The fat burning heart rate controversy has been around for a long time. On one side are those who believe that to lose body fat you need to exercise at a low intensity for a longer period. The other side argues that a higher intensity workout of short duration burns more body fat.

There is something to be learned from both sides. With the rapidly spreading obesity epidemic most people would benefit from exercise of any kind. Having said that, let's look a little closer at available information on the fat burning heart rate and how you can benefit from it.

Sally Edwards has written a classic book, Heart Zone Training, that I highly recommend. She refers to the fat burning heart rate zone as the "Temperate" zone. She describes this zone as being 60-70% of your maximum heart rate. So, for example, if your maximum heart rate is 200 beats per minute then your temperate zone would be 120-140 beats per minute.

Sally writes that it is in this zone that you would burn a higher percentage of fat. She gives easy jogging as an example of an exercise that would accomplish this for most people. She goes on to say that there are several variables that play into fat loss and that it really is a complicated matter.

For example the amount of fat loss will depend on variables such as:

• exercise intensity
• amount of excess body fat you have
• daily diet
• food eaten prior to exercising
• exercise activity chosen
• genetics
• lean muscle mass

Exercising in this zone should not be strenuous but challenging. That means you should feel the effects of your exercise. You should break a sweat but still be able to carry on a conversation.

There are several methods to determine your fat burning heart rate zone. Some of them can be quite complicated. There are also some simplified formulas that are commonly used. Of course these are not as accurate as those that are based on actual heart rate measurements.

This method of exercising has been used successfully by many people to lose excess body fat. It is a proven and effective method when given ample time and coupled with the proper diet.

Nobody would argue that you can lose weight in this matter. However, there are those who believe there is a better and faster way to lose excess body fat.

By the way, the experts on both sides of this issue would both agree that fads don't work. There is no overnight way to lose body fat. There is a maximum amount of fat you can safely lose in a given amount of time if you want to keep the weight off permanently.

I keep Sally Edwards' book on my desk at all times because I like it that much. However, one of my favorite books for building muscle and burning fat has this as one of its section headings: The Myth of the Fat-Burning Zone.

So, who's right? Again I think you can learn from both sides and implement an effective plan to lose belly fat. These seemingly incompatible books have profoundly affected my exercise plan and allowed me to keep of excess belly fat.

I like to keep things simple. If you would like my 4 best fat loss tips please see Fat Burning Heart Rate .