Heart rate zone calculator
Heart rate zone calculator: max heart rate, zone 2 and target zones
Enter your age to estimate your maximum heart rate and five training zones. Add your resting heart rate for zones based on heart-rate reserve (the Karvonen method), or your measured maximum if you know it.
Find your zones
Only age is required. A measured maximum and your resting heart rate make the zones more personal.
Example: age 35, Tanaka formula
Maximum heart rate
184 bpm
Zone 2
110–129 bpm
Moderate intensity
118–140 bpm
Vigorous intensity
142–175 bpm
With a resting heart rate of 60, zone 2 by heart-rate reserve would be 134–147 bpm.
Maximum heart rate: four formulas
Maximum heart rate falls with age, by a little under one beat a minute per year. The best known formula, 220 minus age, was never derived from a study designed for it. Later research measured maximum heart rate in large groups and found better-fitting lines:
| Age | Tanaka | Nes | Gulati (women) | Fox |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | 194 bpm | 198 bpm | 188 bpm | 200 bpm |
| 30 | 187 bpm | 192 bpm | 180 bpm | 190 bpm |
| 40 | 180 bpm | 185 bpm | 171 bpm | 180 bpm |
| 50 | 173 bpm | 179 bpm | 162 bpm | 170 bpm |
| 60 | 166 bpm | 173 bpm | 153 bpm | 160 bpm |
| 70 | 159 bpm | 166 bpm | 144 bpm | 150 bpm |
Estimated maximum heart rate by age
- Tanaka
- Nes
- Gulati (women)
- Fox
Every formula describes an average. In the HUNT study the typical error of the formula was about 11 beats a minute, so two people of the same age can easily have maximum heart rates 20 beats apart, and an age-based estimate can put your zones off by several beats. If you have recorded a higher heart rate during a race or a hard test, use that number.
Two ways to set zones
Percent of maximum
- Zone = share of maximum heart rate
- Needs only an age or a measured maximum
- Used by many watches by default
Heart-rate reserve (Karvonen)
- Reserve = maximum − resting heart rate
- Zone = resting + share × reserve
- Accounts for a low or high resting heart rate
The same percentage gives a higher heart rate with the reserve method, and a lower resting heart rate moves every reserve zone down a little. That is why “zone 2” from one method isn’t the same number as from the other. Both use the same five bands:
| Zone | Share | Age 35 (% of max) | Age 35, resting 60 (reserve) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zone 1: very light | 50–60% | 92–110 bpm | 122–134 bpm |
| Zone 2: light | 60–70% | 110–129 bpm | 134–147 bpm |
| Zone 3: moderate | 70–80% | 129–147 bpm | 147–159 bpm |
| Zone 4: hard | 80–90% | 147–166 bpm | 159–172 bpm |
| Zone 5: maximum | 90–100% | 166–184 bpm | 172–184 bpm |
Target heart rate for exercise
Guidelines describe intensity in two bands. The American College of Sports Medicine’s position stand gives 64–76% of maximum heart rate for moderate exercise and 77–95% for vigorous exercise or, using heart-rate reserve, 40–59% and 60–89%. The calculator shows the first when you leave resting heart rate empty, and the second when you fill it in. Other organisations publish slightly different ranges, and the ACSM itself notes the methods aren’t exactly equivalent, so treat any band as a guide alongside how the effort feels.
What zone 2 means
“Zone 2” is easy, conversational effort. Definitions differ: 60–70% of maximum, 60–70% of reserve, or the intensity just below the first lactate threshold measured in a lab. These overlap but aren’t identical, which is why your watch and a coach may disagree. What the research does and doesn’t show about zone 2 training is in zone 2 training: what the research says.
Getting better numbers
- Resting heart rate: take it on waking, lying still, over several mornings, or use the resting value your watch records overnight.
- Maximum heart rate: the highest value from a hard race or an all-out effort at the end of a session is a lower limit for your real maximum. Don’t attempt a maximal test if you have heart symptoms or haven’t been active; get medical advice first.
- Medicines such as β-blockers lower heart rate, so heart-rate zones may not apply. Use how the effort feels and talk to your doctor.
Zones in Bodyvault
Bodyvault uses your own resting and maximum heart rate (the reserve method), or the zones set in Apple’s Workout app, and shows the live zone on Apple Watch and iPhone during cardio, with time in each zone afterwards. Heart rate recovery after a workout is part of its Readiness score; the research behind it is in heart rate recovery explained.
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Questions
How do I calculate my maximum heart rate?
The most used research formula is 208 − 0.7 × age (Tanaka), which gives 180 bpm at 40. Any age formula can be off by 10 or more beats for one person; a measured maximum is better.
What is my zone 2 heart rate?
By the common definition, 60–70% of maximum: 110–129 bpm at 35 with the Tanaka formula. With a resting heart rate it is 60–70% of reserve.
Is 220 minus age accurate?
It is simple, but it wasn’t developed from original research, and like other age formulas it can be off by about 10 beats or more for one person. Compared with the Tanaka formula it gives higher values below 40 and lower values above 40.
What is a good target heart rate for exercise?
The ACSM classes moderate exercise as 64–76% of maximum heart rate or 40–59% of heart-rate reserve, and vigorous exercise as 77–95% of maximum or 60–89% of reserve.
Sources
- Tanaka H, Monahan KD, Seals DR (2001). Age-predicted maximal heart rate revisited. J Am Coll Cardiol 37(1):153–156.
- Nes BM et al. (2013). Age-predicted maximal heart rate in healthy subjects: the HUNT Fitness Study. Scand J Med Sci Sports 23(6):697–704.
- Gulati M et al. (2010). Heart rate response to exercise stress testing in asymptomatic women: the St. James Women Take Heart Project. Circulation 122(2):130–137.
- Robergs RA, Landwehr R (2002). The surprising history of the “HRmax = 220 − age” equation. J Exerc Physiol Online 5(2):1–10.
- Karvonen MJ, Kentala E, Mustala O (1957). The effects of training on heart rate; a longitudinal study. Ann Med Exp Biol Fenn 35(3):307–315.
- Garber CE et al. (2011). ACSM position stand: quantity and quality of exercise for developing and maintaining fitness in apparently healthy adults. Med Sci Sports Exerc 43(7):1334–1359.