Heart Rate Zone Calculator
Five zones in beats per minute, and what each is for.
Optional — each one makes the zones more yours
Counted on waking, before getting up: beats in 30 seconds, times two. With it the zones use the Karvonen method, which fits fitter people better.
From an exercise test or a hard all-out effort on a heart rate strap. A measured maximum beats any formula.
Fill in the fields and the answer appears here.
An estimate from age, not a measurement: a real maximum can sit 10 beats or more either side. With a heart condition, high blood pressure or medicine that changes the heart rate (beta blockers, for one), take your zones from your doctor or an exercise test, not from here.
How this was worked out
Fill in the fields and the answer appears here.
Guide: Five zones, each for something3 min read
Five zones, each for something
Training by heart rate zones means dosing effort by the heart rather than by feel. Zone 1 is recovery; zone 2, the aerobic base, is where runners and cyclists spend most of their time — you can still talk; zone 3 is steady tempo; zone 4, hard intervals near threshold; zone 5, short all-out efforts.
The calculator gives all five in beats per minute, with what each is for. Every zone ends one beat below the next, so a reading on your watch belongs to exactly one.
Maximum heart rate: Tanaka, not 220 − age
The maximum is estimated with Tanaka’s equation, 208 − 0.7 × age, published in 2001 from a meta-analysis covering thousands of people. The old 220 − age was never fitted to data and underestimates the maximum for anyone past 40. Even Tanaka is an average: one person’s real maximum can sit 10 beats or more away. If you have measured yours in an exercise test or an all-out effort on a chest strap, type it in and the formula is skipped.
With a resting rate: Karvonen
Without a resting heart rate, each zone is a percentage of the maximum. With one, the calculator uses the Karvonen method: a share of the heart rate reserve — the gap between resting and maximum — added to the resting rate. Trained people tend to have a low resting rate, and Karvonen lifts their zones where a plain percentage would leave them too low. Measure it on waking, before getting up, on a few mornings.
When the zones don’t apply
Medicines such as beta blockers lower the heart rate, and heart conditions change what is safe. Then your zones should come from your doctor or an exercise test, not from a formula. Everything here runs in your browser.
How we calculate
Tanaka (2001)
maximum heart rate = 208 − 0.7 × age
Source: Tanaka H, Monahan KD, Seals DR. Age-predicted maximal heart rate revisited. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2001;37(1):153-156.
Karvonen (1957)
target = resting + share × (maximum − resting): a share of the heart rate reserve
Source: Karvonen MJ, Kentala E, Mustala O. The effects of training on heart rate; a longitudinal study. Ann Med Exp Biol Fenn. 1957;35(3):307-315.
The zones
Zone 1 — recovery: 50–60%; Zone 2 — base: 60–70%; Zone 3 — tempo: 70–80%; Zone 4 — threshold: 80–90%; Zone 5 — maximum: 90–100%. Each ends one beat below the next.
Frequently asked questions
What is my zone 2 heart rate?
Zone 2 is 60 to 70% of your maximum heart rate — or of your heart rate reserve, if you add your resting rate. For a 30-year-old with no resting rate given that is 112 to 130 bpm; with a resting rate of 60 it moves up to 136 to 148. It is the easy pace where you can still talk in full sentences.
How is maximum heart rate estimated?
With Tanaka's equation, 208 − 0.7 × age, published in 2001 from a meta-analysis of hundreds of studies. It replaced the old 220 − age, which was never fitted to data and underestimates the maximum after about 40. If you have measured your maximum, type it in and the formula is skipped.
What is the Karvonen method?
A way of setting zones as a share of the heart rate reserve — the beats between your resting and maximum rates — added to the resting rate. It moves the zones up for people with a low resting rate, which is why it fits trained people better than a plain percentage of the maximum.
How do I measure my resting heart rate?
On waking, before you get up: count the beats in 30 seconds and double it, or read it from a watch. Take it on a few mornings and use the typical value.
Are these zones right if I take heart medication?
No. Beta blockers and several other medicines lower the heart rate, and heart conditions change what is safe. In that case your zones should come from your doctor or an exercise test.