Heart rate during cardio training for fat burning: heart rate calculation for women and men

Whatever type of physical activity you engage in, your body will respond to it by changing your heart rate. When starting cardio training for the purpose of losing weight, many believe that the longer and faster they run, the faster they will reach their cherished goal. This is not entirely true. The fat burning process starts at a certain number of heartbeats, while the heart rate for weight loss will depend on physical fitness, age and degree of training.

Like 12

10565

Let's see how it works, but first let's find out what cardio training is and why you should do it, especially if you are new to sports and decide to lose weight.

Cardio training is the same as aerobic training. Her exercises involve performing muscle movements due to the release of energy, which is produced by the oxidation of glucose molecules with oxygen. This factor distinguishes strength training from cardio, where the body produces energy using an oxygen-free method. When performing cardio training, not only the muscles of the body are pumped, but also the muscles of the heart. This in turn increases the endurance of the entire vascular system.

• 1128 1056
  More details
• 162

  More details

• 198 186

  More details

• 234 216

  More details

The most common aerobic workouts include long-distance running, cycling, team sports and swimming. The main distinguishing criterion for such training is its duration, which ranges from thirty to sixty minutes. At the same time, the entire training process takes place in a very dynamic rhythm.

Maximum heart rate (MHR)

There is an opinion that fat deposits are best burned in the heart rate range, which is 60-75% of the maximum frequency. The concept of maximum frequency refers to the number obtained by subtracting your own age from the number 220, for example:

1. Person aged 45 years: MHR = 220 – 45 = 175
2. Person aged 25 years: MHR = 220 – 25 = 195

In reality, each person is individual and professionals carry out calculations individually, but these calculations are suitable for most amateurs.

Optimal heart rate range for men and women

What is the optimal heart rate value? For each person it is individual and depends on the state of health and fitness of the body. Let's consider different options:

• moderate loads and the same heart rate of 50 percent of the maximum heart rate are sufficient at the initial stage - this can be a simple fast walk or a slow jog. This zone is suitable for general strengthening of the body, lowering cholesterol levels in the blood and blood pressure, but it will not help you lose weight;
• the load can be increased to 60-70 percent - this is the support zone, which includes light jogging. They require some calories, which means they burn some fat. With relatively moderate loads, you can run for quite a long time and not very intensely until the desired result is achieved, but the weight will be under control;
• The aerobic zone begins at a heart rate of 70-80 percent of maximum. This is a zone of intense running that increases the overall endurance of the body with an increase in lung capacity, strengthening of the heart muscle, achieving a longer workout duration with a feeling of less fatigue. This means that the person has already entered the zone where he can lose weight and stay in good shape;
• the anaerobic zone - the pulse here increases to 80 percent and above. This is a fast run, very tiring and short. It is tiring because the heartbeat is quite frequent, but the heart does not always have time to supply the muscles with oxygen, and it does not last long because it is impossible to exercise in this mode for a long time. However, even after training, muscles continue to burn calories and therefore this range is excellent for fat burning;
• a heart rate value of 90-100 percent of the maximum is already a red interval, when the fat issue no longer comes to the fore, since this is a zone of sports and athletic loads and the body works at the limit of its capabilities, the loads are incredibly high, but short-term.

So, it is the heart rate that affects the result of fat burning. Fat and calories are burned at certain and high levels, which is why people who exercise or take long walks may not lose weight at all

After all, only a cardio training regime that uses a pulse calculator allows you to actually burn calories and excess fat accumulation. It is very important to determine the optimal loads based on your condition, preparation and capabilities.

What heart rate is needed for maximum fat burning?

There is a theory that the breakdown of fat deposits in the body occurs faster with intense training with a heart rate of 50-70% of MHR.

For example, calculation for a person aged 40 years:

• MHR = 220 – 40 = 180 beats/min.
• Lower heart rate range for fat burning: 0.5 x 180 = 90
• Upper heart rate range for fat burning: 0.7 x 180 = 126

According to this statement, for a person aged 40 to quickly get rid of fat deposits, it is necessary to perform a set of exercises with such intensity that the bullet is in the range of 90-126 beats per minute.

Why do you need cardio training?

The main goal of such training is to:

• the body has become stronger and more resilient;
• immunity strengthened;
• the person has become more resistant to stress;
• the body became athletic and lost weight;
• the cardiac system began to work better.

Today there are several types of cardio training. There are separate sets of strength exercises, as well as special programs for women who want to lose weight. In addition, such a load is very useful for beginners in sports, since it makes it possible to prepare the heart for the upcoming loads.

Tips for exercise to burn fat

At a heart rate of 70% of MHR, fat burning occurs as quickly as possible, however, for those who are just starting to play sports, it is necessary to start exercises with the lower limit of the heart rate, i.e. 50% of MHR. Over the course of several weeks, increase it to 70%.

