Heart Rate Training Zones

To perform exercises effectively, you need to monitor your heart rate when exercising, as each heart rate zone will mean different exercise effects.

Below are a list of heart zones for different exercising effects. Before you go on to explore the different zones to decide on your needs, you'll need to understand what is maximum heart rate.

When we talk about maximum heart rate (MHR), we are talking about the highest number of times your heart can contract in one minute, beyond which, heart failure will occur. In order to find out this number, you are of course, not required to push yourself to the point of heart failure, there is an easier way to find out about that, which is by using this formula: 220 - Age.

For example, given that I'm 25 years old, my MHR will be 220-25=195 beats per minute.

1. Healthy Heart Zone (Warm up) --> 50 - 60% of maximum heart rate:

This is the easiest zone and probably the least tedious zone. Most suitable for people just starting on their exercise regime. It can also be used as a warm up for more serious walkers.

This zone has been shown to help decrease body fat, blood pressure and cholesterol. It also decreases the risk of degenerative diseases and has a low risk of injury. 85% of calories burned in this zone are fats!

2. Fitness Zone (Fat Burning) --> 60 - 70% of maximum heart rate:

This zone provides the same benefits as the healthy heart zone, but is more intense and burns more calories. The percent of fat calories burnt is still 85%, but is a necessary zone to pass through in order to do a gradual improvement to the next zone.

3. Aerobic Zone (Endurance Training) --> 70 - 80% of maximum heart rate:

The aerobic zone will improve your cardiovascular and respiratory system AND increase the size and strength of your heart, which will in turn improve the respiratory process, making your fat-burning capacity more efficient! Also, this is the zone whereby mitochondrias are increased and enlarged to increase your metabolism. But due to the intensity of the workout, only 50% of the burnt calories are fats, but of course, the amount of calories burnt is much more than when you work out at 60%, so the ultimate value of fat burnt is still about the same, with greater benefit of increase mitochondria.... definitely worth the effort for weight-losing!

4. Anaerobic Zone (Performance Training) --> 80 - 90% of maximum heart rate:

Benefits of this zone include an improved stamina and thus an improved cardiorespiratory system, also that your endurance will improve and you'll be able to last longer in higher intensed exercises like e.g. sprint for a longer period of time. This is a high intensity zone burning even more calories, but our of which only 15 % is from fat. But of course, it has the same effect of increasing and enlarging your mitochondrias which will in turn increase your metabolism.

5. Red Line (Maximum Effort) --> 90 - 100% of maximum heart rate:

Although this zone burns the highest amount of calories, it is very intense. Most people can only stay in this zone for short periods. You should only train in this zone if you are in very good shape and have been cleared by a physician to do so. Bearing in mind that the MHR is only a rough guide, for the fitter folks, it doesn't mean that upon reaching this zone, you'll conk out and die, for the less-fit folks, even before you reach this zone, you might have already conked out... so... do watch your body and listen to the cues yea... stop when necessary, it's not worth losing your life over a few kilos!