What’s a Fat-Burning Heart Rate, and How’s It Calculated?

Calculating your fat-burning heart rate.    

Your heart rate can help you measure the intensity of your exercise. For most people, the heartbeats between 60 and 100 times a minute while at rest. Heart rate increases during exercise. The harder you exercise, the more your heart rate will increase.

When you work out in your fat-burning heart rate zone, your body taps into fat stores for energy instead of using basic sugars and carbohydrates. This leads to fat loss.

Other heart rate zones are:

• resting heart rate
• moderate heart rate                                     
• target heart rate
• maximum heart rate

Your fat-burning heart rate is at about 70 percent of your maximum heart rate.

Your maximum heart rate is the maximum number of times your heart should beat during activity. To determine your maximum heart rate, subtract your age from 220.

For example, a 35-year-old woman’s maximum heart rate is 220 minus 35 — or 185 beats per minute.

To enter the fat-burning zone, shed wants her heart rate to be 70 percent of 185, about 130 beats per minute.

Calculating other heart rate zones

Experts recommend working at 70 to 85 percent of your maximum heart rate during vigorous activity. This is known as your target heart rate.

A moderate heart rate falls between 50 and 70 percent of your maximum heart rate.

Fat-burning heart rate chart

When using the following chart, keep in mind that the older you are, your fat-burning heart rate is lower. For example, if you’re 32, you’d want to use the higher number in the 31 to 35 range for your fat-burning heart rate.

Certain medications may affect your heart rate, too, so speak with your doctor if you have concerns.

Tools to measure heart rate

Many tools are available on the market today that can help you measure your heart rate during exercise and even while doing everyday tasks. That said, you don’t necessarily need anything fancy to get your basic heart rate.

Traditional tracking

The cheapest way to measure your heart rate is to use your fingers to track your pulse. You’ll first need to stop exercising and place your finger over a pulse point on your neck, wrist, or chest.

Count your heartbeats for 60 seconds (or 30 seconds and multiply the number of beats by two). The number you get is your heart rate.

Wrist monitor

Wristband heart rate monitors have become popular in recent years because they strap onto the body like a normal watch.

For example, the Fitbit Charge 2 records your pulse all day and determines if you’re in your fat-burning, resting, moderate, or maximum zone during different activities.

The advantage over traditional tracking is that your heart rate is continuously monitored, and there’s no need to stop activity from recording it.

Often, these types of devices also measure your daily steps, a distance of workouts, calories burned, and floors climbed, all while giving you the time like a regular watch.

Chest strap monitor

Chest strap heart rate monitors strap around your chest and record your heart rate during exercise.

Like Gramin's Premium Heart Rate Monitor, some brands wirelessly send your heart rate to your compatible device, usually a watch, to get a more holistic view of your workout. These straps are made of a soft fabric and are adjustable to fit a variety of body sizes.

You can wear chest strap monitors during most activities, including swimming. Some devices are waterproof, meaning they can be submerged in water. Others are water-resistant, which means they can be used for only short periods in the water.

 Read all features carefully before purchasing, however.

What works best?

Some athletes prefer chest strap monitors because they feel they’re more accurate. In a recent study trusted source, however, researchers discovered that wrist monitors might be just as accurate.

As a result, the monitor you choose may come down to personal preferences, your exercise of choice, budget, and any features the specific device has.