Heart Rate Zone Calculator

What do heart rate zones mean?

Percentages of your maximal heart rate can be used to create heart rate zones. Heart rate zones also known as HR zones allow you to keep track of how hard you're working out. Based on the level of training intensity in relation to your maximal heart rate, there are five heart rate zones. An efficient running schedule or exercise routine will include a variety of exercises with differing frequency, lengths of time, and intensities spaced apart to give your body time to recuperate. This implies that certain workouts should be quick and intense, others should be long and light, and still others may be long and challenging. The variety in your training programme is what makes it successful.

Each of us has a unique maximum heart rate, a minimum heart rate, and a resting heart rate. Different HR zones that reflect training intensity and benefit are located between these numbers. You may calculate your heart rate zones in a variety of methods. We'll concentrate on that in this introduction. One straightforward approach to define them is as percentages of your maximal heart rate. Your aerobic and anaerobic thresholds are directly related to your heart rate zones. In particular, knowing your heart rate zones for running or heart rate zone training for weight reduction can be quite helpful when contemplating heart rate zones exercise. Let's first examine what the various zones are.

What are the 5 heart rate zones?

By estimating the percentage of your maximum heart rate that you are using while exercising, it aids in determining the intensity of a workout. When engaging in the most intense physical activity, your maximum heart rate is the number of beats per minute that you can sustain. Your resting heart rate and your maximum heart rate during vigorous exercise are the two heart rate zones. Depending on what you want to achieve with your training plan or workout routine, each heart rate zone has specific advantages. For instance, one heart rate zone would be ideal for endurance training while a different would be excellent for practising short-duration sprints. Knowing your heart rate zone can aid in fat burning, weight loss, and general wellness.

1. The range of the resting heart rate (50–60%): Low-intensity exercises like brisk walking or warm-ups and cool-downs are frequently included in the resting heart rate zone. However, daily activity in this range supports your overall cardiovascular health, including assisting in the prevention of heart disease and problems with high blood pressure. You won't typically see many health advantages or burn many calories in this zone.
2. The moderate zone (60-70 percent): In this zone, you'll be engaging in aerobic activity with a moderate level of effort, such as brisk walking or leisurely jogging. Even though your breathing will be slightly heavier, you should be able to continue doing this for a long time. Despite the fact that you won't see a material boost in calorie or fat burn, this zone will help you develop your overall endurance.
3. The aerobic range (70–80%): Running, cycling, weightlifting, or swimming are examples of strenuous exercises in the aerobic zone where you breathe deeply, perspire, and become exhausted. Over time, this intensity zone tends to increase aerobic fitness, enhancing your overall stamina, cardiovascular health, and muscle strength. You will often burn more calories in less time with aerobic exercise.
4. The anaerobic zone (80–90%): You will be performing high-intensity exercises in this zone, such as jogging, cycling swiftly, or lifting heavy objects, and you may feel out of breath. At faster training speeds for endurance, your body will start to burn carbs for energy. The lactic acid that your body may start to manufacture is what will make your muscles sore the following day. Your lactate threshold will rise with continued exercise in this zone, and you shouldn't have post-exercise soreness.
5. The maximum heart rate range (90–100%): You might not be able to maintain maximum heart rate zone exercises for more than a few minutes, such as running as quickly as you can to push your body to its absolute limit. Your body will be trained for speed, and many people use this training zone for high-interval training, which involves alternating between brief bursts of maximal effort and moderate effort.

How to calculate heart rate zones?

Determine your maximal heart rate first, and then figure out what proportion of that rate you utilise during a typical exercise programme to determine your heart rate zone. You will require a heart rate monitor or wearable fitness tracker to record your precise heart rate at any given time during your workout in order to determine your maximum heart rate.

Your maximum heart rate should be around 220 beats per minute less than your age, according to a widely used formula for estimating these factors. Therefore, around age 30, your maximum heart rate will be close to 190 bpm. You must first ascertain your resting heart rate in order to calculate the training zone that is appropriate for you. Many fitness trackers and wearables will measure your heart rate as you sleep at night, so do this by lying down for 20 minutes and taking a reading of it. Some companies also provide maximum heart rate testing, which employ both of these factors to inform you of your heart-rate ranges without the need for user math.

But if you prefer to do it by hand, here is an illustration: The calculation for a 70% zone that is frequently used for fat burning is as follows, assuming your HRmax is 185 and your HRrest is 65.

 

To determine your heart rate reserve, subtract your HRmax from your HRrest: 120 = 185 (HRmax) - 65 (HRrest).

Determine the target % depending on your heart rate reserve: 70% of 120 = 84

Now multiply the estimated % by HRrest: 84 + 65 = 149

Therefore, in this case, you should aim for 149 bpm if you wish to work in the 70% heart rate zone.