My name is Greg Ryan. I am a fitness expert, professional bodybuilder, personal, trainer to movie stars, former employee of Kathy Smith and over 50, 000 hours of paid personal training sessions under my belt. For the last twenty years I have been able to continually make progress, stay consistent and have some fun in my quest to be in better shape. One very important technique you need to learn is how to monitor your heart rate.  I have been able to keep my body fat low for years because I am efficient not because I know it all. Here is what I mean:  

Low Body Fat Technique #2: Work your heart smarter not harder! 

One of the most neglected parts of any workout program is not making the most out of your cardiovascular training time. Cardiovascular training is when you exercise your heart at a certain level of effort. Something is better than nothing, but just going through the motions just to say you’ve done it, is not working smart.  

One of the most important and effective things you can do to lower your body fat is to monitor your heart rate as you exercise. How do you do that and what is the right rate for you?  

You do that by taking your heart rate during your workout. While performing your cardiovascular workout begin by taking your pulse at the eight minute mark and then in ten minute increments there after.  

How you determine your heart rate is to complete the heart rate zone formula:

220-age x 60-85 % - Target heart rate zone.  

The simplest way to do this is to determine your heart rate zone top number and bottom number. Second divide both numbers by six. This will give you to small numbers to make sure you strive for in a ten second period. If you are to low, beef it up, if you are too high you will burn muscle. Stay in the zone and you will be surprised how the body fat will start coming off.  

But, you have to push yourself. You can not slack off on this. Just getting on the treadmill for a nice little stroll only satisfies the mind and not the body.  

The goal is to maintain your heart rate in the zone for 20 to 40 minutes.