Fat burning heart rate zone

111YoYo111

According to my research, my max. heart rate is 220-my age so 175. The fat burning zone is evidently 55-70% so between 96 and 123. I really don't work out very hard at all. At least half of my workout is sitting on a recumbent bike reading. But my HR is still in the high 14X's. I think my resting heart rate is probably pretty high - in the 80's. Am I calculating correctly?

BrianSharpe

Good news.....forget you ever heard the term "fat burning zone" . In respect to weight loss and fitness it's pretty much meaningless. (also forget 220-your age as maxHR, it was intended to apply to recovering sedentary heart attack victims and is wildly inaccurate for most of the population)

As you've correctly observed it's low intensity and it does actually burn a higher proportion of calories from fat than higher intensity workouts do but it burns a much lower number of calories overall and, in terms of weight loss the more calories you burn the better. In terms of cardiovasular fitness you want to be in the aerobic zones to derive a higher benefit too.

The fat burning zone is really only of importance to endurance athletes who train their bodies to be able to tap into their fat stores (store glycogen may supply enough energy for 1.5 to 2 hrs running but even a skinny marathoner will have plenty of fat to fuels long runs)

jacksonpt

^^ Agreed.