Heart Rate Zone Calculator
Calculate your five training heart-rate zones from your age — recovery to max effort — for smarter cardio.
From your age to five zones
Age is the only input. The tool estimates maximum heart rate as 220 − age and then splits it into five bands of 10 percentage points each:
| Zone | % of max | Age 30 (max 190) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 — Recovery | 50–60% | 95–114 bpm |
| 2 — Fat burn / base | 60–70% | 114–133 bpm |
| 3 — Aerobic | 70–80% | 133–152 bpm |
| 4 — Threshold | 80–90% | 152–171 bpm |
| 5 — Max effort | 90–100% | 171–190 bpm |
Every figure comes from a population formula, so it is an estimate, not a diagnosis or a measured maximum.
How rough the 220 − age estimate is
The 220 − age rule is the traditional estimate, but it isn't the only one. A 2001 meta-analysis by Tanaka and colleagues, covering 18,712 people, proposed 208 − 0.7 × age instead and found that 220 − age underestimates maximum heart rate in older adults. Both formulas carry a wide individual error, around 10 beats per minute either way.
| Age | 220 − age | Tanaka |
|---|---|---|
| 30 | 190 | 187 |
| 45 | 175 | 176.5 |
| 60 | 160 | 166 |
The tool only uses 220 − age. To use Tanaka, multiply its result by the zone percentages yourself. At age 60, a 166 bpm maximum puts zone 2 at about 100–116 bpm rather than the tool's 96–112.
Why neighbouring zones share a number
Each zone's top and the next zone's bottom are the same percentage, so the tool prints the same beat count twice: at age 30, 114 bpm ends zone 1 and starts zone 2. Treat these shared numbers as boundaries rather than as belonging to either zone. All figures are rounded to whole beats, which is finer than the formula's real precision anyway.
If you know your real maximum
A maximum heart rate you have actually recorded, for example near the end of a hard race, usually tells you more about yourself than any age formula. The tool can't take it as an input, but the arithmetic is simple: multiply your figure by 0.5, 0.6, 0.7, 0.8 and 0.9 to get the zone edges. If a doctor has given you a heart-rate limit, for instance because of a heart condition or medicine, that limit overrides any zone here.
Frequently asked questions
Do the zones differ for men and women?+
Not in this tool. Both 220 − age and the Tanaka formula use age only, so everyone of the same age gets the same zones.
My watch shows different zones. Which is right?+
Devices often use their own percentages or a measured heart rate, so their bands won't match these exactly. Neither set is a fixed truth; use one consistently so your sessions are comparable.
Why did my zones drop when I had a birthday?+
Each year of age lowers the estimated maximum by one beat, and every zone edge moves down with it. At 45 the tool gives a 175 bpm maximum and a zone 2 of 105–122 bpm.
Embed this tool on your website
Free to use on blogs, school sites and intranets. Paste this code into your page's HTML; please keep the credit line.
<iframe src="https://utilityapp.lat/embed/health/heart-rate-zone-calculator" title="Heart Rate Zone Calculator" width="100%" height="660" style="border:0;max-width:760px" loading="lazy"></iframe> <p style="font-size:13px"><a href="https://utilityapp.lat/health/heart-rate-zone-calculator">Heart Rate Zone Calculator</a> by UtilityApp</p>