Are you pounding the pavement or hitting the gym and not seeing the results you want? It may be time to take a look at your heart rate.

We know what you’re thinking. Of course your heart rate gets up there! You’re running for miles. But to make changes to your body—whether you’re talking about taking off pounds, inches or reducing your blood pressure— you have to not only get your heart rate up, but also back down and then up again. Those changing heart rates are at the foundation of interval training, ensuring you’re working in the targeted heart rate zones that ultimately spike your metabolism, leading to fat burning, weight loss and overall fitness.

Enter Orangetheory Fitness, coming to Raleigh in September, the innovative fitness craze designed for any fitness level. Don a real-time heart monitor that lets you know if you’re working in the target heart rate zones—3,4 and 5—during the 60-minute workout. The goal, regardless of fitness level, is to do 12 to 20 minutes in zones 4 and 5, and 25 to 35 minutes in zone 3. “There is a miscon- ception that you always have to be working in that 4th and 5th zone, but a lot happens during recovery. As you recover, your heart rate comes down, but you are still working in your fat burning zone,” says owner Kristie Shifflette. “This ig- nites your metabolism, giv- ing you that afterburn, with your metabolism continuing to work for 36 hours.” — orangetheoryfitness.com