Once you know your percentages of max heart rate then you can exercise according to your goals and fitness capacity in the following heart rate zones.
Zone 1 (50 – 60% of MHR) – The lowest level you can exercise in and still increase fitness levels. For beginners or people who have not exercised for a long period of time. This zone can be for just improving your overall health. It can also be a good recovery zone for people who are over-training and need to take a break. This mode is also good for people who want to lose weight as the main source of fuel used by the body is fat stores.
Zone 2 (60 – 70% of MHR) – This is the zone where the heart begins to benefit. Training in this zone will begin improve your hearts ability to pump blood and improve the muscle cells ability to utilize oxygen. In this zone stored body fat is the primary source of energy utilized hence this zone is referred to as the weight management zone. This is a good zone for long slow distance exercise as the body becomes more efficient at feeding the working muscles more efficiently especially with fat as the main fuel source.
Zone 3 (70 – 80% of MHR) – This zone is the most effective for overall cardiovascular fitness and is often called the “aerobic zone” or “target heart rate zone”. This is the optimal zone to workout in to increase your cardio-respitory capacity or the bodies ability to transport oxygenated blood to the muscle cells and carbon dioxide away from the cells. After a while you will be able to cover more distance during workouts in less time. Your body will burn less glucose and more stored fat as fuel thereby working more efficiently. This zone is also effective for increasing overall muscle strength.
Zone 4 (80 – 90% of MHR)(85-90%= Anaerobic Threshold) – this level is where you cross over from aerobic training to anaerobic training which is called the anaerobic threshold or AT. This is the point where the body cannot effectively remove lactic Acid from the working muscles quickly enough. Lactic Acid is a by product of glycogen consumption by the working muscles. This zone is primarily for people who want to increase their performance levels. You would characterize this zone as hard. During this zone your muscles are tired, your breathing is heavy and your fatigued. The benefit of training in this zone is you can increase your bodies ability to tolerate and deal with lactic acid for a longer period of time as the enzymes in your muscles responsible for anaerobic metabolism are increased. For competitors it is good to know your anaerobic threshold as many fit athletes can compete at or about their anaerobic threshold.
Zone 5 (90 – 100% of MHR)(VO2 Max) – You will only be able to train in this zone for short periods of time. You should not train at this level unless you are very fit. In this zone lactic acid develops very quickly as you are operating with oxygen debt to the muscles The value of training in this zone is you can increase your fast twitch muscle fibers which increase speed. You will not be able to stay at this level very long and should be used in intervals or sprinting work at the track.
NOW USING YOUR AGE, RESTING HEART RATE AND/OR MAX HEART RATE CLICK ON THE LINK BELOW & CALCULATE YOUR HEART RATE ZONES
Note: your resting heart rate is heart rate when you are sleeping. When you wake up, before you move, take your pulse for 10 seconds and multiply it by 6. The lower, the higher your state of fitness. How low it will go is determined ultimately by your genetics. The goal is to reach your genetic potential.
NOTE: NUMBERS ON THIS ONLINE CALCULATOR ARE NOT EXACT MATCH TO ZONES, BUT CLOSE ENOUGH TO WORK FOR YOU!
Calculating your Heart Rate Training Zones
GREEN ZONE … Recovery rides or rides when you do not feel your best but ride to keep the habit are done in the Recovery Zone! Your body can add glucose to your muscle cells in this zone.
YELLOW ZONE… Weight loss Zone Ride longer periods in this zone to build endurance and lose weight
BLUE ZONE … Increase cardio Vascular fitness, Your Lactic Threshold and your VO2 Max. High Intensity Interval Training. (HIIT) or intense Intervals at speed to improve performance. Training in this zone will develop your lactic acid system. used during competition.
RED ZONE …. Trains your fast twitch muscle fibers and helps to develop speed.
Use these zones to set up your HIIT Training efforts, Recovery efforts and Endurance Efforts!!!