Heart Rate Zone Calculator
Find your training heart rate zones based on age and resting heart rate.
Assumptions used in this calculation
- Max heart rate formula: Uses the common 220 − age estimate for maximum heart rate, which has individual variation of ±10-12 bpm.Karvonen method (Karvonen et al., 1957)
About this calculator
Generic "target heart rate" charts based purely on age assume everyone at the same age has the same fitness level, which isn't true, two 30-year-olds with very different resting heart rates should train in different heart rate ranges for the same relative effort. This calculator uses the Karvonen method instead: it estimates your max heart rate from age (220 minus age), subtracts your resting heart rate to find your heart rate reserve, then calculates training zones as percentages of that reserve added back to your resting rate, rather than as flat percentages of max heart rate alone. Enter your age and resting heart rate, and it returns personalized zones spanning warm-up intensity through maximum effort. Because it factors in resting heart rate, a proxy for cardiovascular fitness, it produces more individualized targets than simple age-based max-HR percentage charts, useful for structuring interval training, endurance work, or recovery-pace sessions around your own physiology rather than a generic table.
Worked example
30 years old, resting heart rate 60 bpm
Result: Max HR = 190 bpm; Zone 3 (Aerobic) = 151-164 bpm
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