How Does This Fat Burning Zone Calculator Work
This health tool determines the two cardiac heart zones in which fat burning is most predominant when exercising. The heart beat values in beat per minute are calculated by taking into account the maximum heart rate and the resting heart rate .
The fat burning zone calculator provides six results, by using beat per minute ranges in three different methods. The first method uses the percentage of the max heart rate, the second one uses the Karvonen method with % from the heart rate reserve HRR plus the resting heart rate. The third method is the Zoladz calculation with 10 bpm difference in intervals created by subtracting a specific number of beats per minute from the max rate.
| Zone | |
| 60 – 70 | MHR – 45 |
While the heart rates can be a good indicator of fitness, training using heart zones is a highly controversial method nowadays, some people considering its promises a myth while others abiding by them during all their training.
Determining Your Maximum Heart Rate
The most accurate method to determine your maximum heart rate is a lab test, but you can also determine it on your own.
You can estimate your maximum heart rate with the following formula:
Max Heart Rate = 220 your age
This is a very rough estimate and doesnt produce the most reliable result, but its a starting point. Be aware that your max heart rate is affected by your physiology, which is affected by age but also influenced by many other factors.
Trying to establish a reliable result from variables you can measure statically is essentially impossible.
If you have a heart rate monitor , you can determine your maximum heart rate doing a ramp incremental test. This simply involves you exercising wearing a HRM, starting at a sustainable pace and increasing the intensity of your activity every so often until you cant go any faster.
The number on your HRM at that point is an accurate personal estimation of your max heart rate. You can perform a ramp incremental test running, rowing or an assault bike.
The most accurate way to calculate your max heart rate is a laboratory test. These are usually conducted with a trained professional in a laboratory with high-tech equipment.
Target Heart Rate Calculation
When you work out, don’t you wonder if you are doing too little or too much exercise? One way to tell is to compare your heart rate during exercise with your estimated target heart rate. The former you can learn from any suitable heart rate measurement device while the latter can be estimated using our free target heart rate calculator.
There are currently two methods for calculating your target heart rate during exercise – one is the Percentage Method in which the target rate is calculated based on your maximum heart rate . So, the formula is simply HRtarget = HRmax x Target . For example, if your exercise level target is 80% and your maximum heart rate is 200, you get a target HR of 200 x 0.80 = 160 beats per minute. Using our target HR calculator instead of the table you can get accurate results for any age, not just the tabulated ones.
The other approach is the Karvonen Method, which uses your resting heart rate as well. In the Karvonen method the thresholds are calculated as a percentage of the difference between resting HR and max HR and tends to yield somewhat higher rates than the percentage method, in general. The lower bound is x 0.5 + HRrest, the upper bound is x 0.85 + HRrest. Since this method came from a study with a very small sample size and we are unsure about its representativeness, we are only offering the percentage method in this target heart rate calculator.
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How To Calculate Fat Burning Zone
Let’s try to calculate the fat burning heart rate range for a person that is 35 years old with a resting heart rate of 60.
MHR = 220 – age
fat burning zone: –
fat burning zone: –
fat burning zone: 135 – 160 BPM
*BPM – beats per minute
Seems complicated? Not with our fat burning zone calculator, which allows you to obtain your results in just a few seconds!
What Does Fat Burn Zone Mean
If you’ve ever heard someone reference the ‘fat burn zone,’ you may be wondering what it entails.
The ‘fat burn zone’ refers to a time during exercise when you’re working at a low-to-moderate intensity, or an intensity that’s roughly 50 to 70 percent of your maximum heart rate .
Your body relies primarily on fat and carbs as fuel during exercise, and which fuels get used largely depend on how hard you’re working. When you exercise at a lower intensity, your body uses primarily fat for energy , as well as carbohydrates.
This is the reason why exercising at a low-to-moderate intensity is called exercising within the ‘fat burning zone.’ If you increase the intensity , your body begins using more carbs in the form of glucose and glycogen, and you are no longer in the fat burning zone.
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Achieving The Ideal Heart Rate To Burn Fat
The best workouts to maintain the fat-burning heart rate may vary from person to person. Try to monitor your heart rate during different activities to see where you are then go from there.
For fat burning, its best to stick with moderate activity. To gauge this, try the talk test, which is where you try to talk during your exercise. If you cant talk, youre likely working at vigorous levels. If youre slightly out of breath but can still maintain a conversation, youre probably working at moderate levels and may be in your fat-burning zone.
