Heart rate zones: work out your max heart rate and your 5 effort zones
This heart rate zone calculator estimates your maximum heart rate with the Tanaka formula (208 - 0.7 x age), or uses the value you measured. It then splits your 5 effort zones, as a percentage of max heart rate, or of your heart rate reserve (Karvonen method) if you add your resting heart rate.
Fill in the fields to see the result.
How to use it
- Enter your age, or your max heart rate if you've measured it.
- Add your resting heart rate if you know it (optional): taken in the morning when you wake up, lying down.
- Read your 5 zones in beats per minute.
- Put them into your watch or keep them handy for your workouts.
The method
The formula from Tanaka, Monahan and Seals (2001) comes from a meta-analysis of 351 studies and 18,712 people, then checked in the lab on 514 healthy adults: max heart rate = 208 - 0.7 x age. It's more accurate than the old 220 - age formula, which underestimates max heart rate in older people and was never drawn from a real study (Robergs and Landwehr, 2002). It works for men and women alike.
Without a resting heart rate, each zone is a percentage of max heart rate: zone 1 recovery 50 to 60%, zone 2 endurance 60 to 70%, zone 3 tempo 70 to 80%, zone 4 threshold 80 to 90%, zone 5 VO2max 90 to 100%. With your resting heart rate, the calculator applies the Karvonen method (1957): target heart rate = resting heart rate + % x (max heart rate - resting heart rate). You then work on your heart rate reserve, the gap between resting and maximum, which takes your fitness into account.
An example
You're 40: your estimated max heart rate is 208 - 0.7 x 40 = 180 beats per minute. Without a resting heart rate, your zone 2 runs from 108 to 126 bpm. With a resting heart rate of 60, Karvonen gives a zone 2 of 132 to 144 bpm and a zone 4 of 156 to 168 bpm.
Limitations
A max heart rate calculated from age is still a population average. For a given person, the gap with the real value is often more than 10 beats (Robergs and Landwehr report standard errors of 7 to 11 beats). If your zones feel too easy or impossible to hold, your max heart rate is probably wrong. Some medications, like beta blockers, change heart rate: in that case, and for any unusual shortness of breath, chest pain or feeling faint during exercise, talk to a doctor. An exercise test with a sports doctor gives your real max heart rate.
Frequently asked questions
How do you calculate your maximum heart rate?
The Tanaka formula gives an estimate: 208 - 0.7 x your age. For a reliable value, you need a maximal exercise test, ideally supervised by a sports doctor.
What is zone 2 in running?
In this calculator, 60 to 70% of your max heart rate, or of your heart rate reserve with Karvonen. It's easy aerobic running: you can talk while you run.
Is the 220 - age formula wrong?
It wasn't drawn from a real study and it underestimates max heart rate in older people. The Tanaka formula, based on 18,712 people, is more accurate on average.
Should you use your resting heart rate?
Yes, if you know it well. The Karvonen method takes your fitness into account, which gives zones that suit you better than a simple percentage of max heart rate.
Sources
- Tanaka, H., Monahan, K. D. and Seals, D. R. (2001). Age-predicted maximal heart rate revisited. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 37(1), 153-156.
- Karvonen, M. J., Kentala, E. and Mustala, O. (1957). The effects of training on heart rate; a longitudinal study. Annales Medicinae Experimentalis et Biologiae Fenniae, 35(3), 307-315.
- Robergs, R. A. and Landwehr, R. (2002). The surprising history of the “HRmax = 220 - age” equation. Journal of Exercise Physiology online, 5(2).
What if ELYO worked it out for you?
ELYO reads the heart rate from your workouts and spots your real max heart rate when your efforts bring it out. Your zones are then set on your real data, and so is your plan.