Heart Rate Zones

The below target heart rates are a generally accepted rule for different benefits to health and fitness.

Intensity

50% - 60% General Warm-up (easy)
60% - 70% Aerobic Development (medium)
70% - 80% Aerobic Development (Hard)
80% - 90% Anaerobic Endurance (Very Hard)
90% - 100% Speed/Power (Extremely Hard)

when looking to lose weight working out in the zones below 80% are essential, as the body require oxygen to metabolise fat.

There is no fat burning zone as high lighted below!

The implication from all this research (Anderson 2002) is that if you wish to burn maximum amounts of fat then you should train in the 68 to 79% MHR window. The reality is that if you train at higher intensities you can burn just as much fat.

If you cycled along at 50% VO2max, fat would provide about 50% of the energy you needed to keep going. If you cycle along at 75% VO2max, fat would provide 33% of the required calories. Thus, the slower workout sounds better from the fat breakdown perspective - or does it?

A moderately fit athlete exercising at 50% VO2max generally consumes about 220 Calories during a 30 minute workout. If the same athlete works out at 75% VO2max, 330 Calories are burned during the same period. Of course, 50% of 220 Calories and 33% of 330 Calories yield an identical number of calories coming from fat - 110 Calories.

The above is shamelessly ctrl-c / ctrl-v from www.brianmac.co.uk but it does say exactly what I want to without the typing!

VO2 is something I have not covered yet and I do not fully understand but when I do there will be a post.

Tomorrow I shall do the calculations for the heart rate zones for myself and lok at they can help me, whether I post or not is dependant on stuff!