What Workouts Are Good For Burning Fat
The number of calories and maximum fat you burn during your workout depends on exercise intensity. Studies show moderate-intensity exercises are ideal for burning fat, while high-intensity workouts improve aerobic fitness and may burn more calories overall .
Moderate intensity exercises that put you in the fat-burning zone include :
- Elliptical machine
High-intensity interval training , which combines low-intensity exercises with intervals of high-intensity exercise , may also be effective at reducing belly fat and promoting weight management .
Old Max Heart Rate Formula
For the longest time the maximum heart rate was predicted from the age using the formula 220 Age , so a 20 year old would have a max HR of 200 beats per minute. It is convenient and easy to calculate, but it is not very accurate, as shown by later studies. Unfortunately, as of early 2018 it is still used in a lot of calculators and cited in literature.
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Maximum Heart Rate Formula
206.9 –
This and other MHR prediction equations are the subjects of ongoing research since they tend to underestimate the MHR for people over age 30. That means that if you are older than 30, it may be more accurate to use +11/-11 deviation from the number as a more acceptable range.
So if you are 35 years of age with a maximum heart rate of 183 , the estimate would be between 172 to 194. The maximum heart rate may be a little higher for women and older adults.
Some fitness trackers or smartwatches automatically measure your resting heart rate and then use that information to suggest and measure the target heart rate. An advantage of using these devices to find your target heart rate is that the manufacturer can easily update them to match the current research-backed zones.
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Calculate Your Average Resting Heart Rate
What Are Heart Rate Zones
A heart rate zone is a specific heart rate range, measured in beats per minute, that is used for monitoring training intensity during exercise or everyday activities. Typically, heart rate zones are calculated based on a percentage of your estimated maximum heart rate. A wide variety of wearable technology exists that enables fitness enthusiasts and athletes alike to track their workouts and their daily activity. Fitness tracking devices will generally have pre-set heart rate zones used to describe how hard you are working during your workout or activity.These zones range from very light to maximum effort based on the percentage of your maximum heart rate that youre training in. The American College of Sports Medicine lists the following target heart rate zones, calculated based on a percentage of the individuals maximum heart rate:
| Very Light |
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Exercise Intensity For The Target Heart Rate Formula Explained
To understand the target heart rate formula for weight loss you need to understand what happens in other heart rate zones
- 50% 60%: Youre exercising at 50% to 60% of your max heart rate. This could be walking, or light exercise that allows you to maintain conversation. Here, your body is burning sugars in the blood as energy. Youre generally able to sustain this zone the longest amount of time.
- 50-75%: Youre exercising at 60% to 75% of your max heart rate. This is your target heart rate zone for weight loss. Here your body breaks down fat to use as energy.
- 75%+: Working at over 75% of your max heart rate puts you in the aerobic zone. While performing vigorous activity, 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.
Why do you burn less fat the harder you work out? Once your heart rate increases, youre not taking in as much oxygen. You cant oxidize fat fast enough. Your body turns to another, more readily available energy source to provide fuel for you glycogen, also known as carbohydrates.
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Burn Sugars |
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150 bpm |
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.
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Using The Online Heart Rate Calculator
Our online calculator is widely used to calculate workout heart rate, ideal heart rate, and target heart rate by using several formulas.
You can use it as resting heart rate calculator, target heart rate calculator, and max heart rate calculator.
All you need is to insert some information in the fields given in the calculator and it will calculate your heart rate max, heart rate reserved, heart rate rest and target heart rate in seconds.
Our calculator not only gives away the answers to your query but also show average readings so you can compare your results with them for better understanding.
Know Your Numbers: Maximum And Target Heart Rate By Age
This table shows target heart rate zones for different ages. Your maximum heart rate is about 220 minus your age.3
In the age category closest to yours, read across to find your target heart rates. Target heart rate during moderate intensity activities is about 50-70% of maximum heart rate, while during vigorous physical activity its about 70-85% of maximum.
The figures are averages, so use them as a general guide.
