Health · Food · Life · Longevity · Nature
13 free tools info@nextao.de
Home·Tools·Heart Rate Zones
Health · Interactive tool

Your five heart rate zones.

Your age and resting pulse give an estimated maximum heart rate and five training zones in beats per minute, by the Tanaka or the classic formula and the Karvonen method. You also get the weekly minutes the WHO guidelines ask for, translated into your own pulse ranges.

2 minNo loginNothing leaves your browserResult as a picture

Two numbers in, five zones out.

years
10 to 100 years.
bpm
Counted in bed before getting up, 35 to 110 bpm. Leave it empty and the zones are percentages of your maximum.
Maximum formula
208 minus 0.7 × age, from a meta-analysis of 351 studies.
Estimated maximum
180bpm maximum

Tanaka formula: 208 minus 0.7 × 40 gives 180 bpm. Each zone is a percentage of this maximum.

Moderate · zones 2 to 3
108 to 144bpm
Vigorous · zones 4 to 5
144 to 180bpm
Resting pulse
not set

Five zones

Beats per minute
  1. Zone 5MaximumShort intervals only
    162 to 18090 to 100%
  2. Zone 4HardThreshold, a few words at a time
    144 to 16280 to 90%
  3. Zone 3ModerateAerobic base, short sentences
    126 to 14470 to 80%
  4. Zone 2LightFat burning, long walks
    108 to 12660 to 70%
  5. Zone 1Very lightRecovery and warm-up
    90 to 10850 to 60%

The bars run from 0 to your maximum of 180 bpm, so each zone is a percentage of that maximum.

Two caveats. Beta blockers and some other medicines hold the pulse down, so for anyone taking them the estimated maximum and every zone sit too high; go by breathing and the talk test instead. And every formula is an average with a standard deviation of about 10 bpm, so your true maximum may be 10 beats higher or lower than shown.

Your week by the guidelines

WHO 2020, adults
Moderate 150 to 300min a week

Zones 2 to 3, 108 to 144 bpm. Brisk walking, steady cycling, swimming at a pace that still allows short sentences.

or vigorous 75 to 150min a week

Zones 4 to 5, 144 to 180 bpm. Running, hill climbs, intervals. One vigorous minute counts as two moderate ones.

plus strength 2days or more

All major muscle groups, at whatever pulse it takes. Not a heart rate target, so it does not count towards the minutes.

Example week
  1. MonBrisk walk30 minZone 2108 to 126 bpm
  2. TueStrength30 minAny pulse
  3. WedCycling30 minZone 3126 to 144 bpm
  4. ThuEasy walk20 minZone 190 to 108 bpm
  5. FriIntervals20 minZone 4144 to 162 bpm
  6. SatStrength30 minAny pulse
  7. SunLong walk50 minZone 2108 to 126 bpm

110 moderate minutes plus 20 vigorous ones counted double make 150, with 2 strength days and a recovery walk that does not count but helps. Swap in anything that puts your pulse in the same zone.

How it works.

  1. Enter your age and, if you know it, your resting pulse counted in bed before getting up.
  2. Pick the Tanaka or the classic formula and read the five zones in beats per minute.
  3. Match the weekly minutes to your zones, then save the card or share it.

Where the formulas come from

The classic rule, 220 minus age, goes back to a 1971 paper by Fox and colleagues, who drew a line through a handful of published data points. It was never validated as a precise formula, and later work found a standard deviation of roughly 10 to 12 bpm around it, which means about one adult in three sits more than 10 beats away from the estimate. In 2001 Tanaka, Monahan and Seals pooled 351 studies and fitted 208 minus 0.7 × age, which drifts less for people over 40; the tool uses it by default. Both give 180 bpm at age 40, but at 60 they part ways: 160 against 166 bpm.

The Karvonen method brings one more number in, your resting heart rate. It subtracts the resting pulse from the maximum to get the heart rate reserve, then places each zone at the resting pulse plus a share of that reserve. A trained heart resting at 50 bpm gets higher zones than an untrained one at 80 bpm, even at the same age, which matches what a fitter body can sustain. Adults typically rest at 60 to 100 bpm; endurance athletes are often in the 40s.

What the WHO minutes mean for your week

The WHO 2020 guidelines ask adults for 150 to 300 minutes of moderate activity a week, or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous activity, or a mix of both, plus muscle strengthening on 2 or more days. Moderate maps to zones 2 to 3, vigorous to zones 4 to 5, and one vigorous minute counts as two moderate ones. The talk test is the low-tech check: in zone 3 you can still speak in short sentences, in zone 4 only a few words at a time. Most of the minutes can come from brisk walking, and the two strength sessions matter more with every decade, as the guide on strength training after 40 sets out. Time in zones 4 to 5 is what moves VO2 max, the fitness number most closely tied to how long people live.

What this tool is not

It is an estimate for healthy adults, not a measurement and not a prescription. The only way to know your true maximum is a supervised maximal test, and the only way to know your zones for certain is a lactate or gas exchange test in a lab. Beta blockers and some other medicines lower the maximum, so the estimated zones sit too high for anyone taking them. If you feel chest pain, dizziness or an irregular pulse during exercise, stop, and talk to a doctor before you train by heart rate at all.

Frequently asked.

Tanaka or the classic 220 minus age: which should I pick?

Tanaka, unless you want to compare with an older chart. Both give 180 bpm at age 40, but the classic formula drifts low for people over 40 and was never validated as a precise rule, so Tanaka is the default here.

Why do my zones jump when I enter a resting pulse?

Because the tool switches from percentages of the maximum to the Karvonen method, which starts each zone at your resting pulse and adds a share of the reserve above it. With a maximum of 180 and a resting pulse of 60 bpm, zone 3 moves from 126 to 144 up to 144 to 156 bpm.

How do I measure my resting heart rate?

Count your pulse for 60 seconds while still lying in bed after waking, on 3 mornings, and take the average. A watch that records overnight gives a similar figure; readings taken after coffee, stairs or a stressful call run high.

My sports watch shows a higher maximum than the tool. Which is right?

Probably the watch, if the reading came from a hard effort such as a race finish or a hill sprint rather than from a sensor error. A measured peak beats any formula, and every formula can be off by 10 bpm either way.

Do I have to reach zone 5 at all?

No. The guidelines are met with moderate minutes alone, and most weekly volume belongs in zones 2 to 3. Short intervals in zones 4 to 5 build fitness quickly, but they are optional and need a healthy heart and a proper warm-up.

Does a 10 minute walk count towards the 150 minutes?

Yes. The 2020 WHO guidelines dropped the old rule that only bouts of 10 minutes or more count, so every brisk minute in zones 2 to 3 adds up, including three short walks in a day.

Guides behind this tool

Woman asleep in white bed linen in soft morning light Health Resting heart rate: what the number says Woman running outdoors in the morning light Longevity VO2 max: the fitness number that predicts survival Retired couple walking side by side along a path through a forest Health How many steps a day: what the studies support Woman in her sixties training with a pair of dumbbells Health Strength training after 40: how much is enough

More tools

HealthWalking CalculatorLongevityLongevity Habits Score

This calculator estimates zones for healthy adults from population formulas; it is not a stress test, a diagnosis or a training prescription. If you take medicines that affect the pulse or have a heart condition, ask your doctor before training by heart rate. This page is for general information and does not replace medical advice.