How do you calculate your heart rate zone correctly and why do you need to know it?

We often perform habitual actions and don’t think about why it happens. Remember how once, going up the escalator, you felt your heart in your chest began to beat more often, your breathing became labored… How often can it beat? And how often can our breathing be? Let’s turn to science together with Lev Pozdnyakov – the creator of leofit.pro studios, personal trainer, methodologist of the RUSSIAN FITNESS COMMUNITY fitness school and presenter of the International Festival of Health and Sports SN PRO EXPO FORUM.

HR (or pulse) – heart rate, how many beats the heart makes per minute, pumping blood throughout the body, supplying muscle fibers and other body cells with oxygen.

Why do you need to know your heart rate?

By knowing your heart rate at the time of your workout, you can assess how intense it is and, if necessary, modify the intensity to suit your goals – to make it more effective and safe.

How do I know my heart rate?

You can find out your heart rate by pressing the carotid artery in your neck and counting the number of beats per minute.
During a workout, it’s difficult to constantly search for the artery with shaky hands, and that’s where gadgets come to our rescue.

• Chest sensor. Fixes on the chest, synchronizes with a special watch and constantly scans your heart rate. It is the most reliable meter.
• Optical sensor. A watch with an LED on the side of the wrist. Reads your heart rate by shining a light through the capillary walls on your wrist. The sensor works well if the watch is securely fastened to the wrist. During active workouts, they can shift, which can change the readings. Now almost all modern “smart” watches are equipped with this sensor and keep statistics.

Today, some modern fitness clubs and group program studios are equipped with sensors and monitors. You come to the training, fill out a special questionnaire and get a chest sensor at the entrance. During the workout, you control your intensity level on special monitors that display information about heart rate zones, your current heart rate, intensity scores and how many calories you have burned.

What are heart rate zones?

Zones are calculated as a percentage of your maximum heart rate (MHR). Your resting heart rate is usually between 60-100 beats per minute. In professional athletes (such as marathon runners) from 40-60.
If your heart rate goes higher, it can be considered a workout! By exercising in different zones, you can pursue different goals:

“Gray” zone

Low-intensity zone – 50-60% of your maximum HR reading. You should start training in this zone to prepare your heart for the load. During the workout, you can return to this zone between high and very high intensity phases.
If you are training in the gym for muscle mass growth, returning to the gray zone will signal that it is time to do a new approach.

The “blue” zone

A low-intensity fitness zone, 60-70% of your maximum. When you train in this zone, fatty acids are used as an energy source, which are perfectly oxidized by oxygen at this heart rate. So if you are a beginner and want to lose weight, this is the place to go!

“Green” zone

Medium Intensity Zone. The aerobic zone is 70-80% of maximum.
In this zone, in addition to weight loss, we can improve aerobic endurance!

“Yellow zone

High Intensity Zone. Anaerobic zone, 80-90% of maximum. This is where the oxygen-free energy supply mechanism comes into play. You won’t lose weight here, but you can develop your MPC (maximum oxygen consumption) and LEF (vital capacity of the lungs), and next time you won’t choke so much on the escalator.

“Red Zone

Anaerobic zone of maximum intensity, 90% to 100% of maximum. Amateurs are not recommended to stay in this zone for more than 30-60 seconds, and beginners should not do it without a trainer’s supervision. Training in this zone will help you to significantly improve your endurance, MPK and especially your GIEF, to get close to and push the limits of your capabilities!

How is the heart rate zone calculated?

To do this, you need to calculate your MHR, and this is affected by many parameters – gender, age, height, activity, etc.

There are different formulas for calculation, for example 220 – age, or the Karkvonen formula. But as practice shows they are not objective, because all people are individual.

Therefore, the best way to find out by experience:

Pozdnyakov’s test

When you feel rested and in good shape, do some light stretching, walk for a minute, run for 3 minutes in the green zone, and then do 3 consecutive sprints of 20 seconds each with a rest interval of 20-30 seconds. Each successive sprint should be faster than the previous one, and on the last one your speed will be maximal. The heart rate that was at the last seconds of the third sprint is your maximum heart rate and you can build up zones from that.

In any case, it is recommended that you do a full examination of your heart before you start training and understand your baseline. Remember, smart fitness is always the best decision!