Take, for example, a 40-year old person swimming laps. The maximum heart rate for people in this age group is 180 beats per minute (bpm). To improve their fitness and burn excess fat, the swimmer should try to keep their heart rate between about 115 bpm and 137 bpm throughout their session.
This article explains what the fat burning zone is and why it’s important. It provides charts and equations to help you find your maximum heart rate and fat burning zone, along with exercise ideas for getting the best results.
The Fat Burning Zone Theory
The concept of a fat burning zone (sometimes called the temperate zone) comes from the theory that different heart rate intensities require the body to burn fuel from different sources.
According to the fat burning zone theory:
Fat burning is limited during higher-intensity exercise, such as sprinting and interval training. Lower-intensity exercises may be the most optimal for burning fat.
The average resting heart rate for adults—that is, your heart rate when you’re not active—is 60 to 100 bpm. When you exercise, your heart rate quickens as your heart pumps more oxygen-rich blood to your muscles. In order to sustain this elevated heart rate, your body burns fuel to make energy.
Specifically, research shows that when the heart beats between 64% to 76% of its maximum rate, the body burns fat as its primary fuel source. This is a relatively low heart rate; many people can even continue to talk at this intensity.
Once heart rate surpasses this range, however, the body’s primary fuel source becomes carbohydrates.
Burning Calories vs. Burning Fat
Any form of exercise requires energy and will, therefore, burn calories.
However, while the proportion of fat used for energy may be higher with a low-intensity cardio exercise like walking, it will take much longer to burn as many calories performing this exercise as compared to a high-intensity exercise like a vigorous run.
Calculating Your Fat Burning Zone
You need to use two equations to figure out your fat burning zone. The first will give you the lower end of your fat burning zone. The second will give you the higher end of that range.
Maximum heart rate for your age x . 64 = lower end of fat burning zoneMaximum heart rate for your age x . 76 = higher end of fat burning zone
Determining Your Maximum Heart Rate
Maximum heart rate is the fastest your heart can beat per minute, typically during exercise or periods of high stress. As you can see in the above equations, you will need this number to determine your fat burning zone.
There is some debate among experts regarding how best to calculate maximum heart rate. One way is the Fox formula. While useful, it doesn’t account for many individual differences that can influence your maximum heart rate, particularly your sex and fitness level.
Still, it is the recommended method of the American Heart Association. The Fox formula is as follows:
220 - your age = maximum heart rate
Other wearable devices, like heart rate monitors and smartwatches, can provide information on heart rate and track your readings over time.
Exercises for Fat Burning
Energy sources for exercise vary based on the intensity of the activity. At lower levels of activity, the proportion of energy derived from fat is higher.
Some examples of lower-intensity exercise include:
WalkingCyclingSwimming
If you’re not sure whether an activity qualifies as low-intensity, you can do the talk test, also called perceived rate of exertion. Most people can talk and sing during low-intensity activity. If you can talk but you can’t sing, then the activity can be considered moderate intensity.
During high-intensity activity, most people aren’t able to get through a whole sentence without stopping to take a breath.
If your goal is fat burning, try to find a low-intensity exercise that you find enjoyable and can do consistently on most days of the week.
Other Considerations When Trying to Lose Weight
While reaching your fat-burning heart rate sounds like the way to lose weight, it’s not the only consideration.
Caloric intake. Caloric intake depends mainly on the consumption of macronutrients, like fat, carbohydrates, protein, and more. These contain variable amounts of calories per gram, ranging from 4 to 9 calories/gram. Insoluble fiber. Fiber also plays a role in caloric intake, since insoluble fiber is not absorbed. Insoluble fiber adds bulk to what you eat, which can make you feel fuller. It does not, however, contribute to your caloric intake since it isn’t digested. Gut microbiome and health conditions. Studies have also looked at the role of the gut microbiome—the microorganisms, including bacteria and viruses, in the gastrointestinal tract)—in weight loss and metabolism, as well as the number of health conditions a person has. Metabolic rate. Your body requires a significant amount of energy for basic processes like heartbeats and breathing to take place—even when you’re resting. This is known as the resting metabolic rate. Any exertion beyond that burns more calories.
Summary
Fat-burning heart rate is based on the idea that the body gets energy for physical activity by burning fat only when you are working out at specific intensity levels.
While higher-intensity exercises burn more calories, lower-intensity exercises burn more fat.
Your fat-burning heart rate is calculated based on your age and maximum heart rate.
There was an error. Please try again.
