you talk about doing some of the intense interval stuff, there is some advantage, but that's really a whole other kettle of fish.

Truth be told, both should be part of a reasonable workout schedule.