It’s a familiar scenario: you hit the gym every morning and skip the sweets, but still can’t seem to lose those stubborn extra pounds.
More and more research suggests you may be making a crucial mistake, one you can easily fix with the help of your fitness tracker.
According to fitness experts, one key way to optimize your calorie burn is to make sure you hit a certain heart rate range while exercising.
The fat burning window varies depending on several factors, including your age, stress level, medications you take, and how much coffee you’ve consumed.
Below is a chart from DailyMail.com that shows your next workout target for faster weight loss.
Mounting evidence shows that your heart rate plays a key role in the productivity of your workout – and how likely you are to burn a greater number of calories
The ideal average resting heart rate is between 60 and 100 beats per minute. However, there are several factors that can increase it, including exercise.
Maximum heart rate is the highest number of times a person’s heart can beat per minute without putting strain on the organ.
This depends on age and decreases over time.
The primary way to determine your maximum heart rate is to subtract your age from 220. For example, a 50-year-old has a maximum heart rate of 170.
Sports take energy. The more intensively you exercise, the more energy you burn and the higher your heart rate.
As intensity increases, your body must use fat stores for energy instead of sugars and carbohydrates. Doing this consistently helps burn fat and leads to weight loss.
This is known as your fat-burning heart rate, which is about 70 percent of your maximum heart rate.
So that same 50-year-old would want to keep the intensity around 119 beats per minute while exercising to burn fat.
Like maximum heart rate, fat burning heart rate decreases with age.
While an 18-year-old needs to stay around 140 beats per minute, a 75-year-old only needs to reach 101 beats per minute.
However, certain medications can increase or decrease your heart rate. For example, beta blockers decrease heart rate by blocking the effects of hormones such as adrenaline.
These medications are usually prescribed for unexplained tachycardia (a resting heart rate of more than 100 beats per minute) and high blood pressure.
In addition, some antibiotics, corticosteroids, and over-the-counter decongestants can increase your heart rate.
To avoid putting too much strain on the heart, it is important to consult a doctor about the ideal heart rate to aim for when taking any of these medications.
If you want to make sure you stay in the fat burning zone, there are several ways to track your heart rate.
The traditional method involves using your fingers to measure your heart rate in your neck, wrist or chest.
However, heart rate monitors like the Apple Watch are much more common and can track heart rate throughout your workout and while resting.
According to the federal physical activity guidelines for Americans, adults need about 150 minutes of moderate physical activity or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise each week.
The Department of Health and Human Services advises American adults to do muscle-strengthening exercises, such as weightlifting, at least two days a week.
| Age | Heart rate during fat burning (BPM) |
|---|---|
| 18 to 20 | 140 |
| 21 to 25 | 136 to 139 |
| 26 to 30 | 133 to 136 |
| 31 to 35 | 129 to 132 |
| 36 to 40 | 126 to 129 |
| 41 to 45 | 122 to 125 |
| 46 to 50 | 119 to 122 |
| 51 to 55 | 115 to 118 |
| 56 to 60 | 112 to 115 |
| 61 to 65 | 108 to 111 |
| 66 to 70 | 105 to 108 |
| 71 to 75 | 101 to 104 |