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YOUR TARGET HEART RATE
You should know your Maximum Heart Rate and your correct training zone to know if you
are training at the right pace. Here are a few ways to figure your target heart rate.
You can easily find your Target Heart Rate with this simple method. Subtract your age from
220 (226 for women) to calculate your Maximum Heart Rate. Find your training zone below
and multiply that number times your maximum rate.
TRAINING ZONES
Healthy Heart Zone (Warm up) --- 50 - 60% of maximum heart rate: The easiest zone and
probably the best zone for people just starting a fitness program. It can also be used as a
warm up for more serious walkers. This zone has been shown to help decrease body fat,
blood pressure and cholesterol. It also decreases the risk of degenerative diseases and has
a low risk of injury. 85% of calories burned in this zone are fats!
Fitness Zone (Fat Burning) --- 60 - 70% of maximum heart rate: This zone provides the same
benefits as the healthy heart zone, but is more intense and burns more total calories. The
percent of fat calories is still 85%.
Aerobic Zone (Endurance Training) --- 70 - 80% of maximum heart rate: The aerobic zone will
improve your cardiovascular and respiratory system AND increase the strength of your heart.
This is the preferred zone if you are training for an endurance event. More calories are burned
with 50% from fat.
Anaerobic Zone (Performance Training) --- 80 - 90% of maximum heart rate: Benefits of this
zone include an improved VO2 maximum (the highest amount of oxygen one can consume
during exercise) and thus an improved cardiorespiratory system, and a higher lactate tolerance
ability which means your endurance will improve and you'll be able to fight fatigue better.
This is a high intensity zone burning more calories, 15 % from fat.
Red Line (Maximum Effort) --- 90 - 100% of maximum heart rate: Although this zone burns the
highest number of calories, it is very intense. Most people can only stay in this zone for short
periods. You should only train in this zone if you are in very good shape and have been cleared
by a physician to do so.
