In one of my previous blogs, I did share the absolute #1 fat loss tip but in order for everything to work, you also need to make sure you are in your fat burning zone. Nutrition is the other important thing. In this blog, I am covering the fat burning zone.
Question – What exactly is fat burning zone and how do I measure it?
The first thing you would need for this is a heart rate monitor and I recommend the Xiaomi Mi Band (here is my review and amazon link to the smartwatches). Now let’s get down to our math exercise of the day,
Step 1
Subtract your age with 220. I am 29 so below is what I get,
220 – 29 (your age) = 191
Step 2
Multiply the result of step 1 with 0.6 and 0.8
191 x 0.6 = 114.6
191 x 0.8 = 152.8
This heart rate range of 114.6 to 152.8 is the fat burning zone for all 29-year-olds out there. Anything above this is muscle loss (the most dreaded thing for our body builder friends). Below is a handy table I have put together,
Step 3
Use the Xiaomi Mi Band or any other heart rate monitor to keep track of your heart rate while you are running (or doing any other cardio). Since I am into running below is a graph it generated for me after a 7 km run,
So with an average of 149 bpm, I ran the entire time in my fat burning zone which is good news. Wherever I went above 152.8, I lost some muscle. This graph is very important because as beginners we may think that the faster we run, the more fat we lose which is not necessarily true. You just need to run fast enough to enter your fat burning zone.
PS – The drops you see is when I walk or run very slowly in between for recovery. Notice how the heart rate still doesn’t go below my fat burning minimum of 114.6 bpm
To sum it all up, you can check out a video from my favorite Aaron Marino from I am Alpha M linked below on fat burning zone,