Heart Rate Zones and Max Heart Rate Calculator
Enter your age and, if you know it, your resting heart rate. You get five zones in beats a minute.
This is an estimate for general information and is not medical advice. Speak to your GP before starting hard exercise if you have a heart condition, take medicine that changes your heart rate or have not exercised for a while.
Worked examples
Age 40 formulas
Age 40
Fox 180, Tanaka 180, Gellish 179, Nes 185, Gulati 171
Beats a minute, rounded.
Karvonen at 60% and 70%
Maximum 180, resting 60
132 and 144 beats a minute
(180 - 60) x 0.6 + 60 and x 0.7 + 60.
About Heart Rate Zones and Max Heart Rate Calculator
Heart rate zones let you judge how hard you are working. They start from your maximum heart rate, the highest number of beats a minute your heart can reach. The classic estimate is 220 minus your age (Fox, 1971), but later research found it tends to under-estimate in older adults, so this page also gives Tanaka (2001), Gellish (2007), Nes (2013) and Gulati (2010, for women), each as an average for a large group.
Enter your age, choose a formula or your own measured maximum, and add your resting pulse if you know it. You get five zones from very light (50 to 60% of maximum) to maximum effort (90 to 100%). With a resting pulse the page also uses the Karvonen method (1957), which works from your heart rate reserve. The American Heart Association describes 50 to 70% as moderate and 70 to 85% as vigorous. This is an estimate and not medical advice.
How to use Heart Rate Zones and Max Heart Rate Calculator
- Enter your age and pick a formula for your maximum, or enter a measured one.
- Add your resting heart rate, taken when you wake, to see the Karvonen figures.
- Read the five zones in beats a minute and the comparison of formulas.
- Check your pulse during exercise and compare it with the zones.
Common uses
- Planning easy and hard sessions
- Setting zones on a watch or chest strap
- Getting back into exercise gently
- Comparing maximum heart rate formulas for your age
Frequently asked questions
What is the maximum heart rate for my age?
By the classic formula it is 220 minus your age, so 180 at 40. Tanaka gives 180 at 40 and higher values at older ages: at 60, 220 minus age gives 160 and Tanaka gives 166.
What is the Karvonen formula?
Target heart rate equals (maximum heart rate minus resting heart rate) times the percentage, plus the resting heart rate. With a maximum of 180, a resting rate of 60 and an intensity of 70%, the target is 144.
How do I measure my resting heart rate?
Count your pulse for a full minute when you wake up, before you get out of bed. Do it on a few mornings and use the average. A lower number often goes with better fitness.
Does fitness change my maximum heart rate?
Very little. Maximum heart rate is mostly about age and genes, not fitness. A fit person usually has a lower resting heart rate, not a higher maximum.
Should I train in the top zone?
Zone 5 is a very hard effort for short periods only. Speak to your GP before hard exercise if you have a heart condition, take medicine that changes your heart rate or have not exercised for a while. This is an estimate and not medical advice.