As the sweat beads up on your face, your breathing gets heavy, your muscles get tight, and you feel like your body is going to give up on you. You could be hitting the dreaded "wall" that many runners experience, you may be about to max out your power in the weight room, or you could even be putting in maximum effort to your at home DVD workout. Regardless of what you are doing that has pushed you chest heart rate monitor the point of near physical exhaustion, you want to make sure you stay out of the Red Zone or Red-Line Zone if you are going to continue to finish your race, your reps, or your workout.
What is the Red Zone?
The red zone is a relative range that is calculated ad 90%-100% of your maximum heart rate. In this zone you are burning the highest amount of calories possible, however the majority of them are coming from carbohydrates, meaning you are not maximizing fat burn. What is important to note about the red zone is that most people can only stay in this zone for a couple minutes. Furthermore, those that can are very healthy. Another way to think about this zone is, the time when you are huffing and puffing, and no matter what you do you can't seem to catch your breath.
There is a time and a place for the red zone and that is interval training. Interval training is short bursts of intensity that allow you to increase your personal limits, followed by extended periods of rest. Interval training is usually reserved for those that are doing more extreme or intensive workouts. But for most people that just want to have a good solid workout, or who want to be able to go for a run without having to stop every few minutes, keep yourself in a lower zone, such as the Fitness or Aerobic Zones.
Which Zone Will Burn the Most Fat?
Okay, so you are dying to burn off the fat, who isn't these days! You want to figure out which zone is going to do that. At the most basic level, the Fitness zone (60%-70% of maximum heart rate) will burn the most fat, coming in at 85% of calories burned coming from fat. However the amount of calories that you burn is based on the length of your workout. For example, if you work out for one hour, staying in the fitness zone, and you burn 500 calories, you are burning 425 calories from fat!
For the average person, staying in the fitness zone is where most of the workout happens, which is great for those looking to burn fat. You know you are in the fitness zone when your breathing is heavy, but you can still for short sentences.
So How Do I Figure Out My Maximum Heart Rate?
There are a number of different ways that you can determine your maximum heart rate; however the oldest and most trusted method is to take your age and subtract it from 220. So for example, let's say that you are 35 years old, you would do the following
Maximum HR = 220 - 35 (years old) = 185 Beats Per Minute
Once you have your maximum heart rate, you are able to determine what your red zone is, as well as what your fitness zone is. In this example, the red zone would be approximately 167-185 beats per minute, and the fitness zone would be around 111-130 beats per minute.
But Wait, How do I track My Heart Rate?
No one wants to stop their workout and test their pulse against their watch, and that is what makes investing in a heart rate monitor such a great option. Heart Rate Monitors allow you to keep track of your current rate, which means you can make sure that you are staying in the zone that is right for you. Some of the top rated heart rate monitors not only track what your current heart rate is but, they will track how many calories you have burned, what the current zone is that you are in, and even your workout history.
Anyone that isn't sure if they should invest in a heart rate monitor needs to ask themselves two questions:
1. Am I working out a regular basis?
2. Do I want to burn fat and/or increase my level of personal fitness?
If the answer to either of the questions is yes, than chest heart rate monitor a heart rate monitor is almost an essential. For those that are working out a regular basis, a heart rate monitor will allow you to maximize the results of your workouts. Anyone that wants to burn fat or increase their level of fitness needs to know what heart rate zone they are in, in order to reach their goals.
But Wait Are Their Other Zone?
Yes, in fact there are five zones that you should be aware of if you are going to work out:
Healthy Heart Zone
This zone is 50%-60% of your maximum heart rate, in this zone you are breathing a little bit heavier than you normal would, however you should still be able to hold a full conversation. The type of person that would expect to see in this zone are people that enjoy walking. In this zone, 85% of calories you burn come from fat, however you burn them at a much lower rate than in the fitness zone, which means you will not burn as much fat as in the fitness zone.
Fitness Zone
We Have Already Covered This Zone Above, but just to recap it is 60%-70% of your maximum heart rate with the greatest fat burn by percentage of calories.
Aerobic Zone
This zone is 70%-80% of your maximum heart rate, and when you are in this zone, you can only get out a few words at a time, and you are breathing very heavily. At this zone 50% of the calories that you are burning comes from fat. This is the preferred zone for many athletes, because even though you don't burn the most fat, you can go much further (for runners) in the same amount of time and get a much higher calorie burn - which could equate to a greater number of calories from Fat Burned.
Anaerobic
Here you are at 80%-90% of your maximum heart rate, and you are lucky to get out one word before you have to take another gasp of air! You likely can't stay in this zone for long, because you are working with very minimal or no oxygen. Before you think about hitting this zone, you should talk with a doctor as it can be dangerous to work at such a high heart rate for some individuals. The chief reason for using this zone is to increase your lung capacity, along with increase your level of physical fitness and abilities.
The Red Zone
Again this zone is 90%-100% of your maximum heart rate, and should only be used by incredibly healthy individuals for short bursts during interval training.
Bottom Line - Get Your Ideal Workout
The bottom line is you have to know what it is that you are working towards if you want to get the best workout possible. Get a heart rate monitor so that you can tell exactly what your heart rate is, and what zone you are in so that you can either, burn the most fat or increase your level of personal fitness. Once you have the ability to measure your heart rate during a workout, you have the ability to determine exactly what kind of results you are going to get.