Achieving your weight loss goals often involves understanding and utilizing your target heart rate. This article explores the concept of target heart rate, particularly the fat-burning heart rate zone, and how it can be used to optimize your workouts for effective fat loss.
Understanding Heart Rate Zones
Your heart rate is a key indicator of how hard your body is working during exercise. It's typically measured in beats per minute (bpm). For most adults, a normal resting heart rate falls between 60 and 100 bpm. However, factors like stress, anxiety, hormones, medication, and physical activity levels can influence this rate. Athletes or highly active individuals may even have resting heart rates as low as 40 bpm. Generally, a lower resting heart rate indicates better cardiovascular health. During exercise, your heart rate increases. The more intensely you exercise, the higher your heart rate climbs. Different heart rate zones exist, each offering unique benefits:
- Resting Heart Rate: The heart rate when you are at rest.
- Moderate Heart Rate: Falls between 50 and 70 percent of your maximum heart rate.
- Target Heart Rate: Experts recommend working at 70 to 85% of your maximum heart rate during vigorous activity.
- Maximum Heart Rate: The maximum number of times your heart should beat during activity.
- Fat-Burning Heart Rate: Approximately 70% of your maximum heart rate, where the body relies more on fat stores for energy.
The Fat-Burning Heart Rate Zone
Exercise that makes you reach your fat-burning heart rate can help lead to fat loss. When you work out in your fat-burning heart rate zone, the body shifts to relying more heavily on fat stores for energy, instead of using basic sugars and carbohydrates. This leads to fat loss. Your specific fat-burning heart rate can depend on factors such as your age. Your fat-burning zone corresponds to 60% - 80% of your maximum heart rate.
Calculating Your Fat-Burning Heart Rate
To determine your fat-burning heart rate, you first need to estimate your maximum heart rate. A common method is to subtract your age from 220. For example, a 35-year-old’s maximum heart rate is 220 minus 35 - or 185 beats per minute. To enter the fat-burning zone, they would want their heart rate to be 70 percent of 185, which is about 130 beats per minute.
It's important to remember that this is just an estimation. Individual maximum heart rates can vary.
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Alternative Formulas for Estimating Maximum Heart Rate
While the "220 minus age" formula is widely used, it's not always the most accurate. Other formulas include:
- Tanaka, Monahan, & Seals Formula: This is one of the additional formulas that estimate maximum heart rate using only age.
- Nes, Janszky, Wisloff, Stoylen, and Karlsen formula. This is one of the additional formulas that estimate maximum heart rate using only age.
The Karvonen Formula
The Karvonen method calculates target heart rate zone using heart rate reserve (HRreserve), which factors in resting heart rate (RHR) on top of maximum heart rate (MHR) rather than just MHR. This is the default method used by the calculator when a resting heart rate and age are plugged in.
Here's how to use the Karvonen formula:
- Calculate Heart Rate Reserve (HRR): HRR = Maximum Heart Rate - Resting Heart Rate
- Calculate Target Heart Rate Zone:
- Lower end: (HRR x 0.60) + Resting Heart Rate
- Upper end: (HRR x 0.80) + Resting Heart Rate
Monitoring Your Heart Rate
A variety of tools are available on the market today that can help you measure your heart rate during exercise and even while doing everyday tasks. That said, you don’t necessarily need anything fancy to get your basic heart rate.
Traditional Tracking
The cheapest way to measure your heart rate is to use your fingers to track your pulse. You’ll first need to stop exercising and place your finger over a pulse point on your neck, wrist, or chest. Count your heartbeats for 60 seconds (or for 30 seconds and multiply the number of beats by 2). The number you get is your heart rate.
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Wrist Monitor
Wristband heart rate monitors have become popular in recent years because they strap onto the body just like a normal watch. The advantage over traditional tracking is that your heart rate is continuously monitored and there’s no need to stop activity to record it. Often, these types of devices also measure your daily steps, distance of workouts, calories burned, and floors climbed, all while giving you the time like a regular watch.
Chest Strap Monitor
Chest strap heart rate monitors strap around your chest and record your heart rate during exercise. Some brands wirelessly send your heart rate to your compatible device, usually a watch, to get a more holistic view of your workout. These straps are adjustable to fit a variety of body sizes. You can wear chest strap monitors during most activities, including swimming. It is important to read all features carefully before purchasing. Some devices are waterproof, meaning they can be submerged in water. Others are water-resistant, which means they can be used for only short periods in the water.
Exercises to Reach Your Fat-Burning Zone
The best workouts to get you into your fat-burning zone vary from person to person. The key is to monitor your heart rate during different activities to see where you land and go from there. For fat-burning, stick with moderate activity. Try the talk test if you’re unsure how hard you’re working. If you can’t talk during your exercise, you’re likely working at vigorous levels. If you’re slightly out of breath but can maintain a conversation, you’re likely working at moderate levels and may be in your fat-burning zone.
Here are some exercises that may help you reach your fat-burning zone:
- Slow jogging
- Brisk walking
- Water aerobics
- Cycling (under 10 miles per hour)
- Tennis (doubles)
- Ballroom dancing
The Importance of Varying Exercise Intensity
While you may be focused on fat, it’s still important to elevate your heart rate into the vigorous zone from time to time. Working harder strengthens your cardiovascular system and burns more calories than moderate activity. Interval training, like alternating periods of walking and running, can also be an effective type of workout that can help you lose fat and increase your cardiovascular fitness. Research also shows that interval training, which includes short bouts (around 20 seconds to 4 minutes) of higher intensity exercise between periods of longer, less strenuous exercise throughout a workout, is well tolerated. It's even safe for those with heart disease and type 2 diabetes.
