Heart Rate Zone Calculator
Five training zones from your age and (optional) resting heart rate. Pick the formula and method, read your zones in beats per minute.
About you
Take your pulse first thing in the morning, before getting out of bed.
Use this if you've measured your max HR in a lab test or a hard time-trial.
Max HR formula
Zone method
Karvonen accounts for your individual fitness via resting HR — generally more accurate, requires a resting HR.
Your Max Heart Rate
184 bpm
Tanaka formula: 208 − 0.7·age. Generally more accurate than 220−age, especially over 40.
Z1
Recovery50-60%
Very light. Conversational. Active recovery, warm-ups, cool-downs.
92–110
bpm
Z2
Endurance60-70%
Easy. Can hold a conversation. Long base-building runs and rides.
110–128
bpm
Z3
Tempo70-80%
Moderate. Talking gets harder. Sustained efforts, 'comfortably hard.'
128–147
bpm
Z4
Threshold80-90%
Hard. Short phrases only. Lactate threshold — sustainable for ~45-60 min.
147–165
bpm
Z5
VO2 Max90-100%
Maximum. No talking. Intervals only — 30 sec to 5 min repeats.
165–184
bpm
How to use these zones. Most aerobic training should be in Z1-Z2 (80% of weekly time for endurance athletes — the "polarized" approach). Z3 is a trap for many — too hard to recover from, not hard enough to stress threshold. Z4 work in short blocks builds lactate-clearance capacity. Z5 is for intervals only; you can't sustain it for long.
Educational tool. Not medical advice. Age-based formulas can be off by ±10-15 bpm for any individual — for precise zones, get a lab test (VO2 max or lactate threshold). If you have heart disease, take beta-blockers, or are starting exercise after a long break, talk to a doctor before training at Z4 or Z5.