Heart Rate Zone Calculator

Calculate training heart rate zones using max HR or Karvonen method. See optimal zones for fat burn and performance.

By Konstantin Iakovlev · Updated September 2026 · Source: ACE

years
bpm
Method

Estimated Max Heart Rate

190 bpm

Zone 1

Recovery (50-60%)

125 - 138 bpm

Zone 2

Fat Burn (60-70%)

138 - 151 bpm

Zone 3

Aerobic (70-80%)

151 - 164 bpm

Zone 4

Anaerobic (80-90%)

164 - 177 bpm

Zone 5

VO2 Max (90-100%)

177 - 190 bpm

Recommended Zones by Goal

Weight Loss / Fat BurnZone 2 (60-70%)
General FitnessZone 3 (70-80%)
Performance / SpeedZone 4-5 (80-100%)
Active RecoveryZone 1 (50-60%)

Max heart rate is estimated using the formula 220 - age. Karvonen method uses heart rate reserve (max HR - resting HR) for more personalized zones. Individual variation can be significant. Consult a healthcare provider for precise zones.

Use the Heart Rate Zone Calculator above to calculate your results. Enter your values and see instant results — all calculations run in your browser.

Disclaimer: This calculator is for informational purposes only and is not medical advice. Results are estimates from standard formulas and the numbers you enter. Talk to a doctor or another qualified health professional about your own health before acting on them.

How It Works

Training by heart rate turns a vague sense of effort into defined territory, letting you steer a session toward fat burning, endurance, or peak output on purpose. The zones this calculator maps out are personal to you, and following them keeps your work in the productive middle ground rather than tipping into overtraining or coasting through undertraining.

Two methods drive the results. The Max Heart Rate percentage approach estimates your ceiling from your age (220 - Age), while the Karvonen formula sharpens the picture by folding in your resting heart rate through Heart Rate Reserve (HRR = MHR - RHR). Each method then carves the training zones out as percentages of the MHR or HRR it produces.

The Karvonen numbers are only as good as the resting heart rate you feed them, so capture that reading first thing in the morning before any activity stirs it upward. Leaning on a generic MHR while ignoring your own fitness level is where zone recommendations go wrong, drifting away from the intensities that would actually serve your training.

Example: 35-year-old aiming for endurance

  1. 1 Enter age 35 and a resting heart rate of 60 bpm, and leave the method on Karvonen (HRR).
  2. 2 Estimated max heart rate: 220 − 35 = 185 bpm. Heart rate reserve: 185 − 60 = 125 bpm.
  3. 3 Zone 2, which the calculator labels Fat Burn (60-70%): 125 × 0.60 + 60 = 135 bpm up to 125 × 0.70 + 60 = 147.5, shown as 148 bpm.
  4. 4 Holding 135-148 bpm on steady runs or rides builds the aerobic base. Switching the method to Max HR % gives 111-130 bpm for the same zone, because that method ignores the resting heart rate.

Source: ACE · Last updated: September 2026

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I calculate my maximum heart rate?
The simplest formula is 220 minus your age. A 35-year-old has an estimated max HR of 185 bpm. More accurate formulas (like Tanaka: 208 - 0.7 x age) exist, but the best method is a supervised max HR test.
What are the five heart rate training zones?
Zone 1 (50-60% max): easy recovery. Zone 2 (60-70%): fat-burning endurance base. Zone 3 (70-80%): aerobic fitness. Zone 4 (80-90%): anaerobic threshold, tempo work. Zone 5 (90-100%): max effort, sprints.
Which heart rate zone burns the most fat?
Fat's share of the energy you burn shrinks as effort rises. In a 2002 lab study of 18 moderately trained cyclists (Achten and colleagues), the rate of fat burning peaked at about 74% of max heart rate, in Zone 3, then dropped markedly and became negligible above about 92%. Higher zones burn more total calories per hour, but less of that comes from fat.

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