Here are some exercises that can help you reach your fat-burning zone:
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What Are The Heart Rate Training Zones
The heart rate training zones are certain intensities of exercise typically expressed as a percentage of your maximum heart rate. Youâd want to get your target heart rate to fall into the percentage youâre trying to reach.
With the popularity of integrating technology into training, more people are striving to stay in certain zones for specific durations. Exercise studios and fitness apps have different specifications for zones, ranging from three to even six zones, and these zone delineations can vary greatly.
For instance, if you attend an Orangetheory Fitness class, youâre sure to see large TV monitors in the studio covered with colored-coded heart-rate zones of the participants. There is some science behind this method, because your heart rate does correlate directly with your output.
To keep it simple, here is the National Academy of Sports Medicine three-zone guide:
- Zone 1: 65â75% of maximum heart rateâAn example of working in Zone 1 would be walking or light jogging.
- Zone 2: 76â85% of maximum heart rateâAn example of working in Zone 2 would be taking group exercise classes or Spinning.
- Zone 3: 86â95% of maximum heart rateâAn example of working in Zone 3 would be sprinting or HIIT .
In NASM periodized-training programs, certified personal trainers will guide their clients on how much exercise to do in each heart rate training zone in order to meet their fitness goals. And each training zone has its benefits.
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The Fat Burning Heart Rate Zone
Heart rate zones are percentages based on your maximum heart rate. The exact number for optimal fat burning heart rate will be different for every individual based on their age, gender and even fitness level.
Your maximum heart rate is simply the maximum number of times your heart can beat per minute , and there are a couple of different ways you can determine your own .
Once you know your max heart rate you can calculate your heart rate zones, which in turn can be used to determine the intensity of a given workout.
There are five agreed-on heart rate zones you can train at:
| Zone |
| 90 100% |
All zones fall between your resting heart rate and your max heart rate.
When loss of body fat is the primary objective, exercise that optimizes metabolism of fat is a great tool.
Based on lab data, it has been established that the body metabolises the greatest amount of fat while exercising between 67.6-87.1 percent of maximal heart rate, which means your fat burning heart rate falls anywhere between those two percentiles.
How Do I Test My Heart Rate
Heart rate monitors, many cardio machines, and smart watches all offer heart rate tracking. But you can also test it yourself.
To test your heart rate, place the tips of your index and middle fingers over the radial artery, in line with the base of the thumb, and apply light pressure to it. Do not use your thumb because it has a pulse of its own. Either count the beats for one full minute to get your heart rate, or for 30 seconds, then multiply by two to calculate your BPM.
Skip the fasted cardio. Hydrate and give your muscles fuel to perform with BCAAs before early-morning training.VIEW ALL
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What Is The Fat Burning Zone
The fat-burning zone, also known as the aerobic or endurance training zone, refers to that heart rate range in which your body burns more fats than sugars for energy. Its important because it allows you to burn calories even while resting due to its higher level of intensity and keeps you feeling less hungry.
When you train in this zone, your muscles are under a significant amount of stress for an extended period of time and need to be given adequate recovery time before repeating the same activity. This is because prolonged exertion in that heart rate range can cause muscle damage which results in inflammation or soreness as well as fatigue.
This is why its important to stay hydrated and eat enough protein during the day. In order for your muscles to recover, they need a sufficient supply of amino acids which can be found in foods like red meat, chicken breast or any other animal product that contains lean protein. The easiest way to make sure you are eating the right amount of protein to fuel your muscles is by eating five small meals throughout the day.
The best time for weight training sessions is in the morning, before lunch or during an afternoon break from work. This will help keep you energized and not too tired to complete a full-body workout session at home when you get back from work.
If this seems too difficult, it may be best to incorporate some lower intensity exercises during break time at work as well as before lunch.
Exercises For Fat Burning
Energy sources for exercise vary based on the intensity of the activity. At lower levels of activity, the proportion of energy derived from fat is higher. At vigorous levels of activity, more energy is derived from carbohydrate breakdown.
The best exercise program is one that you find enjoyable and keeps you engaged. A mix of cardio and strength training is ideal for cardiovascular fitness.
