Training heart rate?

Shanairah1991

I'm not sure if my numbers are correct and that's why I'm posting this.

I find it very difficult to keep my HR in the fat burning zone. (100-140) Most of my workouts are in the cardio zone (140-170) and occasionally when I do HIIT and push myself, mostly on a stairmaster, my HR is between 180-200+. I feel the fat burning zone is way to slack, like I'm going at a turtles pace, and even on cool down I have a hard time reaching it. I've also heard that 200 bpm is a heart attack zone.

So I guess what I want to know is, should I avoid pushing myself into the 180-200+ zone? Is this really a heart attack zone? And, can I really burn fat in the fat burning zone because it feels like I'm doing nothing.

If it helps, I'm 150lbs and my resting HR is between 65-70. (All my numbers are taken from my Fitbit.)

Cherimoose

You're doing fine. Google "fat burning zone myth".
If you have any pre-existing heart conditions, ask your doctor what HR to aim for.

Shanairah1991

Cherimoose wrote: »

You're doing fine. Google "fat burning zone myth".
If you have any pre-existing heart conditions, ask your doctor what HR to aim for.

No heart conditions, thanks! I'll look it up.

ahamm002

Good, you should almost never work out with your HR in the fat burning zone.

BTW, "max heart rate" doesn't mean a heart attack is imminent. It simply means that's the max heart rate. That's it. If you're healthy then it won't hurt you to push yourself up to that level temporarily.

beemerphile1

Exercise at the difficulty level that feels right to you and is sustainable. Ignore the tables, graphs, and charts about zones.

glevinso

This "fat burning zone" thing is not real. You can think of that as a "zone 2" or "endurance" heart rate zone, which in a sense means you are in a higher than resting heart rate range that you can sustain for hours.

Best way to figure out what those zones are for you is to do a lactate threshold test. The generic numbers provided on the web are nearly useless in figuring it out for an individual.

scottb81

I depends on what you are trying to accompish. The so called fat burning zone is where you train to maximize aerobic development. The benefits of training here is you maximally develop your body's ability to process fat for energy (that requires the presence of oxygen) which translates to faster and further with a reduced reliance on glycogen "sugar burning". It also maximally increases heart health with a generally long but low stress workout.

if you don't care about any of that then don't train in that zone.

Shanairah1991

Great information, Thanks!

scottb81

Te reason that most people feel like they are not working at low heart rates is because their aerobic systems are grossly undeveloped. The result is that the slightest exertion sends the heartrate high.

With a highly developed aerobic system one will have to work pretty hard to get their heart rate elevated.

To fix this you have to spend a lot of time at low heartrates, approximately 75% max heart rate and less.