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Know the basics about Heart Rate Zones
A ‘heart rate zone’ is essentially a range within which your heart’s beats per minute sit. So you might train in a zone where you’re working at 70% of your top effort level, known as your ‘maximum heart rate’.
A common formula for calculating these variables is that your maximum heart rate should be roughly 220 beats per minute minus your age. So if you’re 30, your heart rate max will be around 190bpm.
To work out the zone in which you should be training, you first need to determine your resting heart rate. Do this by lying down for 20 minutes and taking a reading of your heart rate – lots of fitness trackers and wearables will do this for you as you sleep overnight. Some also offer max heart rate tests and will use both these variables to let you know your heart rate zones without any user maths.
But if you do want to do it manually, here’s an example:
If your HRmax is 185 and HRrest is 65, then the following is how you calculate a 70% zone commonly targeted for fat burn.
- Subtract your HRrest from HRmax to get your heart rate reserve: 185 (HRmax) – 65 (HRrest) = 120
- Calculate the percentage you’re aiming for based on your heart rate reserve: 70% of 120 = 84
- Now add HRrest to this calculated percentage: 84 + 65 = 149
- So for this example, if you wanted to work in the 70% heart rate zone you’ll be aiming for 149bpm.
Many systems and coaches follow different percentages for the different zones. In some cases the zones may change from cycling to running to another sport. Simplified, the zones can be explained as below:
Energy-efficient or recovery zone: 60-70%
Starting at the bottom is the energy efficient or recovery zone. In this zone, where you can get plenty of oxygen into your blood, your body learns to better utilise that oxygen, pump blood efficiently and utilise fat for energy. For that reason, this is a great zone to aim to burn fat while re-energising your muscles with glycogen.
Aerobic zone: 70 – 80%
Starting at the bottom is the energy efficient or recovery zone. In this zone, where you can get plenty of oxygen into your blood, your body learns to better utilise that oxygen, pump blood efficiently and utilise fat for energy. For that reason, this is a great zone to aim to burn fat while re-energising your muscles with glycogen.
Anaerobic zone: 80 – 90%
The third of the four zones is the anaerobic zone at 80% to 90% of your HRmax. This is where your body is burning glycogen and producing the by-product of lactic acid at such a rate that it can’t remove it from the muscles fast enough – this is known as your lactate threshold. By training in this zone, which you’ll really feel, you can improve your lactate efficiency to help remove it at higher quantities in the future. Activities that will put you in this zone include sprinting and high-power cycling.
VO2 Max: 90 – 100%
The final zone is the red line zone or VO2 max, at 90% to 100% of your heart rate max. This is specifically for increasing speed since it helps your fast twitch muscle fibres. This is a zone when your muscles are in oxygen debt, and is for the very fit – even then such training should only be maintained for short bursts, such as for intense sprints.
Aerobic zone is where the bulk of endurance training should take place. This is what most articles or coaches refer to as ‘zone 2’. This is where you build your base of fitness so that and where you teach your body to fuel itself as well as let it recover as you go.
An athlete and coach should plan to make sure that an athlete is training in the correct zones for the event they are preparing for.
Check out this Heart Zone Calculator.
