Everyone knows that their heart beats faster when they exercise, providing additional blood and oxygen to working muscles. But this relationship is more syncopated than you might think. Your heart rate is your best measure of your exercise intensity. If you want to lose weight, you can use your target heart rate to find your aerobic and anaerobic exercise zones, both of which have significant weight-loss benefits. To maximize weight loss, you should work out at least three to five times per week.
Target Heart Rate
Your target heart rate is a range of heart rates that corresponds to your body's optimum level of exercise intensity. Your target heart rate is between 50 and 85 percent of your maximum heart rate. Maximum heart rate for men is 220 minus age. For women, maximum heart rate is equal to 206 minus 88 percent of age. Use your maximum heart rate as a foundation for all exercise, including exercise best suited for weight loss.
Aerobic Exercise
Aerobic means "with oxygen." Aerobic exercise, then, is any activity which necessitates the use of oxygen to help burn calories and provide your muscles with energy. Aerobic exercise primarily burns calories from fat, which makes it the best exercise for weight loss. Your aerobic exercise heart rate is at the lower end of your target heart rate, from approximately 50 to 70 percent. Aerobic activities include swimming, bicycling and running, but any activity that raises your heart rate to moderate-intensity levels and keeps it there for at least 20 minutes is considered aerobic.
Anaerobic Exercise
Anaerobic exercise means "without oxygen." Anaerobic exercise provides energy by burning calories from glycogen, instead of fat. Anaerobic exercise is at the upper end of you target heart rate range, from 70 to 85 percent. Because of their high intensity, anaerobic exercises are short and include activities like sprinting and weightlifting. While anaerobic exercise does not burn calories from fat, it does help build muscle mass. Because muscle tissue is primarily responsible for how fast you burn fat, increasing your muscle mass can increase your weight loss rate.
Heart Rate Monitor
A heart rate monitor is the best tool you can use to track your heart rate into you aerobic and anaerobic sections of your target heart rate range. A heart rate monitor fixes to your wrist, similar to a standard watch, and uses electronic sensors to detect your heart rate. The result is displayed on an LCD screen in real time, so you can adjust your exercise intensity quickly and accurately. Some heart rate monitors also have calorie counters, so you can evaluate just how much weight you are losing with certain types of exercise.
Member Comments