Hi everybody. I'm mostly a lurker on 3FC (reading the posts on this site is sooo helpful!) but I have a quick question about exercise machines. It's okay if no one can answer this one.

I love exercising on my gym's elliptical, and my heart rate is usually in my "cardio" zone (high 160s) and I feel good exercising at that effort. I'm just wondering if exercising at a lower intensity, in the machine's so-called "fat burning" zone, really helps burn the fat "faster." I'm pretty much just going by how I feel when I'm on the machine (if my heart's pumping nicely, if I'm sweating etc). I guess I'm just wondering if those different zones at which your heart is pumping actually affects fat burning. When I'm going at a higher intensity, I burn a lot more calories, which makes me think that's better than going at a lower intensity.

Edit: Oh my gosh, I just realized someone just asked this exact question a few lines down. D'oh! I guess you can ignore this question

Hi Susan! Yep, you're right about exercising at a higher intensity being better for burning calories. I think you'll find your questions answered in this thread: Cardio versus fat burn?

We're glad you de-lurked ... keep posting!

It's OK that you asked it again ... it's a topic that a lot of people wonder about.