❤️ Heart Rate Zone Calculator
Enter your age — and optionally your resting heart rate — to see your maximum heart rate and five training zones, so every session hits the intensity you intend.
❤️ Find Your Training Zones
What is a Heart Rate Zone Calculator?
It maps your heart rate onto five intensity bands so you can train each energy system deliberately. From your age it estimates your maximum heart rate and the zone boundaries; add a resting heart rate and it uses the Karvonen heart-rate-reserve method for targets tuned to your own fitness.
Zone-based training is how endurance athletes make sure easy days stay easy and hard days are hard enough. Knowing the beats-per-minute range for recovery, endurance, threshold, and maximum work turns a vague “go by feel” run into a session with a clear physiological purpose.
❓ Frequently Asked Questions
How does the heart rate zone calculator work?
Enter your age to estimate your maximum heart rate (220 − age) and the five classic training zones as percentages of that maximum. Add an optional resting heart rate and it switches to the Karvonen method, which bases each zone on your heart-rate reserve for more personalised targets.
What are the five heart rate training zones?
They run from Zone 1 Recovery (50–60% effort) through Zone 2 Endurance, Zone 3 Aerobic, and Zone 4 Threshold, up to Zone 5 Maximum (90–100%). Lower zones build aerobic base and aid recovery; higher zones develop lactate threshold and top-end speed. A balanced plan spends time across the range.
What is the difference between the max-HR and Karvonen methods?
The simple method takes a straight percentage of your maximum heart rate. The Karvonen method uses your heart-rate reserve — the gap between resting and maximum heart rate — so it accounts for your baseline fitness and generally gives higher, more individualised zone boundaries. Enter a resting heart rate to use it.
Is 220 minus age an exact maximum heart rate?
No — it's a population estimate that can be off by 10–20 beats per minute for any individual. It's a useful starting point, but a lab test or a maximal effort field test gives a more accurate figure. Treat the zones here as a guide, and this tool as general fitness guidance rather than medical advice.