Only after the body has adapted to serious physical activity can high-intensity interval training (HIIT) begin, thanks to which the metabolism accelerates and fat burning occurs at an accelerated pace. HIIT means alternating between light and heavy workouts, during which your heart rate increases and decreases.

All this has benefits for the body:

• blood pressure decreases
• insulin sensitivity increases
• endurance improves
• maintains muscle mass and burns fat tissue

During HIIT at the most intense load, the maximum heart rate should be no more than 80% of MHR; during the interval recovery period it should not fall below 40-50% of MHR.

An example of effective HIIT is as follows:

• 3-5 minutes – the body warms up (jogging, jumping rope)
• 30 seconds – performing a high-intensity exercise (sprinting)
• 1 minute – unloading (walking)
• alternating the first 3 points for 10 minutes
• after completion the recovery period is 3-5 minutes (fast walking)

Fat burning zone

If you've ever been to the gym, you've probably heard or even seen charts on the machines showing the "fat burning zone." As a rule, it coincides with zones 1 and 2 (50-65% of max CP), which can be achieved with moderate loads. Because of the name, many people believe that this level of physical activity is ideal for weight loss. After all, you want to lose weight by losing fat, right?

Don’t let this mislead you, because, despite the name, this zone is far from the best for weight loss, since the largest number of calories are consumed not in the “fat burning zone,” but in the anaerobic zone. So why is it called fat burning? This is because in this interval the calories burned mainly come from fat. This does not change the fact that the total number of calories burned at this level of physical activity is much lower than in zone four. And for weight loss, it is ultimately what matters most, regardless of where those calories come from - so this is the best heart rate zone for burning fat.

For those who want to lose weight, there is another beneficial aspect of training in the fourth zone. Due to the high level of stress, the heart cannot provide the muscles with enough oxygen and blood, which leads to their exhaustion. To restore them, your body will actively pump oxygenated blood into them even after you finish exercising. This way you will burn calories even while you are resting. This is called afterburn or the EPOC effect (extra exercise oxygen consumption).

This is why the amount of calories burned in zone 4 is much higher than the amount burned during low-impact exercise, such as light running. Dr. Felian et al. in 1997 studied the effect of low (first zone) and high (third-fourth zone) load training on the EPOC effect. Both test groups burned 500 calories, with the high-impact group having a higher EPOC response than the lower-impact group (9.0 liters, 45 calories vs. 4.8 liters, 24 calories).

Afterburning leads to metabolic acceleration of the body, lasting up to 24 hours. The higher the intensity of your workouts, the more calories you burn during rest. This is the real benefit of going all out in class - burning calories even during your rest period. Therefore, the anaerobic zone is most effective for weight loss.

Heart rate zones for fat burning

There are 3 main fat burning zones from MHR:

• 60-70 % — during the workout, carbohydrates are processed for the first 30 minutes, after which the process of lipolysis (breakdown of fats) begins. The duration of the workout for fat burning should last at least 45-60 minutes
• 70-80% - suitable for experienced athletes, this is an aerobic workout, it is supposed to combine cardio training (running) and strength training (work in the gym, parallel bars, horizontal bar)
• 80-90% - critical cardio load, the process of fat burning is reduced due to a decrease in the supply of oxygen to muscle tissue

Heartbeat zones during sports

The boundaries of safe heartbeat zones are calculated depending on age. It is not necessary to remember all the numbers, the main thing is to remember your personal maximum and train within 65-75% of it.

• Pulse at rest - 35-50%
• Warm-up zone - 50-60%
• Activity zone - 60-70%
• Aerobic zone - 70-80%
• Endurance zone - 80-90%
• Danger zone - 90-100%

How to calculate your maximum heart rate: 220 - age = maximum heart rate.

Methods for assessing the degree of cardio load

Pulse monitors are an excellent solution for tracking your heart rate, but even in their absence, you can determine the level of stress based on your personal feelings.

For this, the following indicators are used:

• very easy - conversation with a partner is maintained without problems
• easy – conversation occurs with minimal effort
• medium-easy – the conversation takes place with little tension
• moderate – it becomes more difficult to speak
• medium moderate – effort is required to carry on a conversation
• moderate – pronouncing words is quite difficult
• high – conversation occurs with great difficulty
• intense – maintaining a conversation is not possible

In addition, do not forget about the simplicity of calculating the pulse, note the number of pulse beats for 6 seconds and multiply by 10.

Recommendations for losing weight

To make fat burning and figure correction much more effective, you should learn a few rules. Recommendations from professional athletes and specialists will help make your classes more useful.

