Dont Neglect This One Thing For Fat Burning
If you really want to blast fat, improve your metabolism and get a toned athletic shape, its time to swap out about 80% of those cardio workouts for something better: circuit strength training. Were not talking about lazy weight sessions on those medieval looking machines at the gym.
Were talking about alternating tough, effective strength training and bodyweight exercises at an intense pace with no breaks. It maximizes your time and your results because the combo of tough exercises with no rest helps you get your heart rate up as high as cardio does while you get your strength training done at the same time!
Thats not all. The muscle tone you build with strength training gives you something even better than afterburn. Muscle burns calories all day long, and even while you sleepnot just within the first few hours after your workout.
Finally, muscle also gives you a toned, shapely look that cardio exercise alone cant achieve. Its that sexy athletic look that were all really after, but just havent known how to getup until now!
So, how can you get started with the right type of workouts to maximize fat burning? Consider giving Athlean-XX for Women a try. Our circuit strength workouts are just 30 minutes long. Theyll ensure you get the best results possible in the shortest amount of time without risking overtraining.
Post navigation
Read Also: Which Of The Following Helps Return Blood To The Heart
Fat Burning Zone Calculator
Endurance training increases exercise-induced prostacyclin release in young, healthy men–relationship with VO2max.The effects of training on heart rate a longitudinal study.Quantifying differences in the “fat burning” zone and the aerobic zone: implications for training.
The fat burning zone calculator estimates your target heart rate for the greatest amount of fat loss . Keeping your heart rate in those values will allow you to maximize your body’s ability to lose weight and burn fat while exercising.
Do you want to know how many calories you burn during training? Check our calories burned calculator!
How Do You Calculate Heart Rate Zones
To determine whether you’re exercising in the fat burning zone â or any other heart rate zone â you first need to know one number: your maximum heart rate .
In general, your MHR will get lower as you age therefore, age is a common way of estimating healthy MHR. To estimate yours, subtract your age from 220. As an example, a 45-year-old will have a MHR that’s roughly 175 beats per minute .
From there, you can figure out your target heart rate zone for exercise in general, and the fat burning zone in particular.
The target heart rate zone for exercise is any intensity that gets your heart working at 50 to 85 percent of its maximum. Low-to-moderate intensity activities will fall between 50 to 70 percent of MHR, whereas high-intensity activities will typically fall between 70 to 85 percent of MHR.
You can easily calculate your estimated heart rate at different intensities by multiplying your MHR by the percentage you’re aiming for. So, if you’re 20 years old and you want to do high-intensity exercise, multiply 200 by 0.7 to get the lower end of your target range, and 0.85 to get the upper limit.
The American Heart Association also offers this handy heart rate chart. Here, you’ll find MHRs according to age, as well as estimated target heart rate zones.
Also Check: What Causes Left Sided Heart Failure
Heart Rate For Weight Loss
You have found out how to calculate fat burning zone, but do you really need to lose weight? Check our BMI or ideal weight calculators to find it out.
Even if you do not need to change your weight, remember that physical activity is really important, as it helps us to maintain both our physical and mental health, and can prevent us from contracting such diseases as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
If you are not sure if you meet your daily recommendations for physical activity, check our MET minutes calculator. And last but not least remember about ahealthy diet!
Heart Rate Zone Training: Does It Work Or Not
From wearable fitness trackers to group fitness classes that use heart rate monitors, its not uncommon to be incentivized to train in specific heart rate zones to see the results that you want. Does heart rate training work?
In this article, well take a closer look at the benefits and limitations of training in heart rate zones when it comes to health and weight loss.
You can learn more about additional cardiovascular training formats within chapter 15 of the NASM personal trainer course.
Also Check: How To Measure Max Heart Rate
Determine Your Fat Burning Heart Rate Zone
Heart rate data can help you exercise at the right intensity for your goal.
Provided you have a reliable heart rate monitor, your heart rate is one of the most accurate measurements of intensity and effort during a workout.
When you work out in your fat-burning heart rate zone, your body will tap into your fat stores for energy. Fat calories decrease at the upper limit of the aerobic zone, when you exercise at high intensity.
Given that the optimal fat burning heart rate falls between 67.6-87.1 percent of maximal heart rate, you can determine your personal fat burning zone by multiplying your max heart rate by the minimum and maximum percentages.
This is how you can calculate your personal fat burning heart rate:
Imagine your maximum heart rate is 200 beats per minute.
67.6 percent of 200 equals 135.2, and 87.1 percent of 200 equals 174.2.