The following exercises can help burn fat and calories:
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Is A Heart Rate Of 200 During Exercise Bad
An athletes resting heart rate may be considered low when it compared to the general population. In fact, a athlete who is young and healthy may have a Heart rate of 30 to 40 beats per minute. However, it allows it to pump a greater amount of blood with per heartbeat yes, more oxygen is going to the muscles.
This indicates the heart beats fewer times per minute than it would in a non-athlete. However, an athletes HR may go up to 180 bpm to 200 bmp during exercise.
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Fat Burning Heart Rate
You might have seen the “fat burning zone” written on treadmills, cycle ergometers, ellipses and other equipment. Have you ever wondered where does comes from? Well, we have the answer for you! The fat burning zone is simply the range of heart rates that is ideal for fat loss. It can be calculated as a 60-80% of your maximal heart rate.
If you want to find out more about other heart rate zones, check out the target heart rate calculator.
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Heart Rate Zone Calculator
Calculate your heart rate zones! Using this tool you can calculate your target heart rate zone and exercise accordingly to what your goal is weight loss, fat burning, endurance or strength training.
This tool will take into account your sex and age and calculate your heart rate zones. Find out which is the appropriate zone for your training.
If you are a beginner, here is an example four-week plan:
- First week: 30 seconds of HIIT with a 60 second recovery period
- Second week: 30 seconds of HIIT with a 45 second recovery period
- Third week: 30 seconds of HIIT with a 30 second recovery period
- Fourth week: 45 seconds of HIIT with a 30 second recovery period
Here is an example 20 minute HIIT workout you could do for week one:
If you would rather start out with a 10 minute HIIT workout, simply cut the example by half. The best part is that as you become stronger, you can expand this program to a 30 minute HIIT workout.
Key Target Zones For Exercise
This table is a rough guideline for the intensity of workout expressed in % of max heart rate. You can use it to guide what you input in the “Target exercise level” field of the calculator.
| Zone | ||
|---|---|---|
| Aerobic effort. Improves vital capacity, respiratory rate, increases size & strength of the heart and cardiac output. | ||
| 81-90% | Hard exercise | Maximum fat burn, but only if you are fit enough. Improves VO 2 and you become less susceptible to sore muscles. |
| 91-100% | Extreme effort | Athlete level, sustained for short periods of time . Develops fast-twitch muscles. High risk of over training and injuries! |
These exercise intensity levels and their related heart rate zones are averages and one should never blindly follow them. When exercising, always consider the advice of coaches and medical specialists, and also what your body is telling you to avoid unnecessary harm and health issues.
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Exercise At A Higher Intensity
When you do a high-intensity workout your heart rate will be higher than your fat-burning heart rate. This heart rate is called your anaerobic threshold heart rate.
To calculate your anaerobic threshold heart rate, subtract your age from 180. For example, if youre 40 years old, your maximum heart rate is 140 bpm. Therefore, your anaerobic threshold heart rate would be 100 bpm.
This heart rate is a good target to aim for when youre exercising at a high intensity. Its also a heart rate that you can sustain for a short period, which makes it ideal for burning calories and improving your aerobic zone fitness.
Exercise For Special Groups
Do you know your active life during pregnancy improves yours and your babys health? Youre less likely to suffer from common pregnancy complaints. Even if you werent active before you got pregnant, it is still safe to start.Its normal to gain weight during this period, especially in the second and third trimesters. So its best to address any weight issues in the early stages.A good way to boost your fitness during pregnancy is a more gentle aerobic exercise. Exercises such as pregnancy yoga, swimming, walking, gardening, and swimming are perfect during these times. On the flip side, there are some donts. Avoid exercises that cause you pain, workouts that rely on balance like cycling, done on your back, or makes you dizzy.For these recommended workouts, you barely need equipment.As a pregnant woman, while exercising, you need to be very cautious. Any kind of pain felt should signal a round-up of that session. You shouldnt exercise for over 30 minutes in a day.Apart from preventing common pregnancy complaints, exercises can also lower your risk of pregnancy problems like gestational diabetes or high blood pressure. Improves your mood and prevents anxiety, and it also helps you sleep better.
- overweight people
These exercises are beneficial for losing weight or keeping fit. Just like other aerobic exercises, they also come with the basic benefits.
Reference sources and External Resources
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What Else Can You Use The Heart Rate Calculator For
The heart rate calculator will even calculate the following values for you: