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By: Bob Howard

One of the most essential questions to ask when doing your cardio is am I training too intensely or not intensely enough? To help guide you in this regard the Target Heart Rate Zone (THRZ) can play an important role.


The first step in determining your THRZ is to calculate your maximum heart rate (max HR). You can do this two ways. The simplest is to subtract your age from 220. For example if you were 30 years old, your predicted max HR would be 190 beats per minute. The other method, while much more accurate, is also much more complicated and involves having a medical or fitness professional administer what's called a max HR test for you. Unless you are an Olympic athlete and trying to shave 1/100th of a second off your 100meter sprint, use the first method.


Once you have determined your max HR, you need to decide what zone you want to train at. As you can see, from below, there are actually five different training zones separated by 10% increments. Each one has varying degrees of difficulty and benefits.

Healthy Heart Zone


The first zone is called the Healthy Heart Zone. In this zone you try to keep your heart at 50 to 60 percent of your max heart rate. This is the easiest and most comfortable zone within which to train and is the one that is best for people who are just starting an exercise program. Although this zone has been criticized in the past for not burning many total calories, and for a having too low an intensity level, it will decrease body fat, blood pressure and total cholesterol levels. In the Healthy Heart Zone, about 10% of carbohydrates are used as energy, 5% of protein is burned and the remaining 85% comes from fat.


Fitness Zone


The next zone up in intensity level is what's called the Fitness Zone. In this case you try to maintain your heart rate at 60 to 70 percent of your max HR. Once again, 10% of the calories come from carbohydrates, 5% from protein, and 85 percent from fat. The benefits of this zone are slightly better than the Healthy Heart Zone as you are now burning more calories and providing a little more cardiovascular stimulation.

Aerobic Zone

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