The Target Heart Rate Controversy

It’s always funny when there is controversy in working out, you’d think that if something is healthy for you and gets you moving there would be no way that anyone could think badly about it. But like with food, people have different opinions on what is best for the body and how hard we should be pushing ourselves. One of the biggest controversies in fitness is the target heart rate.

Your target heart rate (also known as the fat burning zone) is that special place where your body has reached its peak ability to lose weight. The theory is that once you are in this zone it doesn’t matter how hard you push yourself, you will still only burn as much as you are burning when your heart rate enters that zone.

If you want your workouts to maximize your ability to burn calories and tone, finding your target heart rate is supposed to teach you how to do that.

But how do you find that heart rate? The easiest way is to do a simple Google search for ‘target heart rate calculator’, this will give you lots of options to choose from. Simply select one and answer a few questions and you will know your target heart rate in no time.

One method of determining your target heart rate is to subtract your age in years from 220. Then take 0.75 times the result or ( (220 – age x 0.75)).

Target heart rate example for 40 year old male:  220-40= 180 x 0.75= 135

Once you have that number, you can get a heart rate monitor, like the FitBit, to monitor your heart rate while you are working out. It is interesting that despite the number of claims stating that using the target heart rate does not work, there are still so many gadgets out there designed to help you monitor your heart rate during your workout.

Just remember, it is important to build yourself up to your weight loss goals and remember to respect your body. For example, don’t skip the warm up and cool down, this will keep you from properly working up to and coming out of your fat burning zone and could do you more harm than good.

But let’s take a look at the other side of the coin for a minute. Some people believe that using your target heart rate during your workout is ineffective to say the least. The belief is that because you can reach your target heart rate without really pushing yourself to your limits during your workout you are not burning as many calories as you could otherwise.

And there’s more. They also believe that when you workout using your target heart rate you miss out on one of the biggest benefits of exercise – the afterburn effect. What is the afterburn? Essentially it means that you are burning calories even after your workout is complete, meaning you are still getting benefits from your workout long after you have left the gym.

Whether you are working out using your target heart rate or you choose to use something like tabata training so that you can get the benefits of the afterburn effect, the most important thing for you is to do what feels best for you. Don’t let others dictate your path to health, only you can do that.