Find your max heart rate and training zones.
Enter your age and sex to estimate your maximum heart rate, then read five training zones in beats per minute. Add a resting heart rate and get personalized Karvonen zones too. Everything updates live.
Your details
Headline uses Tanaka (208 - 0.7 times age), or Gulati for women. Add your resting pulse to unlock personalized Karvonen zones.
What this means
Your training zones
Each zone is a percentage band of your estimated maximum heart rate.
| Zone | Effort | % of max | Beats per minute | What it trains |
|---|
Max heart rate, explained
What maximum heart rate means and how it is estimated
Your maximum heart rate is the highest number of times your heart can beat in one minute during all-out effort. It is mostly set by age and genetics, not by fitness, so a very fit person and an unfit person of the same age often share a similar maximum even though the fit person can do far more work at any given heart rate. Because a true max is hard and risky to measure directly, most people estimate it from a formula.
The classic Fox equation, 220 minus age, is easy to remember but tends to run high for younger people and low for older ones. Newer formulas such as Tanaka, 208 minus 0.7 times age, and Nes, 211 minus 0.64 times age, fit large modern datasets more closely, which is why this calculator uses Tanaka as the default headline.
Reading your five training zones
Once you have an estimated maximum, training zones are simply percentage bands of that number. Zone 1 at 50 to 60% is a gentle warm-up and recovery pace. Zone 2 at 60 to 70% builds your aerobic base and burns fat efficiently, which is where a lot of endurance training should live. Zone 3 at 70 to 80% is a moderate aerobic effort, Zone 4 at 80 to 90% is a hard threshold effort that raises your lactate tolerance, and Zone 5 at 90 to 100% is maximum effort you can only hold for short intervals.
Spending most of your easy days in Zone 2 and reserving Zones 4 and 5 for a smaller share of harder sessions is a pattern many coaches recommend for steady, low-injury progress.
Why the Karvonen method is more personal
The simple percentage method ignores your resting heart rate, so two people with the same maximum get identical zones even if one has a resting pulse of 45 and the other 75. The Karvonen method fixes this by working from your heart rate reserve, which is your maximum minus your resting rate. A target is your resting heart rate plus a chosen intensity times that reserve. If you enter a resting heart rate, this calculator shows a second, personalized zone table using Karvonen, which usually lands a little higher than the plain percentage zones and better reflects your own conditioning.
Common questions
How accurate is the 220 minus age formula?
It is a rough guide only. Every age-based formula carries individual variance of roughly plus or minus 10 to 12 beats per minute, and the Fox 220 minus age version in particular tends to overestimate for younger adults and underestimate for older ones. Tanaka and Nes fit modern data more closely, but only a supervised lab or field maximum test gives your true number.
Should men and women use different formulas?
They can. The Gulati formula, 206 minus 0.88 times age, was developed from a large study of women and often estimates a slightly lower maximum than Tanaka for the same age. This calculator uses Gulati as the headline when you select female and Tanaka when you select male, while still showing every formula so you can compare.
What is heart rate reserve?
Heart rate reserve is your maximum heart rate minus your resting heart rate. It represents the range your heart can work across, from complete rest to full effort. The Karvonen method uses it to set training targets that account for your own resting pulse, which makes the zones more personal than a flat percentage of maximum.
Do I need a doctor before training in the higher zones?
If you are new to exercise, older, or have any heart condition or risk factors, get medical clearance before pushing into hard Zone 4 and Zone 5 efforts. These estimates are for general planning only and are not medical advice. Stop and seek help if you feel chest pain, dizziness, or unusual shortness of breath.
Estimate only, not medical advice. Age-based formulas carry individual variance of roughly plus or minus 10 to 12 beats per minute, and only a supervised lab or field maximum test is exact. Get medical clearance before hard training, and stop if you feel chest pain, dizziness or unusual shortness of breath.