In order to reap benefits from your workout, you must hit your optimal heart rate. Rather than a single hard number, your optimal heart rate actually is a range that's different for every person. Exercising below that range will burn little fat and do nothing for your cardiovascular health. Surpass that optimal range, however, and you risk injury and quick exhaustion.
Identification
Generally, your optimal heart rate during exercise is between 50 percent and 85 percent of your maximum heart rate, according to the American Heart Association. Your maximum heart rate depends on your age and level of health, but the general rule for estimating it is to subtract your age from 220. A 40-year-old, for example, should have a maximum heart rate around 180 beats for minute and therefore during exercise should aim to keep his heart rate between 90 and 153 beats per minute.
Types
Your optimal workout heart rate will depend on your fitness goals. You should aim for the lower part of your heart rate range, between 50 percent and 65 percent of your maximum heart rate, during warm-ups and cool-downs, according to fitness equipment manufacturer Precor. Fitness experts often refer to the 65 percent to 75 percent range as the fat-burning range, because at that level, your body burns a higher percentage of fat calories than at other levels. They refer to the 75 percent to 85 percent range as the cardio zone, in which you're giving your body the maximum beneficial workout but are burning more calories from carbohydrates than from fat.
Considerations
While you burn a higher percentage of fat in your fat-burning zone, you also are burning fewer calories overall, so you can actually burn more fat by working out at higher levels of intensity or by alternating between moderate and high intensity, called interval training. Also, the maximum heart rate formula is just an estimation that does not take health or gender into consideration and often overestimates the maximum heart rate for younger people and underestimates it for older people, according to Portland's Providence Health & Services. A better estimation of whether your working out at the optimal heart rate is to judge the level of exertion you feel during it.
Benefits
Working out within your optimal heart range over time will lower your resting heart rate and also will keep your blood pressure in a healthy range, lowering your risk of a heart attack, according to the U.S. Department of Health's MedlinePlus. As you burn fat calories, you also will be improving your metabolism, making your body more efficient at burning the calories you consume. As a result, your appetite will decrease and you'll find it easier to maintain your healthy weight. In addition, exercising in that optimal range will reduce bone density loss as you age.
Warning
Certain medications such as drugs used for treating high blood pressure will lower your maximum heart rate range, so your optimal heart rate in turn will also be lower. A stress test administered by your doctor will most accurately determine your maximum heart rate, so you should seek medical advice before beginning an exercise regime, particularly if you've been inactive for several years. When first starting an exercise program, the Cleveland Clinic recommends staying at the lower part of your optimal range for your first workouts and slowly work your way up to the higher levels. Working out with your heart rate beyond the optimal range will make you tire out more quickly and provides no benefits over the optimal range.
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