What heart rate zones are
Heart rate zones split your effort into five ranges, from an easy walk to an all-out sprint. Each zone is a slice of your maximum heart rate, the fastest your heart can beat in beats per minute (bpm). Training by zone helps you keep easy days easy and hard days hard, which is the idea behind most cardio plans for running, cycling, rowing or swimming. This calculator works out the bpm range of each zone for you.
The difference between your maximum and resting heart rate is your heart rate reserve. The Karvonen method uses it, so two people of the same age get different zones when one has a lower resting heart rate. That usually makes the zones fit fitter people better. The percent of max method is simpler and is what many watches use by default.
The five zones
- Zone 1, very light (recovery), 50 to 60%: Easy and relaxed. Warm-ups, cooldowns and recovery days.
- Zone 2, light (fat burn), 60 to 70%: Comfortable. You can talk in full sentences. Long, easy cardio.
- Zone 3, moderate (aerobic), 70 to 80%: Breathing harder, you can still talk in short sentences.
- Zone 4, hard (threshold), 80 to 90%: Hard but steady. Only a few words at a time.
- Zone 5, maximum (max effort), 90 to 100%: All out. Short intervals you can hold for seconds to a few minutes.
The talk test is a handy check on any of these numbers. If you can chat easily, you are in zone 1 or 2. If you can only say a few words, you are in zone 4 or higher.
Heart rate zones by age
Zones in bpm with the percent of max method and 220 − age. The Tanaka column shows how much the second formula differs.
| Age | Max HR | Max HR, Tanaka | Zone 2 | Zone 3 | Zone 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | 200 | 194 | 120 to 140 | 140 to 160 | 160 to 180 |
| 30 | 190 | 187 | 114 to 133 | 133 to 152 | 152 to 171 |
| 40 | 180 | 180 | 108 to 126 | 126 to 144 | 144 to 162 |
| 50 | 170 | 173 | 102 to 119 | 119 to 136 | 136 to 153 |
| 60 | 160 | 166 | 96 to 112 | 112 to 128 | 128 to 144 |
| 70 | 150 | 159 | 90 to 105 | 105 to 120 | 120 to 135 |
The fat-burning zone
Many machines at the gym show a fat-burning zone, usually around zone 2. It is true that at an easy pace a larger share of your energy comes from fat, and at a hard pace more of it comes from carbohydrate. But harder training burns more energy per minute in total, so the amount of fat burned is not automatically higher in the easy zone. For body fat, what counts most is how much energy you use over weeks, along with your diet. Zone 2 is still a great place for long, comfortable sessions that build endurance. It just is not a magic fat-loss setting.
How to measure your resting heart rate
Measure it in the morning, right after you wake up and before you get out of bed or drink coffee. Put two fingers on the side of your neck or the inside of your wrist and count the beats for 60 seconds, or for 30 seconds and double it. Do this on three to five mornings and use the average. A chest strap or a watch works too. Stress, poor sleep, illness, alcohol and heat can all raise it for a day or two.
Some medicines, such as beta-blockers, lower your heart rate, so the zones here will not fit. If you have a heart condition, high blood pressure or another health condition, or you are new to exercise, check with your doctor before hard training.
How to use the heart rate zone calculator
- 1Enter your age. Add your resting heart rate, and your measured max heart rate if you know it from a test or a race.
- 2Choose the max heart rate formula and the zone method: percent of max, or Karvonen with your heart rate reserve.
- 3Read your five zones in bpm and set them in your watch or app. Copy the result or a link that keeps your numbers.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate my heart rate zones?
Start with your maximum heart rate. The simplest estimate is 220 minus your age, so 180 bpm at age 40. Each zone is a percent range of that number: zone 1 is 50 to 60%, zone 2 is 60 to 70%, and so on up to zone 5 at 90 to 100%. At age 40, zone 3 is 70 to 80% of 180, which is 126 to 144 bpm.
What is the Karvonen method?
It builds the zones on your heart rate reserve, the gap between your maximum and resting heart rate, instead of on the maximum alone. Zone heart rate = resting + percent × (max − resting). With a max of 180 and a resting rate of 60, the reserve is 120, and zone 3 (70 to 80%) is 60 + 84 = 144 to 60 + 96 = 156 bpm. Because it uses your resting rate, it adjusts to your fitness.
Is 220 minus age accurate?
It is a rough average, not a measurement. Real maximum heart rates vary a lot between people of the same age, and the formula tends to underestimate it for older adults. The Tanaka formula, 208 minus 0.7 times age, fits large groups of adults a little better. If you know your real max from a hard test or a race, enter it, because it beats any formula.
Which heart rate zone burns the most fat?
In the lower zones a bigger share of the energy you burn comes from fat. In harder zones that share drops, but you burn more calories per minute overall. For losing body fat, the total energy you burn over days and weeks, together with what you eat, matters more than the zone. Pick the training you can keep doing.
What is a normal resting heart rate?
For most adults a resting heart rate between 60 and 100 bpm is considered normal, and fit endurance athletes are often below 60. Measure it in the morning before you get up. If yours is often outside the normal range or you feel dizzy, short of breath or have chest pain, talk to a doctor.