Lead I · Heart rate zones
Your five training zones in beats per minute. Choose how to find your maximum heart rate, add your resting rate for the Karvonen method, and the zones update as you type.
HR maxbpm
184
Tanaka formulaRestingbpm
60
used by KarvonenReservebpm
124
max − resting| Zone | Heart rate | % of reserve | ACSM intensity | What it feels like |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1Recovery | 122–133 bpm | 50–60 % | Moderate | Very easy. Warm-ups, cool-downs and recovery days. |
| 2Endurance | 134–146 bpm | 60–70 % | Vigorous | Easy and steady. You can talk in full sentences. |
| 3Aerobic | 147–158 bpm | 70–80 % | Vigorous | Comfortably hard. Talking in short phrases. |
| 4Threshold | 159–171 bpm | 80–90 % | Vigorous | Hard. A few words at a time; sustainable for minutes, not hours. |
| 5Maximum | 172–184 bpm | 90–100 % | Near-maximal | All-out efforts of seconds to a few minutes. |
Worked out HRmax = 208 − 0.7 × 35 = 184 bpm (220 − age would give 185). Zone heart rate = 60 + % × (184 − 60).
Maximum heart rate. A measured maximum from a supervised test or an all-out race finish beats any formula. The familiar 220 − age is usually credited to Fox and colleagues (1971), but it was never derived from a formal study. Tanaka, Monahan and Seals (2001) pooled 351 studies and found that 208 − 0.7 × age fits healthy adults better, especially past 40. Either way, a real person's maximum is often 10 bpm or more away from the prediction, so treat zone edges as approximate.
Karvonen zones use your heart-rate reserve, the gap between resting and maximum: each zone starts at resting + percentage × reserve, so a lower resting rate spreads the zones wider. Percent of maximum is simpler and ignores the resting rate.
The five 10 % bands are a coaching convention, not a clinical standard. The ACSM column compares each band with the American College of Sports Medicine's intensity classes: moderate is 40–59 % of heart-rate reserve, vigorous 60–89 %.
Heart rate lags behind short efforts, drifts up in heat and long sessions, and some medicines such as beta blockers lower it; then go by how hard the effort feels as well.
Four more tools, each with its formula shown and its source cited.
Turn an intensity into a bpm range, with ACSM's moderate and vigorous presets and 10-second pulse counts.
Estimate aerobic fitness from the Cooper 12-minute run or the Rockport one-mile walk test.
Epley, Brzycki and Lombardi estimates from any set, plus a 50–100 % loading chart rounded to your plates.
Mifflin–St Jeor resting energy and daily needs for the three FAO/WHO/UNU activity levels.
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Try WebTraceCheckUse a measured maximum if you have one. Otherwise Tanaka's 208 − 0.7 × age is the better general estimate for adults; 220 − age gives the same answer at 40, more when you are younger and less when you are older.
Karvonen counts up from your resting rate instead of from zero. With a maximum of 185 and a resting rate of 60, 60 % works out at 135 bpm by Karvonen but only 111 bpm as a percentage of maximum.
Straight after waking, before you get up or have coffee, count your pulse at the wrist or neck for 60 seconds. Repeat on three to five mornings and use the average. A wearable's morning reading works too.
Short efforts near your maximum are part of many training plans for healthy, conditioned people, but they strain the heart. This is not medical advice: talk to a doctor before starting intense exercise, especially if you have a heart condition, take heart medicine or have been inactive.