The energy consumed during exercise often comes from the heat generated by burning sugar and fat in the body. When the body mainly relies on burning fat to supply energy, the exercise intensity reached at this time and the heart rate during exercise are defined as the “fat-burning heart rate zone.” When you exercise in this intensity range, approximately 50% of your calories come from fat burned. Increasing the intensity of your workout reduces this ratio to 40%, meaning only 40% of your calories come from burning fat. If you take weight loss as your exercise goal, then determine your fat-burning heart rate zone and maintain your exercise heart rate within this zone, so that you can burn fat to the maximum extent and achieve your goal of losing fat. Fat-burning heart rate zones vary from person to person. Knowing your fat-burning zone can help you adjust the intensity of your exercise based on your heart rate.

Identify Your Fat-Burning Zone

Calculate your fat-burning heart rate zone according to the formula. There is a relatively simple formula that can help you calculate your fat-burning heart rate zone. It’s not 100% accurate, but it can give you a rough, relatively reliable reference range to help you develop your own exercise plan.

• Start by determining your maximum heart rate (MHR). If you are a boy, subtract your age from 220. If you are a girl, subtract your age from 226. Your fat-burning heart rate zone is between 60% and 70% of your maximum heart rate (multiply your maximum heart rate by .6 or .7).
• For example, a 40-year-old man’s maximum heart rate is 180, and his fat-burning heart rate range is 108 to 126 beats/minute.

Buy and use a heart rate monitor. There are various heart rate monitors on the market, such as heart rate monitors, heart rate wristbands, chest straps, or sports equipment with heart rate monitors built into the handles, etc. These monitors can help you more accurately determine your heart rate and determine your fat-burning heart rate zones based on your age, height, and weight.

• With a heart rate monitor, you’ll get more accurate fat-burning heart rate zones. This is because the heart rate monitor can accurately measure your heart rate level during exercise, and then use the real heart rate information to calculate the fat-burning heart rate zone.
• When many people use a heart rate monitor for the first time, they suddenly realize that their exercise intensity is not as high as they imagined. When exercising, you should pay close attention to your physical condition, and use a safe method to gradually increase the intensity of exercise, challenge yourself, and explore your own athletic potential.
• Although many exercise equipment (such as treadmills and elliptical machines) have built-in heart rate detectors, the heart rate they measure is not 100% accurate.
• Heart rate monitors using a chest strap are slightly more accurate than heart rate wrist straps and heart rate watches. They are also usually relatively expensive.

Test your VO2max. Maximum oxygen uptake refers to the maximum amount of oxygen transported to active muscles and used by muscles per unit of time. The VO2max test accurately records the body’s ability to transport and use oxygen during exercise. This test requires participants to perform extreme exercise on a treadmill or bicycle while wearing a mask to breathe. It measures how much oxygen and carbon dioxide is contained in the air exhaled by the athlete to determine the athlete’s maximum oxygen consumption.

• This information can be used to determine your heart rate level at which you are maximizing fat burning, as well as the calories burned in your fat-burning zone.
• Max oxygen consumption is considered the most accurate and reliable method of assessing cardiorespiratory capacity. You can get maximal oxygen consumption testing done at the gym, in a lab, and in your personal doctor’s office.

Use the “talk while moving” testing method. This is the least technical measurement method, and the measured fat-burning heart rate zone is not 100% accurate. This method requires you to keep talking during the exercise, and based on how smoothly you speak and how out of breath you are, you can determine whether you need to increase or decrease the intensity of the exercise next.

• For example, if you are out of breath while exercising, you may need to reduce the intensity of your exercise to stay in your “fat-burning” zone. If you can talk easily during exercise, it means that your exercise intensity is far from enough.
• The exercise intensity required in the fat-burning zone is that you can effortlessly speak a short word during exercise.

Maintain Exercise Intensity within the Fat-Burning Zone

Perform a variety of aerobic exercises. Choosing a few types of moderate- and high-intensity aerobic exercise and combining them often yields the best results. Especially if your exercise goal is to lose weight and fat, this often has outstanding results.

• Choose moderate-intensity aerobic exercise, so that half of the exercise time can keep the exercise intensity within the body’s fat-burning heart rate zone, which can achieve a good weight loss effect. Aerobic exercise includes jogging, biking, or swimming. However, everyone can have different choices.
• At the same time, some high-intensity aerobic exercise is also added to keep the exercise intensity in the high-intensity range. Although this will exceed your fat-burning heart rate zone, it can increase overall calorie consumption and promote cardiovascular health.
• High-intensity exercise tends to burn more calories than aerobic exercise. However, calorie consumption mainly depends on the time and amount of exercise you do. By maintaining exercise intensity in the fat-burning zone, you will be more likely to exercise for a long time.
• At the same time, you should do at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise every week.

Add in some strength training. It’s also important to incorporate some strength or resistance training into your weekly training plan. It can enhance muscle strength, increase body metabolism, and achieve body-shaping effects. Weight training is very important for fat loss. It can increase muscle and enhance muscle strength while losing fat.

• Set aside at least two days a week to include strength training, and the total time should not be less than 20 minutes.
• Strength training includes weight lifting, isometric exercises (push-ups or pull-ups), and Pilates.

Consult a professional fitness instructor. If you are interested in the concept of fat-burning heart rate zones and want to know how to make better use of this information, you can consult a professional fitness coach. They will help you determine your fat-burning heart rate zone and develop an appropriate exercise plan based on it.

• Talk to your fitness trainer about your fitness goals. Do you want to lose weight or gain muscle strength? This can help them create an appropriate fitness plan based on your needs.
• At the same time, ask them what they can do to maximize the use of fat-burning heart rate zones to achieve the best results.

Tips

• Many fitness centers can conduct maximal oxygen consumption tests, but most of the tests will require a fee.
• Note that although most of your energy in the “fat-burning heart rate zone” comes from burning fat, the total amount of fat burned is less than during high-intensity exercise.
• Buy a heart rate monitor. It can not only help you determine the fat-burning heart rate zone but also monitor your heart rate during exercise in real-time, helping you adjust exercise intensity to reach the fat-burning heart rate zone.
• Whether your ultimate goal is to lose weight, gain muscle, or improve your cardiorespiratory fitness, it’s best to consult a professional and let a personal trainer help you develop an appropriate fitness plan.