It is important to realize that jogging or running to lose weight is different that that for building your up your cardio vascular strength. When trying to lose weight, it is important to keep your heart rate in the fat burning zone and for cardio in the cardio zone.
A heart rate monitor watch is a very useful tool for monitoring your heart rate to ensure you are keeping yourself in the fat burning zone. Why waste the time and energy to run or jog if it is not burning away the fat efficiently?
Target Heart Rate Chart
| Age | Fat Burning Zone
(60-70% of Max. Heart Rate) |
Cardio / Aerobic Zone
(70-80% of Max. Heart Rate) |
| 20 | 120-140 | 140-160 |
| 25 | 117-136 | 137-156 |
| 30 | 114-133 | 133-152 |
| 35 | 111-129 | 130-148 |
| 40 | 108-126 | 126-144 |
| 45 | 105-122 | 123-140 |
| 50 | 102-119 | 119-136 |
| 55 | 99-115 | 116-132 |
| 60 | 96-112 | 112-128 |
| 65 | 93-108 | 109-124 |
| 70 | 90-105 | 105-120 |
As always, it is important to check with your doctor before starting any exercise program to ensure there are heart or health issues.
Keeping your heart rate below 60% will not do much to help you get fit or lose weight. However, no matter what your goal is, if you’re just starting to exercise, maintain your heart rate at the lower end of the guide from 55% to 65%. As you get used to this level of workout, you can gradually increase to the desired ranges above. As you begin to feel comfortable exercising within this range, you can slowly intensify your workout so that your heart beat falls into the upper range of your zone, near 75 to 80%.
Heart monitor watches are now available without the cumbersome chest straps that older models required. Advanced technology allows the watch to monitor your heart rate directly from your wrist. Strapless heart rate monitor watches keep you concentrated on your running and exercise rather than the band that is constricting your chest while you are running. Another great feature of these watches is GPS. This allows you to track your distance and keep yourself on track when running in unfamiliar territory.
Today’s heart rate monitor watches are an invaluable tool to help you exercise efficiently and effectively. Don’t waste another day running with your heart rate in the wrong zone. Its well worth the investment to buy yourself a new watch.