First of all, you need to find out about the duration of the lesson. Aerobic exercise should last more than half an hour. It is after 20-30 minutes that the fat burning process starts. First, you need to do exercises to warm up your muscles to prevent damage to ligaments and joints. This should take at least 10 minutes. After which you can begin intense exercise. After the active phase, you should also do a few simple elements - stretching or gymnastics to prepare the body for rest and recuperation. The average workout duration ranges from 40 minutes to 1 hour.

To achieve your goal quickly without harm to your health, it is better to perform strength and cardio exercises at the same time. The former will help build muscles and shape the body, while the latter will help develop endurance, improve health and develop good breathing. In addition, it is recommended to devote time to dynamic loads. These can include running, cycling, swimming, football and other active sports.

The last important factor is regularity. Experienced athletes say that it is enough to visit the gym 2 times a week to stay in shape. If the goal is to lose weight and get rid of fat, then you need to increase the number of approaches to 4. It is not recommended to exercise every day; the body needs time to rest and restore resources. Each workout is necessarily controlled by heart rate counting. This can be done using a heart rate monitor that is attached to your wrist or arm. The convenient device carries out control automatically; if there is an increase above the norm, a signal is given.

Karvonen formula

Martti Karvonen is a Finnish physiologist who has developed a way to calculate the limits of heart rate in athletes. Using it, you can calculate the desired heart rate values ​​​​for optimally effective fat burning workouts. Karvonen's method made it possible to determine that this value is approximately in the middle, between the heart rate at rest and its maximum frequency, and depends on the condition of the body and the gender of the athlete.

Karvonen formula for women

Developed by Karvonen, the formula “220 is the age of a person” is the most common method for measuring maximum heart rate. For women it looks like this: (220-age-resting heart rate)*intensity factor + resting heart rate. Calculate your resting heart rate in the morning, before getting up, and the intensity factor is 70% of the MHR.

For a thirty-year-old woman with a resting heart rate of 70 beats per minute, the formula that will show at what heart rate burns fat in women will look like this: (220-30-70)*0.3+70=121 beats/min. Just remember that the formula was calculated for professional athletes; you can skip the step of multiplying by the intensity factor first. For this woman, the correct heart rate for burning fat is between 120 beats/min.

Karvonen formula for men

At what heart rate does fat burn in men? The calculation necessarily uses the minimum and maximum intensity coefficients, from 0.5 to 0.8. The formula used is the same. A forty-year-old man starting to exercise with a resting heart rate of 65 will calculate the optimal heart rate as (220-40-65)*05+65. As the total duration of classes progresses, he will gradually increase the intensity factor until he reaches the highest - 0.8. That is, within the range from 125 to 159 beats/min.

How to calculate heart rate for cardio

Uniform exercises, appropriate to age, gender, and body abilities, perfectly strengthen the four-chamber mechanism, pump blood, and help burn fat. Exceeding its capabilities causes the body to work for wear and tear, without bringing any benefit. Today on the Internet there are special calculators that determine this standard, but you can calculate the pulse zone yourself using the formula:

• (220 - age) x 0.6-0.8,
• where 0.6 is the first intensity limit, and 0.8 is the last.

How can you vary your heart rate during cardio?

I want to tell you one trick. For even more effective fat burning, the load (tempo, intensity) needs to be changed. So, after 5 minutes of jogging at a heart rate of 65%, you can do a minute acceleration, at which the heart rate will rise to 85%. Afterwards, reduce it again to 65% by running as usual.

This technique can be used not only while running. It is these stress accelerations that force the body to forcefully break down its subcutaneous reserves. But you shouldn’t go too far - after about a minute of intense training, fat burning drops and a negative effect on the body begins - there may be health problems.

I would also advise you to do cardio in the morning, on an empty stomach. This is because the body has the greatest absorption in the morning, which will force the body to use its reserves. And if you eat before a daytime or evening workout, even 3-4 hours before, then the calories received from food will be used first as energy. Do you need it? After all, we are talking about burning subcutaneous fat.

Intense workouts lead to greater overall fat burning

High-intensity exercise forces multiple systems in the body, including the cardiovascular and respiratory systems, to work faster to keep moving and functioning at the same pace. For example, the heart must beat faster to deliver enough blood, oxygen and nutrients to working muscles; The respiratory system must work harder and faster to breathe at an appropriate pace.

To better understand this, let's compare walking or running. When walking, the source of energy will be fat, but fewer calories will be burned than when jogging the same distance. In addition, you can run a greater distance in the same amount of time than you can walk, which will further increase the number of calories you burn.

Let's look at this statement using the example of a 60 kg woman doing cardio at different intensities:

As you can see, a woman burns more calories and more fat when she exercises at higher intensity.