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Ways To Measure Your Heart Rate
If you’re now thinking about measuring your heart rate to see how effectively you’re burning fat, there are a number of ways in which you can do so, with many of them thanks to modern technology:
Is Resting Heart Rate Different By Age
For most of us , between 60 and 100 beats per minute is normal.1 The rate can be affected by factors like stress, anxiety, hormones, medication, and how physically active you are. An athlete or more active person may have a resting heart rate as low as 40 beats per minute. Now thats chill!
When it comes to resting heart rate, lower is better. It usually means your heart muscle is in better condition and doesnt have to work as hard to maintain a steady beat. Studies have found that a higher resting heart rate is linked with lower physical fitness and higher blood pressure and body weight.2
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Your Heart Rate Training Zone
The target heart rate is a range that is a percentage of your maximum heart rate. This heart rate range indicates how fast your heart should beat during cardiovascular exercise. Knowing the heart rate range that you should be exercising in, helps you to ensure that you are exercising hard enough for weight loss.To burn as many calories from fat as possible try to perform longer duration exercises at a moderate to high intensity. Basically step the intensity up to as high a level you are able to sustain for 30 60 minutes this is YOUR training zone. Generally, this tends to be 60% 80% of your maximum heart rate. If you have not exercised for a while, it is a good idea to start with a moderate intensity and increase it, as you get stronger and increasingly more fit. If you are fit, interval training, can be a very effective method of exercising to maximize fat loss.
| % of Maximum heart rate |
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Exercise Heart Rate Zones
Of course, we arent always training at a very light effort. If youre trying to increase your working on your endurance, odds are youre exercising at a light effort. If youre an athlete working on explosiveness, hard or maximum effort is where you focus.
Here are the different ranges:
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Very light Improves overall health and helps recovery very easy on breathing and muscles
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Light Improves basic endurance and burns fat characterized by comfortable, easy breathing and light sweating
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Moderate Improves aerobic fitness light muscle fatigue, easy breathing, and moderate sweating
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Hard Increases maximum performance capacity muscle fatigue and heavy breathing
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Maximum Develops maximum performance and speed should be very exhausting for both breathing and muscle fatigue alike
Like the chart above illustrates, exercising at 60-70% of your total effort is one of the most effective ways to burn fat. To reap the most physical benefits its best to exercise within this heart rate range for 40-80 minutes.
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Here is a fat-burning zone calculator, or use the equation below: 220 =
Lets use the same example we used above. For someone who is 35, the fat-burning zone is
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220 age 35 = 185
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185 * 0.6 = 111
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185 * 0.7 = 129.5
This person should do light exercise for 40 or more minutes, keeping their heart rate between 111 and 129.5 beats per minute.
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Target Heart Rate Zones For Weight Loss
Understanding your target heart rate zone is a helpful way to reach your weight loss goals. By providing insight into how hard your body is working and what its capable of your target heart rate zone supports a personalized approach to burning fat. While heart rate zones arent the only way to lose weight, knowing your upper and lower heart rate limits is an important part of maintaining a balanced and results-driven exercise program.
Target Heart Rate Charts
If you are trying to lose weight by burning fat, it is important to monitor your heart rate while exercising. Below is a chart you may use to determine the proper heart rate zone for your body.
If you are trying to burn fat, it is good to find your target heart rate zone. Generally, you if you stay within a certain ideal range for the most effective workouts. The heart rate zone is calculated by multiplying your maximum heart rate by 55%-65%. Staying in this zone may help you to lose weight by burning fat.
The American College of Sports Medicine recommends an exercise intensity range of 55-69% of the maximal heart rate for beginners and 55%-90% for experienced exercisers. The maximum heart rate in beats per minute can be estimated by subtracting the age from 220. For example, a 20 year old college student has an estimated maximum heart rate of 200 . The exercise intensity for this individual is established by multiplying 200 times the training range . It is important to remember that whenever intensities are estimated, the duration of the exercise session and the initial fitness level must be considered.
