Fat Burning Zone with Heart Rate Training
Nowadays with wearable tech like Fitbits, Garmins and Apple watches being more affordable and more common than ever, it has never been easier to monitor our 'heart rate' at glance when we exercise.
The optimal Fat Burning Zone for Heart Rate Training is between 70-80% of your maximum heart rate.
But what does all this mean?
Your heart rate is the number of times per minute your heart beats to pump the volume of blood around your body that it needs to do work. So when you are resting, the requirement is low, so a healthy heart rate is around 55-65 beats per minute. When you begin to exercise, the demand for blood (oxygen & nutrients specifically) increases so your heart rate must increase as your heart beats faster to pump more blood.
Your maximum heart rate is "the age-related number of beats per minute of the heart when working at its maximum that is usually estimated as 220 minus one's age" according to Merriam-Webster. This means '220 minus your age' is theoretically the number of beats per minute that is impossible for your heart rate to reach or go above safely with causing a medical situation.
Many research papers have long established a safe and effective 'heart rate zone' that enables your body use oxygen as a to successfully and most efficiently burn fat during exercise. The magic 'Fat Burning Zone' for heart rate training is between 70-80% of your maximum heart rate.
So simply put, below is a list of the calculations done for age adjusted heart zones of between 70-80% of your maximum heart rate;
Take 220, minus your own age in years and then work at a heart rate between 70-80% of that number...
Example
20 year old
220 - 20 = 200
200 x 70% = 140 bpm
200 x 80% = 160 bpm
So the Fat Burning Zone for a 20 year old is between 140bpm -> 160 bpm (beats per minute)
35 year old
220 - 35 = 185
185 x 70% = 130 bpm
185 x 80% = 148 bpm
So the Fat Burning Zone for a 35 year old is between 130bpm -> 148 bpm (beats per minute)
50 year old
220 - 50 = 170
170 x 70% = 119 bpm
170 x 80% = 136 bpm
So the Fat Burning Zone for a 50 year old is between 119 bpm -> 136 bpm (beats per minute)
Plug in your own age and find the Fat Burning Zone you should be exercising in for a longer more enjoyable weight loss journey!
