Heart Rate Zones & Calorie Burning

We burn calories at any time, to make our body warm. But to help weight loss, we have to enter specific “zone”. We group the zone by heart rate range from Maximum Heart Rate (MHR).

1. Zone 1, very light, 50-60% of MHR. Walking, stretching.
2. Zone 2, light, fat-burning zone, 60-70% of MHR. Light cycling, brisk walking.
3. Zone 3, moderate, improving aerobic capacity and general fitness, 70-80% of MHR. Steady running, moderate cycling.
4. Zone 4, hard, grasping, uses carbohydrate as calorie source and less from fat. 80-90% of MHR. Sprinting, steep hiking.
5. Zone 5, maximum, impossible to talk, uses carbs as calorie source. 90%+ of MHR. Sprint race.

How to get our MHR?

The easiest way is MHR = 220 - age. But there’s other formulas like HUNT formula MHR = 211 - (0.64 x age).

If you want to burn fat, get into the zone 2.