When you exercise at different heart rate zones, your body undergoes different physiological adaptations, which can produce different results. By monitoring your heart rate during exercise you can learn which heart rate zone is best for you to achieve your desired results.

Which heart rate zone produces the best result?

Heart rate zones are usually defined as a percentage of your maximum heart rate, which is the highest heart rate you can achieve during exercise. The five commonly recognized heart rate zones are:

1. Zone 1: Very light intensity (50-60% of maximum heart rate)
2. Zone 2: Light intensity (60-70% of maximum heart rate)
3. Zone 3: Moderate intensity (70-80% of maximum heart rate)
4. Zone 4: High intensity (80-90% of maximum heart rate)
5. Zone 5: Maximum intensity (90-100% of maximum heart rate)

Here’s how different heart rate zones affect your body

• Zone 1: This zone is ideal for warm-up and recovery exercises. It helps improve your cardiovascular health, and blood circulation and helps increase your endurance level.
• Zone 2: This zone increases the body’s aerobic capacity, helps burn fat, and improves cardiovascular health. It is ideal for low-intensity exercises such as walking, jogging, and cycling.
• Zone 3: This zone is ideal for endurance training as it helps increase lactate threshold and boost the body’s anaerobic capacity.
• Zone 4: This zone is ideal for high-intensity interval training as it helps increase the body’s maximal oxygen uptake and improve anaerobic endurance.
• Zone 5: This zone is ideal for short and intense exercises as it helps improve the body’s anaerobic capacity and speed.

At AtmosEffect Fitness we simplify the five zones to three. 

The color grey represents the lower heart rate zone. The blue zone is the middle zone, and Orange represents the highest zone level. Your online personal trainer will help determine how much time you need to spend in each zone. 

The Grey zone

The grey zone is determined by lower heart rates, up to 64% of your maximum heart. This zone produces little to no fatigue but has many benefits.

• Improve health
• Improve mobility
• Prevents disease
• Promotes recovery
• Increase calorie burn above resting.

Exercises such as Yoga, stretching, a leisure walk, or single-body part strength training would keep you in the grey zone. 

The Blue Zone

The blue zone is where AtmosEffect trainers require the largest amount of exercise time. The blue zone is 65-85% of your heart rate maximum and the effort exerted in the blue zone is what most people identify as “exercise.” You will exert moderate effort and it can be repeated daily or often. 

• The benefits of the blue zone are
• Improves cardiovascular health and fitness
• Achieve a significant calory burn
• Burn greater amounts of fat in this zone.

Exercises include jogging, cycling, full body strength training, and group exercise classes.

The Orange Zone. 

This is the highest intensity zone which requires max effort. This zone is 86%-100% of your hear rate maximum. It will create a high metabolic demand and neural fatigue in your body. After exerting maximum effort you will need to allow yourself adequate recovery. 

• The benefits of meeting your required time in the orange zone are as follows
• Increased calorie burn during and after exercise
• Increase tolerance for high-intensity exercise
• Prolong time to fatigue

Exercises include HIIT, sprint intervals, and intense group classes.

 

In summary, exercising in different heart rate zones can help you achieve different results and adaptations, and it’s important to train in a variety of zones to improve your overall fitness level. Your online personal trainer will determine how much time you need to spend in each zone to reach your health and weight loss goals. 

Before starting any new exercise program, it’s essential to consult with a healthcare provider or a qualified fitness professional to determine your individual exercise capacity and heart rate zones.