Healthy adults should follow a generally accepted three stage program which includes an initial conditioning stage an improvement stage and a maintenance stage.
I Initial Conditioning Stage
Mode: Continuous rhythmic, aerobic exercise- may include low level cardio respiratory activities and light muscular endurance exercise.
Duration: 15 to 20 minutes
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About Target Heart Rate Calculator:
Our THR or target heart rate calculator helps you to calculate your heart rate in five exercise intensity zones. This tool uses different target heart rate zone methods to perform THR calculations. If you want to calculate your beats per minute for any percentage of maximum heart rate , simply use the above calculator to get instant results. Also, this target heart rate zone calculator also used the medically-based Karvonen formula that is said to be most precise method to calculate target heart rate as it takes into account your resting heart rate . You can easily calculate both the resting heart rate and heart rate reserve by using this calculator. When it comes to Max heart rate, this heart rate training calculator uses the different formulas that we already mentioned above.
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Other Ways To Burn Fat
Aside from exercise, there are other things you can do to burn fat and minimize weight gain, including:
- Eating a well-balanced dietHigh-protein foods and high-fiber fruits and vegetables may help you feel fuller longer, thereby reducing body fat .
- Getting plenty of sleepNot getting enough shuteye may make it harder to lose weight .
- Consuming healthy fatsOlive oil, nuts, coconut oil, and avocados may be associated with long-term weight loss .
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Target Heart Rate Calculator
Exercise is obviously essential to maintaining a healthy lifestyle – but if you’re not putting enough effort in, the time spent exercising could have been spent more wisely or if you’re pushing yourself too hard, you could be at risk of muscle strains and other injuries.
So how can you tell whether you’re exercising at the right intensity? According to experts, it’s all in your heart rate – and having a target heart rate is essential when measuring how intense your exercise is.
What Is The Link Between Fat
Your body uses glycogen or fats for energy, which fuels muscle cells. During energy metabolism, glycogen and fats are converted to glucose, carbon dioxide, and water. Oxygen is essential for the breakdown of glycogen into glucose.
Since your body needs more energy during exercise, the heart pumps faster and sends more oxygen to break down glycogen to fuel your muscles.
During high-intensity workouts, your body runs out of glycogen stores because it provides less energy than fat. Once the glycogen store is depleted, the body breaks down fat for more energy. Thus, with a high-intensity workout, your heart rate and fat loss increase simultaneously. Your body also continues to burn calories even after you have stopped exercising. This is called the afterburn effect.
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What Is Heart Rate
Your heart rate is the number of beats your heart completes each minute. Heart rate is also known as pulse and is what you feel when you press your wrist or neck to check your pulse. Your heart rate changes constantly based on what you are doing. It changes with physical activity and in response to an emotional stimulus such as excitement or anxiety.
Your Expert Guide To Target Heart Rate And Weight Loss
Climb on an elliptical machine or check your wearable fitness tracker, and youll likely find an array of settings aimed at helping you optimize your workout. Toggling through the menu, you might see a prompt to pick a fat-burning or cardio mode for your sessionand then scratch your head in confusion. Whats the difference? And is one mode more effective than the other at helping people lose weight?
These labels, which reflect workout intensity and are usually tied to heart rate, can be puzzling, acknowledges cardiologist Nieca Goldberg, MD, medical director of the Womens Heart Program at New York University. Read on as Dr. Goldberg and other leading experts decode what each zone really means in terms of weight loss, fitness, and healthand offer evidence-backed reassurance that the best workout is the one that works for your life.
The difference between fat-burning and cardio zones
First things first: Your body needs fuel for physical activity, whether youre biking, swimming, or rearranging living room furniture. That fuel comes from two main energy sources: stored fat, or stored carbohydrates in the form of glycogen released from muscle tissue.
In marketing-speak, the fat-burning zone is generally billed as the setting for people hoping to lower their percentage of body fat. Meanwhile, the cardio zonein which the body uses glycogen for energyis billed as a way to boost cardiovascular endurance.
How maximum heart rate factors in
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