Heart Rate Zone

[AgentNut]

This has probably been asked 1000 times here, but I can't seem to pinpoint an answer to my particular question. What zone is best overall for weight loss. I do moderate walking/jogging intervals, but it seems my heart rate stays in the Peak Zone mostly. Should I aim for the Cardio Zone? Overall goal is weightloss.

[Rich_Laue]

Losing weight is 80% diet, what you want to do is burn more calories than you eat. 

Now if you start building up muscls,  this might happen at first, you will find the weight doesn't change as fast as the waist does, but this is a good thing. Of course the faster you walk the gayer the calories will come off, but you don't want to lose them to fast without being under the care of a specialist. 

For me walking amd learning to not eat that second helping allowed me to lose 35 pounds. Ok not a huge loss but went from a size 38 inch waist to a lose 34.

[Dominique · Accepted solution]

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@AgentNut wrote:

it seems my heart rate stays in the Peak Zone mostly.

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It’s probably because you’re not very fit yet, so even mild effort sends you to the max. HR zone. As you exercise more and your cardio fitness improves, you will eventually find yourself in a lower HR zone for the same effort.

I wouldn’t pay too much attention to which HR zone you’re in (from the point of view of optimising fat loss) at this point, as long as it’s safe and comfortable. Exercising in different HR zones has an impact on the split of macronutrients used as fuel (more carbs at higher HR, more fat at lower HR), but you will still burn more fat (in absolute terms) at a higher HR, even if it has a lower share of the total.

And as @Rich_Laue said, nutrition is still going to be the main driver of your fat loss.

[Rich_Laue]

That's what i said by exercising and monitoring my food intake (think lifestyle change) i lost weight.

Its been known for a long time that exercise alone, will cause your body to crave more calories. Your natural instinct will be to eat, then the weight comes on faster. 

Many have lost weight just by monitoring their intake. 

[AgentNut]

Thank you. That's the answer I was looking for. I thought that may be true, but wanted input. I understand diet is key, just wanting to know the zone.

[Dominique]

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@AgentNut wrote:

just wanting to know the zone.

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Also note HR-enabled Fitbit trackers aren’t necessarily optimal for tracking your HR during effort when there are sharp variations in intensity. For that, conventional HR monitors such as Polar chest straps may be better. The value of Fitbit HR monitoring resides more in the 24/7 use (that’s my personal view): Fitbit may miss some of the short-term variations, but the data it collects to your account over time will eventually be useful. For instance, you should see improvements in your cardio-vascular health and fitness as a decreasing resting HR.

[bcalvanese]

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@AgentNut wrote:

This has probably been asked 1000 times here, but I can't seem to pinpoint an answer to my particular question. What zone is best overall for weight loss. I do moderate walking/jogging intervals, but it seems my heart rate stays in the Peak Zone mostly. Should I aim for the Cardio Zone? Overall goal is weightloss.

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If you want to increase your cardio endurance you must achieve a training effect. A training effect is keeping your heart rate at a certain level for long enough to cross the threshold of increasing endurance.

To get a training effect there is realy only one way to do it.

To get a "minimum" training effect you must keep your heart in the cardio zone (70 to 85 percent of your maximum heart rate) for a minimum of 20 minutes non stop, and a minimum of 3 times per week.

So, 30 minutes non stop, 4 times a week will yeald a better training effect.

And, 60 minutes non stop 5 times a week will yeald an even better training effect.

And, so on...

This is called steady state training.

There are many high intensity short burst type workouts that claim to increase your cardio endurance, but if you get your heart rate up and then stop before you reach the threshhold of getting a training effect, it takes away from the training effect. Kinda like racing and stopping right before you get to the finish line. These types of workouts are good for speed and agility, but will not increase your cardio endurance capacity like steady state training will.

Once you get to the point where you are getting a training effect, you will notice that you will have to put more effort to get your heart rate up, and your resting heart rate will become lower too. In the past year my resting heart rate has gone from the 80's to the 60's, and I have gone from only being able to walk 1 mile at a slow pace (and would have to lay down for an hour) to being able to power walk over 8 miles at a 4.5 mph pace with no trouble at all. To accomplish this I power walked every day for the past year, and kept pushing myself a little more each time.

My motto is...

If ya ain't huffin and puffin and sweatin... ya ain't doin it right...:)

Good luck

[josephz2va]

How much you burn efficiently is key to weight loss, but monitoring your consumption is important. Avoiding incorrect foods, places you know are not healthy to visit, consuming healthy nutrition.

In most gyms, cardio machines have a mode called Interval Rate which goes up in cardio and back down in fat burn. If you have the time, you can set the machine for it's maximum amount of minutes which increases how long you stay in the Intervals. If you can handle how long you stay in the Intervals with high resistance and low resistance, my machine sometimes goes for 95 minutes total. And I put the Fitbit in front of my display focusing on the Goal Calories since I've already completed 10,000 steps at work.

[mielke.love]

I'm so new to any of this I don't know where my heart rate should be when I am workin ou tor relaxed, I need some help guys!

[Dominique]

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@mielke.love wrote:

I don't know where my heart rate should be when I am workin ou tor relaxed

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Start by reading the help article on what you should know about your heart rate data. Ask any more specific questions if needed.

[I-train-hard]

hart zone as well as training as well as diet should be seen as the effect that you, as individual, want to see. Simple – what do I want to see, do with my body?

from my experience, moderation is the key. Our body is smarter than us and will not do what we want right away. Not that easy anyway.

Patience, observing, persistence, determination and moderation - shall do the trick.