What is the optimal heart rate zone for burning fat?

The Fat Burn zone is typically between 60% and 70% of your maximum heart rate. In this zone, a higher percentage of expended calories are derived from fat oxidation rather than glycogen.

Updated: August 2026 • Verified v1.2

Target Heart Rate Zones Multi-Formula Clinical Calculator

Health & Daily LifePopular

Local Browser Execution: Your input is processed locally in your browser and is not sent to UTL servers.

Tanaka = 208 - (0.7 * Age); Fox = 220 - Age; Gellish = 207 - (0.7 * Age); Zone = MaxHR * Pct

Was this calculation helpful?

Understanding Your Results

Calculates Max HR across 4 clinical formulas (Tanaka, Fox, Gellish, Fairbarn), compares them side-by-side, and generates exact BPM thresholds for Warm-Up (50%-60%), Fat Burn (60%-70%), Cardio (70%-85%), and Peak Anaerobic (85%-95%) zones.

Practical Guidance & Next Steps

The Tanaka formula ($208 - 0.7 \times \text{age}$) is considered the clinical standard by the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), providing superior accuracy over the traditional $220 - \text{age}$ formula for individuals over age 40.

What is this?

A cardiovascular health utility that calculates personalized target heart rate training zones and compares major clinical Max HR formulas.

How does it work?

1. Enter age, biological sex, and select preferred clinical formula. 2. Compare Max HR outputs from Tanaka, Fox, Gellish, and Fairbarn. 3. View target BPM ranges for Warm-Up, Fat Burn, Cardio, and Anaerobic Peak zones.

Why use it?

Provides accurate, clinically sound heart rate targets to optimize cardiovascular training and prevent overtraining.

Technical Scope & Calculation Limitations

Calculates clinical exercise physiology formulas.

Frequently Asked Questions

The traditional `220 - age` formula (Fox & Haskell) tends to overestimate maximum heart rate in young adults and significantly underestimate it in older adults. The Tanaka formula (`208 - 0.7 × age`) is backed by extensive meta-analyses and provides much higher clinical accuracy across all age groups.

Complementary Utilities