Heart rate zone calculator
Enter your age or your max heart rate and get your five zones in beats per minute, including your Zone 2 range. They are the same zones Motionry fills your screen with while you ride, run or walk.
Calculate your heart rate zones
Zone 2 is 110–128 bpm.
Easy effort. Warm-ups, cool-downs and rest days.
Can hold a conversation. Where the long, easy miles build your base.
Comfortably hard. Steady work you can sustain for a while.
Hard, about 20 minutes. Short breathing, long focus.
Sprints, under a minute.
Zone 2 heart rate by age
A quick reference that uses 220 − age as the max heart rate. Your own max can be 10 beats per minute or more away from this, so use the calculator above if you know yours.
| Age | Est. max | Zone 2 | Zone 3 | Zone 4 | Zone 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20 | 200 | 120–139 | 140–159 | 160–179 | 180+ |
| 25 | 195 | 117–136 | 137–155 | 156–175 | 176+ |
| 30 | 190 | 114–132 | 133–151 | 152–170 | 171+ |
| 35 | 185 | 111–129 | 130–147 | 148–166 | 167+ |
| 40 | 180 | 108–125 | 126–143 | 144–161 | 162+ |
| 45 | 175 | 105–121 | 122–139 | 140–157 | 158+ |
| 50 | 170 | 102–118 | 119–135 | 136–152 | 153+ |
| 55 | 165 | 99–114 | 115–131 | 132–148 | 149+ |
| 60 | 160 | 96–111 | 112–127 | 128–143 | 144+ |
| 65 | 155 | 93–108 | 109–123 | 124–139 | 140+ |
| 70 | 150 | 90–104 | 105–119 | 120–134 | 135+ |
Heart rates are in beats per minute. Zone 1 is everything below the start of Zone 2. Zones are 60, 70, 80 and 90% of max, rounded to whole beats.
How your zones are calculated
Every zone is a band of your maximum heart rate. Zone 2 starts at 60% of your max and ends just before 70%, Zone 3 runs from 70 to 80%, Zone 4 from 80 to 90%, and Zone 5 is 90% and up. Your max heart rate is the one number that needs care, and there are three ways to get it:
- Measured. The highest heart rate you have actually reached in a hard effort, recorded by a chest strap or a watch. This is the most accurate source, as long as you really reached your max.
- 220 − age. The classic formula. It is quick, but it is an average for a whole population, and individual max heart rates often differ from it by 10 beats per minute or more.
- Tanaka, 208 − 0.7 × age. A formula from a 2001 analysis of many studies (Tanaka, Monahan and Seals). It gives a lower estimate than 220 − age under 40 and a higher one over 40.
The calculator can also use heart rate reserve, also called the Karvonen method. Instead of a percentage of your max, each zone starts at your resting heart rate plus that percentage of the gap between resting and max. For the same max, it gives higher zone boundaries than the % of max method. Motionry uses % of max.
No formula knows how fit you are, how you handle heat or fatigue, or whether you take medication that changes your heart rate. Treat the result as a starting point, then adjust by how the effort feels. Our guide to max heart rate formulas compares the options in detail.
What each zone is for
Zone 1, Recovery. Easy effort for warm-ups, cool-downs and rest days.
Zone 2, Endurance. You can hold a conversation. The long, easy sessions that build your aerobic base happen here.
Zone 3, Tempo. Comfortably hard. Steady work you can sustain for a while.
Zone 4, Threshold. Hard, about the effort you can hold for 20 minutes. Breathing is short and focus is long.
Zone 5, Max. Sprints and the last push of an interval, for under a minute at a time.
Questions
What is my Zone 2 heart rate?
In this calculator, Zone 2 is 60 to 70% of your max heart rate. For a 36-year-old using 220 − age, that is 110 to 128 bpm. Enter your age or your max above to get your own range. A simple check is the talk test: in Zone 2 you can speak in full sentences. Our guide to finding your Zone 2 heart rate compares the methods.
Is 220 − age accurate?
It is an average, not a measurement. Individual max heart rates commonly sit 10 beats per minute or more above or below it. If you have a max from a hard effort that you trust, use that instead.
Are the zones different for running and cycling?
Many people reach a slightly lower max heart rate on the bike than when running, so zones set from a running max can feel too high on a ride. The formulas here are the same for both. If you split your time, use the max from the sport you do most, and adjust by feel. See cycling vs running heart rate zones for the numbers.
Can I use this with an Apple Watch?
Yes. Any heart rate source works for checking which zone a number falls in. In Motionry, the zone colour follows the heart rate coming from your Apple Watch, or from a Bluetooth chest strap such as a Polar H10.
Is anything I enter saved?
No. The calculation runs in your browser, and nothing you type is sent anywhere or stored.
This calculator gives estimates for general fitness use and is not medical advice. If you have a heart condition, take medication that affects your heart rate, or are unsure whether hard exercise is safe for you, talk to a doctor before you train by heart rate zones.