You don’t need a heart rate monitor or pedometer to know if you’re in the right target heart rate zone for burning fat and calories. Unfortunately, a widely held myth about fat burning has confused many about how they should exercise to lose weight. Understanding how different running speeds affect your metabolism will help you choose the right pace for you.
The Fat-Burning Zone
Depending on who you listen to, the fat-burning zone occurs when you exercise at a moderate intensity or when you hit your aerobic energy zone. Exercising at a moderate intensity, similar to the pace set with a brisk walk, burns more fat as a percentage of total calories. Up to 85 percent of the calories you burn can come from fat at this level. Exercising at your aerobic heart rate burns a smaller percentage of calories from fat — about 50 percent — but burns more fat calories total. Sprint training, which burns as few as 15 percent of your calories from fat, burns the most total calories and fat.
Target Heart Rate Zones
Beginners should exercise at 50 to 65 percent of their maximum heart rate to burn fat and calories. If you’re ready for aerobic exercise, you should exercise at 70 percent to 80 percent of your maximum heart rate. To calculate your target heart rate, start by subtracting 88 percent of your age from 206 if you’re a woman. Subtract your age from 220 if you’re a man. These will give you general estimates of your maximum heart rate. Multiply your maximum heart rate number by .50 and .65 to get what some people call the “fat-burning” heart rate range, and by .70 and .80 to find your target heart rate for aerobic exercise.
Pacing Yourself
If you aren’t able to keep track of your heart rate while you run, use general guidelines to help you. If you are breathing hard and your heart is beating faster but you aren’t sweating, you’re most likely in your fat-burning zone. If you are breathing hard and sweating a lot, you’re most likely in your aerobic target heart rate. Try to talk — if you can’t talk, you’ve gone into your more intense anaerobic target heart rate range and may fatigue quickly. Make sure you can talk while you’re running if you want to stay in a heart rate range that will let you keep going. For most people, running at any speed will put you in your aerobic target heart rate range. A jogging speed might be 3.5 to 5 mph, while running might begin at 5 mph, depending on your stride length. Use a treadmill to find your best running speed and target heart rate, even if you plan on running outdoors.
Add Sprints
If you’re just getting started with running, consider starting with a brisk walk, then adding one minute of jogging every 10 minutes as you build cardio capacity and stamina. Add sprints every five minutes as you improve your conditioning. When you’ve build enough cardio fitness, you can begin jogging, then running, at a pace that lets you keep going without stopping.
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