Dr Mukesh Goel, Senior Consultant, Cardiothoracic Surgery and Lung Transplantation at Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, Delhi, India, says that the ideal heart rate during exercise will vary depending on an individual’s age, fitness level, and intensity of exercise. To understand this better, it is important to know the different heart rate zones and how they fit into specific fitness goals.
Understanding heart rate zones
According to Dr. Mukesh Goel, heart rate during exercise is often divided into different zones, based on the percentage (%) of maximum heart rate (MHR).
MHR can be calculated by subtracting your actual age from 220. For example, the MHR of a 30-year-old would be 190 beats per minute (bpm).
Heart rate zones are classified as follows:
Resting heart rate: This is your heart rate when you are not active. For most adults, the resting heart rate ranges from 60 to 100 beats per minute.
Warm-up Zone (50-60% MHR): This is a very light intensity zone, often used for warming up or cooling down. This zone helps promote blood circulation without putting stress on the cardiovascular system.
Fat Burning Zone (60-70% MHR): This is the zone that is often recommended for beginners. At this intensity, the body uses a higher proportion of fat as an energy source, which is ideal for those who want to burn fat.
Cardio Zone (70-85% MHR): This zone is suitable for most aerobic exercises, helping to improve cardiovascular endurance and stamina. This is the ideal zone for improving overall fitness and endurance.
Peak Zone (85-100% MHR): This is the high-intensity zone, often used in high-intensity interval training like sprinting. This zone increases speed, power, and endurance, but only for short periods of time.
Heart Rate for Different Fitness Goals
To maximize the benefits from exercise, maintaining your heart rate in the appropriate zone is crucial to your goals.
Fat loss: To burn fat, you should exercise in the 60-70% MHR zone. Although this zone burns fewer calories per minute than higher intensity zones, most of the energy burned comes from fat stores.
Endurance: To improve cardiovascular fitness and endurance, aim for the 70-85% MHR zone. Exercising at this intensity increases your VO2 max (the maximum amount of oxygen your body can use during exercise), which is important for maintaining endurance.
Performance and speed: If your goal is to improve speed or power, you should aim for the 85-100% MHR zone. High-intensity interval training is an effective way to train in this zone.
Although the intensity of the workout can be tiring, it promotes rapid gains in muscle strength, speed, and endurance.