This means that your fat burning heart rate falls between 135 and 174 beats per minute, so exercising anywhere between those numbers will burn maximum fat.
Word of caution: your heart rate is incredibly responsive and can be a great tool to measure intensity. At the same time, your heart rate will change day to day depending on variables such as heat, stress, sleep, nutrition or how well-recovered you are.
Be aware that the device youre wearing to measure your heart rate might also be slightly inaccurate.
Remember to always listen to your body and know when to take measurements with a pinch of salt.
Image Sources
How Do You Calculate Your Heart Rate
You can calculate your heart rate manually or with a heart rate monitor, like the fitness tracker you may be wearing on your wrist right now.
To calculate your heart rate manually, place your index and middle fingers on your wrist, close to your palm, just down from your thumb. Move your fingers until theyâre just over your artery and you can feel a pulse. This pulse is created by blood moving through the arteries each time the heart contracts, so it is a direct reflection of your heart rate.
Once youâve found the pulse, apply very gentle pressure on that area. Then, count how many pulses you feel during the course of 10 seconds, with the first pulse starting at the count of zero. Multiply that number by six to get the amount of times your heart is beating in a one-minute period. This is your current heart rate. In order to get your resting heart rate, you would complete this heart rate check shortly after waking.
There are a number of things that can affect your heart rate, including exercise, dehydration, temperature of your environment, and, of course, your cardiorespiratory fitness.
Recommended Reading: What Causes Heart Rate To Go Up
Also Check: How Long Can Heart Attack Last
Chart And How To Calculate
There is an equation for figuring out a persons maximum heart rate and fat burning heart rate. The fat burning heart rate is based on the maximum heart rate.
It is important to note that these equations are not suitable for determining safe heart rates for children.
To calculate the maximum heart rate, a person should subtract their current age from 220 . For example, a 40-year-olds maximum heart rate would be 180 beats per minute.
To calculate the fat burning heart rate zone, a person should determine the upper and lower limits. The upper limit is 70% of the maximum heart rate. The lower limit is about 50% of the maximum heart rate.
Using the same example, a 40-year-olds fat burning heart rate is between 90 and 126 beats per minute.
People interested in increasing their endurance and cardiovascular strength often train at higher levels. Sometimes called the cardio zone, people training for performance increases often train at 7085% of their maximum heart rate.
The following chart shows the breakdown of heart rates based on a persons age.
Caffeine As An Important Ingredient Inside The Fat Burners
University of Birmingham researchers have actually recognized caffeine, and it appears that asÃa is another, as supplements that can slow the fat gain that takes place by consuming a higher calory diet. As a relative new and little-studied supplement, green tea might be a marvel supplement and might show some future pledge in fat metabolism.Best Heart Rate To Burn Fat Chart
Recommended Reading: What Causes Fast Heart Rate And Shaking
What Else Can You Use The Heart Rate Calculator For
The heart rate calculator will even calculate the following values for you:
How Do I Know My Fat Burning Zone
To calculate your individual target heart rate for exercising in the fat burning zone, take your MHR and multiply it by 0.5 to get the lower end of your range. Then, multiply your MHR by 0.7 to get your upper limit. These two numbers will give you a heart rate range to aim for during exercise.
For example, a 35-year-old will have a MHR of 185 bpm and a target fat burning zone of 93 to 130 bpm.
You can also use a target heart rate calculator to determine your ideal heart rate according to intensity. In order to use this calculator, however, you need to have an idea of your average resting heart rate.
To calculate your average resting heart rate, find your pulse with your fingers, either on your wrist or on your neck. Count the beats for 30 seconds and multiply that number by two to get your total beats per minute.
Do this every morning for at least five days, making sure to take your pulse before you get out of bed or drink caffeine. Once you have the numbers for five days, add those together and divide by five. This is your average resting heart rate.
Wear a heart rate monitor or fitness tracker during exercise so can quickly check in throughout your workout to make sure you’re staying within your individual fat burning range.
Read more:5 Cardio Workouts If Running Isn’t Your Thing
Read Also: What To Do If Having A Heart Attack
Other Factors To Consider
Exercise is not the only way to burn excess fat. You can also get your body to shed fat by eating a balanced diet, watching your portion sizes, drinking plenty of water, and getting enough sleep. The more avenues you use, the faster you drop the extra weight.
Plus, burning fat or losing weight is not the only goal of cardiovascular exercise. Working out regularly has been found to lower your resting heart rate, which also reduces your risk of dying early from cardiovascular disease.
Using Your Personal Zones
The zone margins have been chosen carefully to closely reflect the correct training, or fat burning, zones for a majority of runners.
