FREE TOOLS
Heart rate zone calculator
Your five training zones, from your age alone or with your resting and maximum heart rate
How it’s worked out
- With your age only, zones are percentages of your estimated maximum heart rate, 208 minus 0.7 times your age 1.
- If you know your maximum, from a test or a hard race, enter it instead.
- If you enter your resting heart rate, zones use the heart rate reserve, the beats between resting and maximum, as Karvonen and colleagues described in 1957 2. Zones then come out a little higher, especially the easy ones.
| Zone | Feels like | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| 1, very light | Easy, relaxed | Warm-ups, cool downs, recovery |
| 2, light | Easy, you can talk in full sentences | Long, steady training |
| 3, moderate | Comfortably hard | Tempo work |
| 4, hard | Hard, a few words at a time | Longer intervals, such as 4×4 |
| 5, maximum | Very hard, not for long | Short, hard intervals |
Different watches and apps use different methods, so their zones may not match this chart exactly. Pick one method and stay with it. Read more in zone 2 vs HIIT.
Sources
- Tanaka H, Monahan KD, Seals DR. Age-predicted maximal heart rate revisited. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2001;37(1):153-156. doi.org/10.1016/S0735-1097(00)01054-8
- Karvonen MJ, Kentala E, Mustala O. The effects of training on heart rate: a longitudinal study. Ann Med Exp Biol Fenn. 1957;35(3):307-315. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/13470504/
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Cero is a timer, not a medical device. If you’re new to hard exercise, are pregnant or have a health condition, check with your doctor first, and stop if you feel unwell.