Cost-effective workout 'Zontu' that burns fat without exerting much effort

There is a way to increase cardiovascular endurance and reduce body fat without exerting much effort. It is called 'Zone 2' exercise.

Exercise intensity can be divided into five zones based on maximum heart rate. These are 50-60%, 60-70%, 70-80%, 80-90%, and 90-100% of maximum heart rate. Zone 2 exercise refers to the activity within the second zone (60-70% of maximum heart rate). It is a level of exercise where you can talk with the person next to you, allowing for relatively light and comfortable activity.

It is a cost-effective exercise that has less physical burden but good effectiveness. It is especially good for developing cardiovascular endurance. During the zone two phase, our body engages in metabolic activities that produce energy using oxygen. This process occurs in the mitochondria within cells. The more you do zone two exercise, the better the number and energy production capacity of mitochondria become. As cardiovascular endurance improves, you can exercise for longer periods without getting tired. An increase in the number of mitochondria is known to boost immunity and slow down the aging process. These effects do not appear beyond the third zone.

Furthermore, the main component of Zontu exercise activity is fat. Exercising Zontu for more than 30 minutes can effectively burn body fat. Kim Hajung, a fitness instructor at the health management integrated platform Quat, said, "In Zontu, the amount of oxygen supplied and consumed matches, making it possible to exercise for a long time without difficulty," and "As mitochondria increase, fat consumption efficiency also rises, which can change your body to a more fat-burning type."

There is a low risk of injury and the advantage of being sustainable compared to high-intensity exercise. It is also good for mental health. It relaxes the sympathetic nervous system activation that causes body tension, providing a meditative effect. To properly experience the benefits of Zontu exercise, you should exercise for at least 30 minutes.

How can we calculate the target heart rate for aerobic exercise? Maximum heart rate varies from person to person. An accurate measurement should be obtained through a stress test, which is difficult to do at home. Instead, it can be estimated using a formula. The simplest formula is to subtract your age from 220. For example, if you are 30 years old, your maximum heart rate would be 220 minus 30, which equals 190. The target heart rate for aerobic exercise is then 60% to 70% of this value, or approximately 114 to 133 beats per minute. However, this formula does not account for individual fitness levels.

If you want to know a more accurate maximum heart rate and target heart rate, you can use the Karvonen formula. It calculates based on a reserve heart rate that reflects individual fitness levels. Reserve heart rate refers to the difference between the maximum heart rate and the resting heart rate, which is measured when at rest. To find the target heart rate for zone two, multiply the reserve heart rate by 0.6 to 0.7, then add the resting heart rate back. Resting heart rate can be checked using wearable devices, smartphones, etc. It can be measured for one minute using the index and middle fingers under the ear or on the inside of the wrist. If the calculation seems complicated, you can search for a Karvonen formula calculator online and simply input the values.

However, if the main goal of exercise is to quickly reduce body fat, it is better to exercise in Zone 4. In terms of efficiency, exercising at a heart rate that primarily uses fat as fuel is preferable, but because the total calorie expenditure is higher when exercising at the same high intensity (80-90%), the total energy burned is greater. The amount of fat burned also increases proportionally, and during rest after exercise, the heart rate drops to a zone where fat burning is more efficient, providing an additional fat-burning effect.