But bear in mind that your personal heart rate zones are very likely to be a little different from what is listed here. However, since there is overlap in the training effects for each zone, and there is also a wide range to play with, this shouldn’t cause too many problems. Try to see the zones as guides rather than targets. If you’re concerned about hitting the correct intensities then you can concentrate on doing most of your running in the middle of any particular zone. What is probably most beneficial in practise is to run at a wide range of intensities within and across the different zones.
If you plan to make use of heart rate zones then it’s really important you have a good idea of your true maximum heart rate. Maximum heart rate calculators can be useful for getting an idea, but individuals will vary wildly, even at different ages, so we strongly recommend performing a proper maximum heart rate test as detailed in our heart rate training guide. Our guide also gives advice on how to determine your resting heart rate.
Many GPS watches and heart rate monitors, such as those offered by Garmin and Polar, include a facility that allows you to set your personal heart rate zones and to then monitor your zone during training.
Don’t Miss: High Heart Rate When Sick
What Is The Best Heart Rate Zone To Burn Fat
Wearable technology has taken over the fitness industry over the last few years, and people are using this technology daily to track various fitness metrics. One popular metric is heart rate tracking. Entire fitness franchises have been built on HR tracking and staying in the infamous fat burning zone. But what actually is the best heart rate zone for burning fat?
First, lets define the different heart rate zones. We can categorize different heart rate zones based off a percentage of your maximum heart rate. Your max heart rate is the greatest number of beats per minute your heart can possibly reach during all-out strenuous exercise. To find your estimated maximum heart rate, we use a formula called the Fox Formula, 220 age = Maximum Heart Rate . For example, if you are 45 years old then, 220-45 = 175 estimated maximum heart rate. Using this data, we can then establish different heart rate zones based off of a percentage of our estimated maximum heart rate.
The optimal heart rate zone for burning fat is generally considered to be around 70% of your maximum heart rate. Above youll see a chart defining the 6 different heart rate zones based off of a percentage of your MHR and the goal associated with each HR Zone.
While the fat burning zone isnt the most useful for losing weight, it is extremely important in building endurance, aiding with recovery, and also improving cardiovascular health. Think longevity.
What Are Exercise Heart Rate Zones
Heart rate zones are a percentage of your maximum heart rate . Exercise too close to your maximum HR and your heart and body will struggle to keep up with the demands.
The goal of heart rate zones is to make you the most efficient, but to allow you to challenge yourself to improve cardiovascular fitness, says Travers.
Exercise heart rate zones are the training levels based on your maximum heart rate. As you increase your pace, cadence and workload, you increase the demands on your heart. Travers breaks it down:
- Lower-intensity zone: Youre exercising at 50% to 60% of your max heart rate. At this point, 85% of the calories you burn are fat. The downside? Youre burning fewer calories overall than you would if you were exercising at a higher intensity. Youre generally able to sustain this zone the longest amount of time.
- Temperate zone: Youre exercising at 60% to 70% of your max heart rate. Roughly 65% of the calories you burn are fat.
- Aerobic zone: Working at 70% to 80% of your max heart rate puts you in the aerobic zone. About 45% of the calories you burn are fat. But youre burning a higher number of overall calories compared to the other heart rate zones. You generally sustain this zone the shortest amount of time.
Read Also: Which Carries Oxygenated Blood From The Lungs To The Heart
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.
Read more:Normal Heart Rate When Walking
Whats The Best Heart Rate For Weight Loss
Maintaining a target heart rate somewhere between 50 and 85 percent of your MHR during exercise is the ideal for weight loss. But sticking with a higher percentage means you’re working harder, which ultimately burns more calories, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.
But what about that 70-percent target heart rate that supposedly keeps you in the fat-burning zone?
In truth it doesn’t matter whether your body burns calories from fat or carbohydrates during exercise. What matters is that you burn calories, period. And you’ll actually burn more calories when you exercise at a more vigorous intensity with a higher heart rate, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Ultimately, “you’re always burning a mixture of carbs and fat,” explains Cathy Richards, ACSM-certified exercise physiologist. “If you are working extremely hard, you would be able to burn a very high number of total calories per minute.”
That’s not to say you have to go all-out the entire time for every single sweat session in order to lose weight. Far from it.
“I’m a fan of using anywhere within 60 to 85 percent max heart rate for as long as you can go and mixing things up. Some days you could do lower intensity for longer and other days you could do higher intensity for shorter,” Richards says.
Recommended Reading: What Is Your Heart Rate Supposed To Be