If you are interested in monitoring the intensity of your workouts there are many options available to you.
One option is to use a heart rate monitor to gauge exercise intensity. By understanding the different heart rate zones you can adapt your workouts to make sure you are training at the right intensity to meet your goals.
If you have a fitness tracker it is extremely simple, as they normally have this feature built in.
If you are working with a very basic heart rate monitor it is still fairly simple. You need to calculate your maximum heart rate. Based on this you can calculate your heart rate for each of the different training zones. You then monitor your heart rate during your workout to know how intensely you are working.
So what are the different zones, and what are they good for?
Heart Rate Zones
There are 5 heart rate zones. Each one is measured as a percentage of your maximum heart rate.
For a VERY rough estimation of your maximum heart rate (max HR), you can use the basic formula:
220 – your age.
For example, if you are 30, your max HR would be 220 – 30 = 190 beats per minute.
The 5 heart rate zones
| Heart Rate Zone | % of Max HR | Modified RPE Equivalent | Example Activity |
| Moderate Zone: Recovery or warm up | 50 – 60% | 3 – 4 | Walking |
| Fitness Zone: Light cardio | 60 – 70% | 5 – 6 | Easy jogging / power walking |
| Aerobic Zone: Cardio training & endurance | 70 – 80% | 6 – 7 | Jogging / aerobics class |
| Anaerobic Zone: Hardcore training | 80 – 90% | 7 – 8 | High Intensity Interval Training |
| Red Line Zone: Maximum Effort | 90 – 100% | 9 – 10 | Hill sprint training |
Moderate zone – recovery and warm up
The moderate zone is great as:
- your warm up if you have been exercising for a while
- a training intensity for those new to exercise
- recovery in between intervals during interval training
Your heart rate will be between 50 – 60% of its maximum in this zone. For example, if your max HR is 190 bpm, your anaerobic zone heart rate will be between 95 – 114 bpm.
This level of intensity should feel comfortable and you should be able to continue a full conversation. Examples include walking or very light jogging for those who are quite fit.
Fitness zone – light cardio
This zone goes by many different names: fitness, fat burning, light cardio, weight management zone. The reason things like “fat burning” and “weight management” are mentioned is that, at this level of intensity your body uses mostly fat for energy.
However, I find this incredibly misleading. You will always burn more total calories if you train at a higher level of intensity, so don’t force yourself to train as this light intensity level in the hope that you will lose weight faster!
Your heart rate will be between 60 – 70% of its maximum in this zone. For example, if your max HR is 190 bpm, your anaerobic zone heart rate will be between 114 – 133 bpm.
You should be able to continue this activity for a long time and be able to continue a conversation.
Examples include easy jogging or power walking at a speed you could maintain for a very long time.
Aerobic zone – cardio training and endurance
In the aerobic zone, you are now training “vigorously” (if you were using the talk test to monitor your exercise intensity).
Your heart rate will be between 70 – 80% of its maximum in this zone. For example, if your max HR is 190 bpm, your anaerobic zone heart rate will be between 133 – 152 bpm.
The aerobic zone brings with it big improvements in cardiovascular fitness, especially endurance. Your heart, lungs become more efficient and you even build new blood vessels, which improves the circulation of blood around the body.
In this zone your breathing will be much heavier. You can talk, but only in short sentences.
Examples include aerobics classes and jogging.
Anaerobic zone – hardcore training
The anaerobic zone is sometimes called the threshold zone. It is the threshold where your body starts to use an anaerobic energy system and starts to produce lactic acid (that stuff which makes your muscles burn).
Your heart rate will be between 80 – 90% of its maximum in this zone. For example, if your max HR is 190 bpm, your anaerobic zone heart rate will be between 152 – 171 bpm.
By training at this intensity, your body becomes better at clearing lactate and you will improve your performance and speed.
Examples include running and high intensity interval training.
Red line zone – maximum effort
The red line zone is your maximum effort. Your heart rate will be between 90 – 100% of its maximum.
For example if your max HR is 190 beats per minute (bpm), then your red line zone will be between 171 – 190 bpm.
You probably won’t be able to stay in this zone for longer than a few minutes. Lactic acid builds up in your blood and you won’t be able to speak more than a word or two.
This zone is great for improving your cardiovascular fitness and burns loads of calories. A great way to include the red line zone in your workouts is with interval training.
You should only aim to train in this zone if you already have a reasonable level of fitness. If you are brand new to exercise, you need to build up your fitness towards working in this zone.
Examples include hill sprint training.
Using a heart rate monitor and heart rate zones to monitor your exercise intensity
The easiest way to use heart rate zones to monitor your exercise intensity is to use a heart rate monitor.
There are many available on the market. From simple ones just monitoring your heart rate; to super-duper fancy ones that measure your sleep, track your location, your menstrual cycle, are water-proof – the list goes on.
Whatever type you use, you first need to calculate your maximum heart rate (remember, you can use the simple formula: 220 – your age). You can then use the ranges given above to understand which training intensity you are working at.
Many of the fitness trackers will do all of this automatically for you. They will calculate your max heart rate based on your age. And they have built in training zones, so they will tell you the intensity you are training at. (They will probably use different names for their zones, but the concept is the same).
Benefits and problems of using a heart rate monitor for exercise intensity
Benefits of heart rate monitors
- It is an objective measure – it is not based on how you feel, but on hard facts
- This method is more complicated to understand (although it has become much simpler with fitness trackers that automatically calculate your training zones for you)
- It can be a motivating way of training as you push yourself to stay within a certain zone
Problems with heart rate monitors
- Most people do not accurately know their maximum heart rate, meaning the heart rate zones are calculated based on averages
- It requires special equipment (a heart rate monitor)
- This method cannot be accurately used by pregnant women and people on medications that impact their heart rate
Other ways to monitor your exercise intensity
Alongside using heart rate monitors, there are two other mainstream methods to monitor exercise intensity.
- The Talk Test – no equipment required, you assess the intensity of your activity by gauging how easy you find it to talk
- Rate of perceived exertion (RPE) – no equipment required, you gauge how hard you are working by using a scale of 1 to 10
Conclusion
Using a heart rate monitor is a reasonably accurate way to monitor your exercise intensity. It is not based on your own subjective opinion of how hard you are working, unlike the other commonly used methods.
It can be a very motivating method of monitoring your intensity, as it can push you to work harder in order to stay in a higher intensity level for longer periods. You can also track your progress over time by comparing your heart rate during the same type of workout.
Since fitness trackers have become more readily available and popular, it has also become much simpler and easy to understand. This makes it a more viable option for everyone, not just elite athletes.
Have you tried using a heart rate monitor? How did you find it?