Does One Cardio Machine Burn More Fat than Another? NO!

One of the most common questions I get asked constantly is “does the elyptical machine burn more fat than the treadmill?” To me, that’s like someone asking “does a Hummer drive faster than an Escalade?” Um yeah, it can… but based on how the vehicle is driven. And we, as humans, are like vehicles! It’s all in how we’re made and how we train.

Fat burn during any exercise on any machine requires oxygen and your heart to pump it through your body. The efficiency of oxygen consumption varies as your beats per minute (BPM) increases or decreases. In the fitness world, we’ve grouped BPM into five different zones called heart rate zones. Generally, the higher your BPM go, the closer you reach the heart rate zone where your body starts burning primarily carbohydrates, not fat. This is known as anaerobic threshold (AT).

Ok, so enough of the science! You want to know where this “magic” fat-burn heart rate zone is. Well, it’s a little complicated in that it depends on many things like genetics, conditioning, lifestyle, age, and metabolism. If you don’t have it in your budget to undergo metabolic testing to find out exactly what zone your body burns the most fat in, you can estimate it with this equation:

Max Heart Rate= 220 – age
Fat Burn Zone = 60% to 80% of Max Heart Rate

Then during cardio, you can track your BPM with a heart rate monitor. The only downside is that this equation can be inaccurate because it only takes into account your age. Another option is to consult a personal trainer educated in heart rate training. They can put you through a cardio test and estimate your fat-burn zone based on your heart rate and “feeling.”

Once you know how to train, you can hop on any cardio machine and, instead of spinning your wheels, spin away fat!