If you’ve grown out of the simple walking on the treadmill at a steady pace and have the basics of knowing what and how to determine your heart rate, then you’re ready to move into a little more in depth training protocols. Heart rate training zones are calculated by utilizing your maximum heart rate (MHR) and your resting heart rate (RHR). Once determined, each training zone has it’s subtle physiological effects that take place to enhance your aerobic fitness level beyond just steady-state walking.

So how in depth can you go and how involved does it get? Well it can be as simple or as science heavy as you want it to be. In this article we’ll go into the science of each training zone and how each benefits you based on your fitness goals. Though in the end you should have a simple understanding of how you use each one.

The Fat Burning/Recovery Zone - 60% to 70% MHR

This is the beginners training zone. Those new to physical activity or the de-conditioned are best suited to start within this training zone. This zone helps build up overall endurance and improves cardiovascular health. This is the zone where you do primarily burn fat as fuel for the intensity level. Total calories should be taken into account and at this level that will be low compared to other intensities, which is fine for starting out.

This zone is also a way to strip fat without losing too much muscle if the time frame is kept under control (i.e. 20-30 min.) Going longer and muscle can be metabolized and sacrificed with not much more fat loss. This is also a zone used for recovery when doing interval training, easy recovery running should be completed at a maximum of 70% to fully be able to keep going.

The Aerobic Zone - 70% to 80% MHR

Training in this zone will develop your cardiovascular system and increase your overall aerobic capacity. This is the typical work zone for most runners and athletes. In this zone you can improve the body's ability to transport oxygen to muscle tissue. As you progress in this zone you’ll be able to do long runs and get the benefits of overall calorie burning.

The Anaerobic Zone - 80% to 90% MHR

This zone is utilized to improve your lactic acid system. This is where what’s called your anaerobic threshold is developed and determined. In this range you’re training without oxygen, so stored energy is used and lactic acid is built up and must be removed. The point at which the body can no longer remove the lactic acid from the working muscles quickly enough is called your anaerobic threshold, since it will cause a rise in heart rate and a decrease in muscle function. Over time training in this zone you will be able to go longer and harder without succumbing to fatigue from lactic acid as your body increases it’s ability to get rid of the excess lactic acid.

The High Intensity Zone - 90% to 100% MHR

Yep, you can still go more intense. This high intensity zone is best used in interval training by well conditioned individuals. It can only be used for short periods of time because of its high demand on the body. It predominantly trains your fast twitch muscle fibers, think Olympic sprinting as an example. This zone is used to train and develop overall speed. Again, this level of intensity should be used solely by athletes or the highly conditioned individual.

These are the main heart rate zones and what the goal and result of each are. Knowing the intensity you’re training in by using a heart rate monitor will allow you to better determine how effective your workout is going. It will also tell you if the zone you’re training in corresponds with your fitness goals. This little bit of knowledge can go a long way in helping you achieve success.

The best way to measure your heart rate while exercising is with one of the many styles of heart rate monitors available today. Heart Rate Monitors fall into two different types - Continuous and Instantaneous.

Continuous heart rate monitors utilize a chest strap to measure the heart beat and transmit this information to a watch worn on the wrist. The heart rate monitor watches usually have quite sophisticated software to analyze, monitor, and track your heart rate levels through out your exercise program. Many will also provide a relatively accurate calorie burn measurement that uses age, sex, weight, height and of course, heart rate in its calculations. Most of the chest straps utilized with these heart rate monitors also transmit the heart rate information to many popular cardio training machines found in many health clubs. This is a great option to measure one's exercise level to help obtain maximum results. The most popular continuous heart rate monitors are made by Polar USA and are available at www.Fitzz.com .

Instanteous (often called strapless as they do not utilize the strap to obtain the heart rate) heart rate monitors only measure one's heart rate when one or two fingers are placed on the face of sensors usually on the face of the watch. While these heart rate monitors only measure the rate at any specific moment, most of these heart rate monitors also have sophisticated software that will interpolate between readings to offer an overall work out summary. Some of the most popular brands of strapless heart rate monitors include mio and Reebok and these are available at www.Fitzz.com .