Heart Rate Zones Calculator
Discover your training zones with the Heart Rate Zones Calculator to optimize fat burning, endurance, and high-performance workouts.
Heart Rate Zones Explained:
- Zone 1 (Very Light, 50–60%): Best for warm-ups, cool-downs, and active recovery. Helps promote overall health and improve circulation.
- Zone 2 (Light, 60–70%): Great for fat burning and building basic endurance. Ideal for long, steady workouts like brisk walking or light jogging.
- Zone 3 (Moderate, 70–80%): Improves aerobic fitness. Good for moderate-paced runs, cycling, or sustained cardio sessions.
- Zone 4 (Hard, 80–90%): Builds speed and power. Used for high-intensity intervals and challenging efforts that improve anaerobic capacity.
- Zone 5 (Maximum Effort, 90–100%): Reserved for short bursts of maximum effort — sprints, high-intensity intervals, or peak performance testing.
Which heart rate zone is best for fat burning?
The best heart rate zone for fat burning is Zone 2 (Light intensity, 60–70% of your maximum heart rate).
In Zone 2, your body primarily uses fat as its main fuel source.
Training in this zone helps improve your aerobic endurance, boosts fat metabolism, and is sustainable for longer workout sessions like brisk walking, slow jogging, or light cycling.
What is the value of measuring Heart Rate Zones?
Heart Rate Zones help you train smarter, not just harder.
By knowing your target heart rate zones, you can tailor your workouts to specific goals — such as fat burning, improving endurance, increasing aerobic capacity, or building peak performance.
Training within the right heart rate zone ensures you’re exercising at the correct intensity for your fitness level and goals, reducing the risk of overtraining or undertraining.
Where do the Heart Rate Zone recommendations come from?
Heart Rate Zone guidelines are based on research in exercise physiology, using formulas like the Karvonen Formula and the 220 minus age method.
Organizations such as the American Heart Association (AHA) and the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommend heart rate zone training as an evidence-based method to improve cardiovascular fitness and achieve specific fitness outcomes.
