How to Calculate Your Fat Burning Heart Rate

Calculating your heart rate while exercising can help you determine if you need to increase the intensity of your workout. You can find your ideal "fat burning heart rate" when your heart rate is in the fat burning zone, or working between 60 to 70 percent of your maximum heart rate. The reasoning behind this is that as you start exercising, your body uses stored glucose to power your muscles, but as you increase intensity, the glucose runs out, and your body starts combining fat with oxygen to fuel your muscles. If you remain in this low-intensity zone, you will continue burning fat as you work out.