When I asked Famously Homme what heart rate was when he was doing all of his jogging, he told me that it was generally about 180 bpm. I asked him what his goal was – to continue to burn off fat or to start to develop an athletic level of performance ready for sprinting or speed racing. He told me that he was still trying to get rid of his “love handles”.

Depending on where you are working within the Heart Rate Training Zones will determine the effect it is having on your fitness.

The Energy Efficient or Recovery Zone - 60% to 70% of Maximum Heart Rate

This is the zone where we start to develop basic endurance and aerobic capacity. This is a good zone to warm up in, and if you have not done exercise for a long time, it is a good zone to work in for at least a few weeks to build up a bit of cardiovascular strength. It does not expend much energy from more immediately available sources, and draws on fat as the main source of energy (60-70%). However, once your levels of fitness improve, this will be too slow for many!

The Aerobic Zone - 70% to 80% of Maximum Heart Rate

This zone pushes the body a little harder and starts to develop the cardiovascular system. This will start to improve the body’s ability to transport oxygen to the working muscles which all helps to improve the metabolism. In this zone, the body is still drawing on fat (about 50%) as a source of energy, but because you are working harder you will burn more calories overall.

The Anaerobic Zone - 80% to 90% of Maximum Heart Rate

It is in this zone that we start to draw more heavily on the more readily available sources of energy in our body – there is actually less oxygen being circulated to help the body burn fat. Here we are using predominantly stored glycogen from the muscles. Undoubtedly, this level is training the body to work at “athletic” standards

The Red Line Zone 90% to 100% of Maximum Heart Rate

In this zone, we are really training the body for speed and for most training can only be sustained for a short period of time. Only the very fit are able to train effectively in this zone.

Back to Famously Homme

His maximum heart rate would be 220 – 29 (his age) = 191. This is a guide only because the heart rate can be affected by many factors - but it is reliable enough for this purpose.

If Famously Homme regularly works out at 180 bpm, he is almost always in the Red Line Zone (172 – 191). It sounds fabulous that Richard is able to work in this zone for 25 – 30 minutes – it is an indication of how fit he has potentially become.

However, if he continues to do so for long periods of time, he may actually be putting his heart under too much stress and be placing himself at risk. This level of training is designed for short distance speed. And of course, he will not be achieving his desired outcome – maximum fat burn!

Since Famously Homme’s goal is to continue to burn off maximum fat, he actually has to slow down a lot. Ideally he should be working at approximately 75% of his maximum heart rate - 143 beats per minute - for the significant part of his workout and perhaps with some bursts of higher speed to maintain his fantastic level of fitness but without stressing the heart.

I have recommended that Famously Homme works out on the treadmill, elliptical or rower at about 145 bpm for 20-30 minutes and that he then adopts intervals for a further 10-15 minutes. This is where he will work out at 145 bpm for 3-5 minutes, and then really push himself hard for a minute (but only up to about 172 bpm), dropping back down to 145 and repeating again 3-4 times.

It really is extremely important to monitor what your heart rate is doing. You can do this, with some considerable difficulty, by trying to count your own heart beats, or you can use a great training aid - a heart monitor. Famously Homme and Lee Latchford Evans both use, and highly recommend, the Garmin range (www.garmin.com).

Let’s hope that this new strategy for Famously Homme gets rid of the last few pounds of fat, and that we avoid any risks associated with over-stressing the heart.

Good luck