Heart Rate Zone Calculator

Written byOleh Soloninupdated 5 October 2026

Age, years

Resting heart rate, bpm

Result

Maximum heart rate187
Zone 1 — recovery124-136
Zone 2 — easy aerobic136-149
Zone 3 — tempo149-162
Zone 4 — threshold162-174
Zone 5 — maximal174-187

This result is informational only and is not professional advice.

Zones based on heart rate reserve, not a flat percentage

Calculate maximum heart rate and five training zones using the Karvonen method, which accounts for your resting heart rate.

This uses the Tanaka formula (208 − 0.7 × age) rather than the older 220 − age, which overestimates for younger people and underestimates for older ones.

Zones are then built from heart rate reserve — the gap between resting and maximum — so a fit person with a resting pulse of 50 gets different zones from someone at 75, even at the same age.

How to use

Enter your age.
Measure your resting heart rate lying down, straight after waking, over several mornings — and enter the average.
The calculator estimates your maximum by the Tanaka formula and builds five zones by the Karvonen method.
If your maximum has been measured in a test, trust that instead: the formula carries a spread of about ±10 beats.

Five zones at age 30

The Karvonen method takes a percentage not of the maximum but of the reserve — maximum minus resting rate — and adds it to the resting rate. At 30 with a resting rate of 60 the reserve is 127 beats, so zone 2 runs from 60 + 127 × 0.6 = 136 to 60 + 127 × 0.7 = 149.

Your resting rate shifts every zone: with a resting rate of 50, zone 2 is 132–146; with 80, it is 144–155.

Age 30, resting heart rate 60. Every row comes from the calculator on this page.
Zone	Share of reserve	Heart rate, bpm	Effort
1	50–60%	124–136	recovery
2	60–70%	136–149	easy aerobic
3	70–80%	149–162	tempo
4	80–90%	162–174	threshold
5	90–100%	174–187	maximal

Maximum heart rate by age

The Tanaka formula — 208 − 0.7 × age — falls more slowly than the old 220 − age. They meet at 40; at 20 the old formula gives 6 beats more, at 70 it gives 9 fewer.

The Tanaka maximum and zone 2 come from the calculator on this page; the 220 − age column is for comparison.
Age	Tanaka maximum	220 − age	Zone 2 at resting rate 60
20	194	200	140–154
30	187	190	136–149
40	180	180	132–144
50	173	170	128–139
60	166	160	124–134
70	159	150	119–129

What this calculator shows

Estimated maximum heart rate for your age
Five zones from easy recovery through to maximum effort
Zones calculated on heart rate reserve rather than raw percentages

What to keep in mind

Age-based formulas carry roughly ±10 bpm of individual variation.
A proper lab or field test measures your true maximum; a formula only estimates it.

Where the numbers come from

Checked against the Karvonen formula.

FAQs

How do I work out Karvonen heart rate zones?

Zone rate = resting rate + (maximum − resting rate) × share. At 30 with a resting rate of 60: maximum 187, reserve 127, zone 2 from 136 to 149 beats a minute.

What is my maximum heart rate at 40?

180 beats a minute by the Tanaka formula, and 220 − age gives the same. An age formula does not measure your own maximum; one person's real figure can differ by ten beats or more.

Why not use 220 minus age?

It was not derived from systematic measurement and drifts from the data at the ends of the age range. Tanaka's 2001 formula comes from a meta-analysis and fits measured maxima better.

How do I find my resting heart rate?

Measure it lying down before getting out of bed, across several mornings, and take the average. The American Heart Association puts the normal adult range at 60–100 beats a minute; endurance-trained people can sit below it.

What is zone 2 training?

Easy aerobic work where you can still hold a conversation. It builds endurance at a low fatigue cost, which is why it makes up most of the volume in endurance plans.

Is the fat-burning zone real?

Partly. Lower intensities burn a higher proportion of fat, but higher intensities burn more total calories. For fat loss, total energy burned and diet matter more than the zone label.

Worked example

A 30-year-old runner

Input: Age 30, resting heart rate 60

Output: Max around 187 bpm, zone 2 roughly 136–149

Note: Zone 2 is where most endurance base training happens, and it usually feels slower than people expect.

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Heart Rate Zone Calculator

Result

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