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A measured maximum is more individual; age equations are population estimates.
Tanaka is the default; the comparison is summarized in Guidance.
Enter age in years; the estimated maximum is rounded once to the nearest bpm.
years
Supported range: 100–230 bpm.
bpm
Use a calm morning value from 30–120 bpm; it must be below maximum.
bpm
Choose the convention used by your plan or device; labels are not universal standards.
Example: 50,60,70,80,90,100.
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{{ current_hr }} bpm
Keep 0 to omit the marker; supported readings are 0–240 bpm.
bpm
Keep 0 for zone ranges only; use up to 1,440 minutes.
min
This changes the optional session plan, not the calculated bpm ranges.
For Classic 5, try 60,25,10,4,1.
Nearest bpm is the neutral default; coarse steps can create shared adjacent edges.
ZoneIntensityRangeMidpointCopy
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Read the anchor first

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Public-health reference

Moderate activity is approximately {{ moderateRange }} and vigorous activity is approximately {{ vigorousRange }} using broad AHA %Max guidance. These are not sport-specific zone definitions.

Use effort cues with the number

Recovery and endurance work should usually permit comfortable speech; threshold and higher work makes speech brief. Heat, fatigue, medication, sensor lag, and cardiac drift can move pulse independently of pace.

Safety boundary

This is an informational training aid, not medical clearance. Stop exercise and seek appropriate care for chest pain, fainting, severe breathlessness, or symptoms that feel unsafe.

ZoneShareMinutesTraining cueCopy
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Enter a positive session duration in Advanced to allocate minutes across the selected zones.
Friel Heart Rate Zone Calculator Turn a sport-specific lactate threshold heart rate into Joe Friel cycling or running zones, with whole-bpm boundaries and session planning.
Target and Maximum Heart Rate Calculator Calculate a target heart-rate window from age or a known maximum, compare percent-max and Karvonen methods, and check a current reading.
Maximal Oxygen Uptake (VO2 Max) Calculator Estimate VO2 max from four field-test methods and compare aerobic capacity with adult age-sex reference bands, METs, and oxygen use.
Calories Burned Calculator Estimate gross and active calories from activity MET, body weight and duration using a consistent model with target time and weekly totals.

Heart-rate zones turn a pulse reading into broad intensity ranges for pacing endurance work, intervals, and recovery. They are most useful as repeatable training guides, not as precise borders between different physiological states. Breathing, speech, pace, power, and perceived effort still matter.

Every zone system begins with an anchor. Maximum heart rate can be estimated from age or measured during a suitable test. Heart-rate reserve goes a step further by subtracting resting heart rate from maximum heart rate, applying the training percentage to that reserve, and then adding resting heart rate back.

AnchorUseful whenMain limitation
Age estimateNo measured maximum is availablePopulation equations can miss an individual maximum by a meaningful amount
Measured maximumA recent, safe, sport-specific value is knownThe result depends on test quality, sport, fatigue, and willingness to reach maximum effort
Heart-rate reserveBoth maximum and a calm resting pulse are knownResting pulse changes with recovery, illness, medication, stress, and measurement conditions

Zone names and percentage cutoffs are conventions rather than one universal standard. A running plan, cycling computer, coach, and fitness watch may use different breakpoints while describing similar workouts. Keep the same anchor and zone system when comparing training blocks.

Pulse also drifts during a session. Heat, dehydration, fatigue, altitude, caffeine, sensor lag, and some medicines can move heart rate without a matching change in pace. That makes zones a useful constraint and feedback signal, but not medical clearance or a reason to ignore symptoms.

Stop exercising and seek appropriate care for chest pain, fainting, severe breathlessness, or symptoms that feel unsafe. Anyone with a cardiovascular condition, pregnancy, a long break from exercise, or medicine that changes heart rate should ask a qualified clinician for an appropriate intensity target.

How to Use This Tool:

Choose the best available heart-rate anchor before choosing how many zones to divide it into.

  1. Select Age-estimated maximum, Measured maximum, or Heart-rate reserve. For reserve, enter a resting heart rate below the maximum.
  2. Choose the Zone system used by your plan or device. For custom zones, enter 3 to 7 strictly ascending percentage edges and end at exactly 100.
  3. Read the Zone table for percentage and beats-per-minute boundaries. Add a Current heart rate only when you want to locate one reading within those ranges.
  4. Open Advanced to allocate a session duration across an intensity mix or to snap zone boundaries to 2, 5, or 10 bpm increments.
  5. Recheck the anchor, sport, and rounding choice before copying ranges into a watch or training plan. Coarse rounding can make neighboring zones share an edge.

Interpreting Results:

Read each bpm range together with its percentage basis. A range marked HRR is based on heart-rate reserve and cannot be compared directly with the same percentage of maximum heart rate.

  • A current reading below the first zone or above the final zone is reported separately. A value exactly on a shared rounded edge belongs to the earlier zone in the table.
  • The broad moderate and vigorous ranges use percentage-of-maximum guidance even when the selected zones use heart-rate reserve.
  • Session minutes are a mathematical allocation of the chosen duration, not a personalized training prescription.
  • Compare formulas to see estimation uncertainty, but prefer a safely measured sport-specific maximum when it is reliable and appropriate.

Technical Details:

A maximum-heart-rate estimate supplies one bpm anchor. Zone breakpoints are percentages of that anchor unless heart-rate reserve is selected. Every raw boundary is rounded to the nearest bpm or to the chosen increment.

Formula Core:

The four age equations produce different population estimates. The selected estimate is rounded once to the nearest whole beat per minute.

HRmax,Fox=220−age HRmax,Tanaka=208−0.7×age HRmax,Gellish=207−0.7×age HRmax,Nes=211−0.64×age

For a breakpoint p written as a decimal, percentage-of-maximum and heart-rate-reserve boundaries follow different equations.

HR%max=p×HRmax HRR=HRmax−HRrest HRreserve zone=HRrest+p×HRR

At age 35, Tanaka gives 183.5 bpm and the anchor rounds to 184 bpm. Under Classic 5, the first 50% to 60% range rounds to 92 to 110 bpm. The next range begins at the same 110 bpm edge, so a current reading of exactly 110 bpm is assigned to the first zone.

Rule Core:

SystemOrdered percentage edgesZones
Classic 550, 60, 70, 80, 90, 1005
Endurance 555, 65, 75, 85, 92, 1005
Polarized 360, 80, 90, 1003
Threshold 460, 70, 80, 90, 1004
Cycling 655, 68, 78, 87, 93, 97, 1006

Custom breakpoint lists accept 3 to 7 values above 0 and no greater than 100. Values must rise strictly, and the last value must equal 100. This creates 2 to 6 zones.

Session Allocation:

Preset intensity mixes already sum to 100%. Custom non-negative weights are normalized by their total, then each zone receives the chosen session duration multiplied by its normalized share. A zero duration keeps the zone ranges but produces no planned minutes.

Safety and Accuracy Notes:

This information supports exercise planning and is not a diagnosis, stress test, treatment plan, or clearance to exercise.

  • Age equations describe population averages and may differ substantially from an individual's true maximum.
  • Optical wrist sensors can lag or misread during rapid movement; a suitable chest strap may track intervals more closely.
  • Resting heart rate should be measured under consistent calm conditions. Do not force a reserve calculation when resting heart rate is at or above maximum.
  • Use symptoms and professional advice over a numerical zone when they conflict.

References: