Max heart rate formulas, and how accurate they are
Every heart rate zone starts from your max heart rate. Here are the common formulas, how far off they can be, and how to find your real number.
Why max heart rate matters
Zones are percentages of your max heart rate, so an error in the max moves every zone. If your real max is 10 beats higher than you assumed, your Zone 2 starts and ends about 6 to 7 beats too low, and your Zone 5 begins well below where it should.
Max heart rate is not a fitness score. It tends to fall with age, and training does not raise it much. A fitter person is not likely to have a higher max, only a lower heart rate at the same effort.
The formulas
| Formula | Age 30 | Age 40 | Age 50 | Age 60 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 220 − age | 190 | 180 | 170 | 160 |
| Tanaka: 208 − 0.7 × age | 187 | 180 | 173 | 166 |
| Gulati, for women: 206 − 0.88 × age | 180 | 171 | 162 | 153 |
| Nes: 211 − 0.64 × age | 192 | 185 | 179 | 173 |
Results in beats per minute, rounded to the nearest whole beat.
- 220 − age is the best known and the simplest. It dates from the early 1970s and was never meant as a precise prediction for one person.
- Tanaka comes from a 2001 analysis that combined many studies. It gives a lower estimate than 220 − age under 40, and a higher one above 40.
- Gulati was developed from a study of healthy women, who tend to have lower maxes than 220 − age predicts.
- Nes comes from a large Norwegian study of healthy adults, and falls off with age more slowly than 220 − age.
How accurate they are
Not very, for any one person. Individual max heart rates scatter widely around every one of these lines, and a spread of about 10 beats per minute either side is typical. Two healthy 40-year-olds can differ in true max by 20 beats or more, and neither is wrong.
That is why the formulas are a starting point. They are good enough to get going and poor enough that you should check them against how training actually feels.
Finding your real max
The most reliable source is data you already have. Look at the highest heart rate recorded by a chest strap during hard races or hard interval sessions. Wrist sensors can spike for no reason, so ignore a single reading far above anything else.
A field test is the other option: after a long warm-up, a few hard efforts of around three minutes each, with recovery between, such as repeats up a steady hill. Note the highest rate on the last effort.
Do not attempt an all-out test if you have a heart condition or risk factors, are new to hard exercise, or take medication that affects your heart rate. Talk to a doctor first. A formula and the talk test are a safe way to start.
Which one to use
- You have a trusted measured max: use it. It beats any formula.
- You do not: start with 220 − age, or Tanaka if you are over 40, then adjust by feel.
- Your zones feel wrong: change the max by 3 to 5 beats and test again, rather than switching formulas at random.
In Motionry, the app estimates your max from your age with 220 − age, and you can enter your own max instead if you know it. The calculator lets you compare 220 − age and Tanaka side by side.
Sources
- Robergs RA, Landwehr R. The surprising history of the “HRmax = 220 − age” equation. Journal of Exercise Physiology online, 2002.
- Tanaka H, Monahan KD, Seals DR. Age-predicted maximal heart rate revisited. Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 2001.
- Gulati M, et al. Heart rate response to exercise stress testing in asymptomatic women. Circulation, 2010.
- Nes BM, et al. Age-predicted maximal heart rate in healthy subjects: the HUNT Fitness Study. Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 2013.