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Additional Tips for Weight Loss
Besides exercise, there are other healthy habits you can start that may help you lose fat and reduce your overall weight.
Eat a diet that focuses on whole foods
Fruits and veggies should make up a lot of your plate. Whole grains, lean protein, and low-fat dairy are other good choices. Try shopping the perimeter of the grocery store, and avoiding added sugar and saturated fat that’s found in packaged foods.
Drink plenty of water
Juice and soda have added sugar and calories. If you don’t like plain water, consider flavoring it with artificial sweetener or a squeeze of lemon.
Take a look at portion sizes
Restaurants tend to give overly generous portions, so consider asking to have half your meal packaged up before you dig in. At home, choose a smaller plate for your meals. For example, serve your food on a salad-sized plate instead of a dinner-sized one.
Aim for slow and steady weight loss
Losing more than 2 pounds a week may not be healthy or sustainable. A doctor can help you determine your own weight loss goal and refer you to a dietitian for help.
Exercise Intensity
Your exercise intensity must generally be at a moderate or vigorous level for the most benefit. Exercise progression is important, but this should be at a gradual rate. Overdoing it can raise your risk of soreness, injury and burnout. Start at a light intensity if you're new to exercising. Slowly build up to a moderate or vigorous intensity. Think about the reasons you exercise. Do you want to improve your fitness, lose weight, train for a competition or do a combination of these? Be realistic and don't push yourself too hard too fast. Fitness is a lifetime commitment, not a sprint to a finish line. When you're doing aerobic activity, such as walking or biking, exercise intensity has to do with how hard the activity feels to you.
How You Feel
Exercise intensity is a subjective measure of how hard physical activity feels to you while you're doing it, called your perceived exertion. Your perceived exertion may be different from what someone else feels doing the same exercise. Perceived exertion may not always be similar to your heart rate level, and it depends on the person. But perceived exertion can be a general guide to measure your exertion level.
Rating of Perceived Exertion (RPE)
Rating of perceived exertion (RPE) is an indicator of exercise intensity that allows a person to subjectively rate their level of exertion while exercising. This is beneficial because it doesn't require measurement of physiological parameters such as heart rate, lactate levels, etc. The Borg scale is the original RPE scale and is a scale ranging from 6-20, where 6 indicates no exertion and 20 indicates maximum exertion. Also, the scale is designed such that it corresponds closely to heart rate. Each value in the scale, multiplied by 10, approximates heart rate at that given exertion level. For example, a 6 on the scale corresponds to a heart rate of 60, while a 20 corresponds to a heart rate of 200. The Borg CR10 scale is the modified version of the Borg scale on a scale of 0-10. 0 represents no exertion at all while 10 represents the strongest exertion an individual has experienced.
Target Heart Rate Range
If you're not fit or you're just beginning an exercise program, aim for the lower end of your target heart rate zone. Then, slowly build up the intensity. Or follow this example to get an estimate of your target heart rate zone using the heart rate reserve (HRR) method. Calculate your resting heart rate by counting how many times your heart beats each minute when you are at rest, such as first thing in the morning. Multiply your HRR by 0.7 (70%). Multiply your HRR by 0.85 (85%). These two numbers are your target heart rate zone for vigorous exercise intensity when using HRR to calculate your target heart rate zone. For example, say your age is 45 and you want to figure out your target heart rate zone for vigorous exercise using the HRR method. First, multiply 45 by 0.7 and subtract the total from 208 to get your maximum heart rate. Next, check your resting heart rate first thing in the morning. Say it's 80 beats per minute. Calculate your HRR by subtracting 80 from 176.5. Multiply 96.5 by 0.7 (70%) to get 67.5, then add your resting heart rate of 80 to get 147.5. Now multiply 96.5 by 0.85 (85%) to get 82, then add your resting heart rate of 80 to get 162.03.
So how do you know if you're in your target heart rate zone? Take your pulse for 15 seconds. To check your pulse at the blood vessel in the neck called the carotid artery, place your index and third fingers on your neck to the side of your windpipe. Here's an example: You stop exercising and take your pulse for 15 seconds, getting 37 beats. Multiply 37 by 4, to get 148. If you're 45 years old, this puts you in the target heart rate zone for vigorous exercise, since the target zone for that age is between 148 and 162 beats per minute using the HRR method.
Important Considerations
It's important to note that maximum heart rate is only a general guide. You may have a higher or lower maximum heart rate, sometimes by as much as 15 to 20 beats per minute. And other factors such as your physical activity routines, fitness level and health can all affect your target heart rate range. Generally, only elite athletes may need to get a very specific range. They also may use slightly different ways to figure out the target heart rate that may lead to differences in the target heart rate range. Also note that many types of medicines, including some medicines to lower blood pressure, can lower your maximum heart rate, and then lower your target heart rate zone.
If you’re new to activity, it can be helpful to take it slow. This can help avoid injury and burnout before increasing your intensity. You’ll eventually be able to increase the intensity of your exercise and see even more cardiovascular and fat-burning benefits.