Heart rate zone calculator
Give your maximum heart rate, or your age, and get your five training zones in beats per minute, the same bands our triathlon and cycling plans use, for running, riding and swimming alike. At 40, for example, an estimated maximum of 180 puts Zone 2 at 124–140 bpm. A formula gives the average for your age; a measured maximum is better if you have one.
How it works
Each zone is a share of your maximum heart rate: Zone 2, for example, is 69–78% of max. Without a measured maximum, it is estimated from your age, by Tanaka’s formula (208 − 0.7 × age) unless you choose the classic 220 − age. With a resting heart rate, a second column gives the zones by heart-rate reserve (the Karvonen method): rest + share × (max − rest), which lifts the easy zones for people with a low resting heart rate. Our plans use the % of max column.
A formula is a population average, and your own maximum can be ten or more beats either side of it. If your zones feel wrong, trust the effort words over the numbers, and use a maximum you have actually seen near the end of a hard race or a very hard hill session.
- Recovery (Z1): warm-ups, cool-downs and the easiest recovery days.
- Endurance (Z2): most of your training. Easy runs, long rides and steady swims live here.
- Tempo (Z3): steady, purposeful efforts; sweet-spot rides sit at the top of it and just into Zone 4.
- Threshold (Z4): threshold intervals, and race effort for shorter events.
- VO2 (Z5): short, very hard intervals of a few minutes.
Heart rate zones by age
Estimated maximum by both formulas, and Zone 2 and Zone 4 from the Tanaka estimate, in beats per minute.
| Age | Max (Tanaka) | Max (220 − age) | Zone 2 | Zone 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | 194 | 200 | 134–151 | 171–180 |
| 25 | 191 | 195 | 132–149 | 168–178 |
| 30 | 187 | 190 | 129–146 | 165–174 |
| 35 | 184 | 185 | 127–144 | 162–171 |
| 40 | 180 | 180 | 124–140 | 158–167 |
| 45 | 177 | 175 | 122–138 | 156–165 |
| 50 | 173 | 170 | 119–135 | 152–161 |
| 55 | 170 | 165 | 117–133 | 150–158 |
| 60 | 166 | 160 | 115–129 | 146–154 |
| 65 | 163 | 155 | 112–127 | 143–152 |
| 70 | 159 | 150 | 110–124 | 140–148 |
Questions
- Which max heart rate formula is right?
- A measured maximum beats any formula: formulas describe the average person, and real people sit ten or more beats either side of it. Of the two here, Tanaka’s 208 − 0.7 × age fits adults better than 220 − age. They agree at 40, and past that 220 − age comes out lower: at 60 it gives 160 against Tanaka’s 166.
- Why does Zone 2 feel so slow?
- Because it is meant to be easy. Zone 2 is where most endurance is built, and for many people it means running slower than feels natural, or riding with a group they could easily keep up with. Heat, hills and tiredness push heart rate up, so the same pace can land in a different zone on a different day. Months of steady training make you faster at the same heart rate, which is the point.
- Should I train by heart rate or by pace and power?
- Use each where it works best. Heart rate is a good guard on easy days, because it rises when you are tired, hot or ill even if your pace does not. For hard intervals, pace on foot and power on the bike are better guides, because heart rate takes a minute or two to catch up with a change in effort.
- Is a high max heart rate a sign of fitness?
- No. Your maximum is set mostly by age and genes and hardly changes with training. Two equally fit people can have maximums 20 beats apart, so compare your zones with your own maximum, never with someone else’s. Fitness shows up as a lower heart rate at the same pace or power, and often as a lower resting heart rate.
Train by these zones
Give the plan builder your max heart rate and every session in a triathlon or cycling plan comes with its heart-rate band, from the same zones as this page, alongside the effort it should feel like.