Heart Rates Matter – What Zone Are You Training In?
So what is a training zone? When looking at training zones, we are in fact discussing the percentage of your maximum heart rate you’re preforming your fitness exercises at. The percentage of which you’re performing at is vital to determine which energy system you’re operating under and what the metabolic effects will be throughout the session.
The simplest and most renowned way to discover your maximum heart rate by deducting your age from 220, so for example, if you’re 35, your maximum heart rate would be 185 bpm. When discovering out your maximum heart rate, it’s then very easy to discover what zone you’re training in, by working out the percentages.
Percentage Training Zones
A very basic understanding of what each percentage would represent to your training and fitness goals is outlined below along with the classes we offer that would easily get you into that training zone:
50% – 60%
This would represent training for health benefits, you won’t particularly push yourself to an uncomfortable position, but you would lower your blood pressure and cholesterol and in addition to that lower the risk of heart disease and diabetes. Alongside this you would also develop a foundation level of fitness for you to build open if so desired. Fat loss would occur if coupled with correct nutrition.
60% – 70%
An area caught between 2 very different training intensities, so in reality, it’s best to draw a line between the two and say it’s halfway between both. The intensity itself is still comfortable and therefore sustainable over a long period of time. For overall cardiovascular fitness, you would generate numerous benefits, one being an increase in your cardio-respiratory capacity, and this would mean you’d be able to train for longer without fatiguing and further to this you would also develop muscle tissue if new to fitness.
When looking at the potential fat loss, you’d most certainly be pushing more into the area where more fat loss is promoted, but for a real effect, you’d have to couple this training with dialed-in nutrition.
70% – 80%
Now we’re talking, this is the % where some would argue you’d most certainly be in the best position to maintain fat loss, and this is due to the elongated period of time you can spend in this training zone. The intensity is there, the burn is there, however you’re not working at such an intensity where you’re going to collapse in a heap of rubble.
You’re now at a position where you most certainly can’t out-train a bad diet, however, this type of training paired with a ‘sensible’ diet will produce results, and obviously the better your nutrition the better the results will be.
80% – 90%
Intensity is now increasing and you’d say this is the last point you’d be able to work at for a longer period of time before dissecting your workout into intervals. Your body produces lactic acid when exercising and now you’re working in an anaerobic state, your body can no longer remove lactic acid quicker than what it’s being produced. This is where you really start to feel the pain, those legs start hurting, that breathing is incredibly heavier and you’re pushing your limits.
This training zone will improve your lactate threshold, and by that, we mean that every workout that follows the previous one you’ll feel as if you can perform that much more and better without colliding with that wall. When looking at the possibility of fat loss, this training zone if performed correctly can be hugely effective, but now you’ll have to start applying rest intervals, where your body can recover, your heart rate lower and then work again. Coupled with dialed-in nutrition, and you’re on the money, results will come.
90% – 97%
Uncomfortable, very uncomfortable. This training zone is where we are pushing our body, literally to its limits. You’re now utilizing every part of your body to push yourself through this workout and produce in reality its best.
This training zone is not sustainable, and thus, in turn, you cannot hope to perform at this intensity for a long period of time, which is why it’s normally delivered in an interval fashion to the athlete involved. The athlete will work for a designated period of time at this intensity, raising their heart rate, and then given a designated amount of time to rest, letting your heart rate drop, and therefore burning fat.
If programmed correctly, and alongside dialed in nutrition, working at 90-97% of your maximum heart rate can be hugely effective in not only fat loss, but improving your fitness levels.
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