What is a good zone 2 heart rate?

Roughly 60-70% of maximum heart rate, or 60-70% of heart rate reserve using Karvonen. It should feel conversational.

Is 220 minus age accurate?

It is simple but tends to overestimate in younger adults and underestimate in older ones. The Tanaka equation used here fits the data better.

What is the Karvonen method?

It calculates zones from heart rate reserve, maximum minus resting, which accounts for fitness. Fitter people usually have a lower resting rate and therefore different zones.

How do I measure resting heart rate?

Take your pulse for a full minute immediately after waking, before getting out of bed, and average a few mornings.

Heart Rate Zone Calculator

Calculate maximum heart rate and five training zones, with optional Karvonen zones.

Enter your details and your result will appear here.

What Is Heart Rate Zone?

This calculator estimates your maximum heart rate from your age and splits it into the five training zones used in endurance programmes. Adding your resting heart rate switches the zones to the Karvonen method, which is more personalised.

Understanding Your Heart Rate Zone Result

Heart rate zones are a way of describing intensity in numbers you can see on a watch. Zone 2 supports the aerobic base most endurance training is built on, while zones 4 and 5 target threshold and maximal work and can only be sustained briefly. The zone boundaries are conventions, not physiological switches, and the underlying maximum is an age-based estimate, so treat the numbers as a guide alongside perceived effort.

How Is Heart Rate Zone Calculated?

HRmax = 208 - 0.7 x age (Tanaka); Karvonen zone = resting + (HRmax - resting) x intensity

Methodology

Maximum heart rate uses the Tanaka, Monahan and Seals (2001) equation, 208 minus 0.7 times age, which predicts better across adult ages than the older 220-minus-age rule. Without a resting heart rate, zones are 50-60%, 60-70%, 70-80%, 80-90% and 90-100% of maximum. With one, the Karvonen method applies those percentages to heart rate reserve, which is maximum minus resting, and then adds the resting rate back.

Worked Example

A 40-year-old has an estimated maximum of 208 - 0.7 x 40 = 180 bpm. Using percentage of maximum, zone 2 is 108-126 bpm. With a resting heart rate of 55, heart rate reserve is 125 and Karvonen zone 2 becomes 130-143 bpm.

Important Limitations

Age-predicted maximum heart rate has a standard deviation of about 10 bpm, so your true maximum can be well above or below the estimate; a supervised graded exercise test is the accurate way to establish it. Beta blockers and other medications lower heart rate at every intensity, and heat, caffeine, illness and dehydration shift readings day to day. This calculator does not provide medical advice; if you have a cardiac condition, follow the zones your clinician sets.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a good zone 2 heart rate?: Roughly 60-70% of maximum heart rate, or 60-70% of heart rate reserve using Karvonen. It should feel conversational.
Is 220 minus age accurate?: It is simple but tends to overestimate in younger adults and underestimate in older ones. The Tanaka equation used here fits the data better.
What is the Karvonen method?: It calculates zones from heart rate reserve, maximum minus resting, which accounts for fitness. Fitter people usually have a lower resting rate and therefore different zones.
How do I measure resting heart rate?: Take your pulse for a full minute immediately after waking, before getting out of bed, and average a few mornings.