Heart Rate Calculator
Find your max heart rate, training zones, fat-burning zone and cardio fitness.
Max heart rate ≈ — bpm
Training zones
Personalised guidance
How to use the Heart Rate Calculator
Step 1 — Enter your details
- Add your measurements and pick your options.
Step 2 — Read the dashboard
- Results, gauge and breakdown update instantly.
Step 3 — Explore the detail
- Review the per-method figures and personalised guidance.
Step 4 — Export
- Download a PDF report or print it.
Frequently asked questions
With two formulas: the classic 220 minus your age, and the Tanaka equation (208 minus 0.7 times age), which is more accurate for older adults. Both are estimates and can differ from your true max by ±10–12 bpm.
Each zone trains a different system. Easy Zone 2 builds endurance and is where most training should happen; harder Zones 4–5 raise speed and capacity but should be used sparingly. Training by zone makes workouts purposeful.
Around 60–70% of maximum heart rate. You burn a higher proportion of fat there, but higher intensities burn more total calories — so the best approach mixes both.
It unlocks the Karvonen method, which personalises your zones using heart-rate reserve rather than a flat percentage of max — more accurate. A low resting heart rate also often reflects good cardiovascular fitness.
For most healthy people, yes, as a guide. Stop and seek advice if you feel chest pain, dizziness or unusual breathlessness, and check with a doctor before starting intense exercise if you have any heart condition. This tool gives general information for education, not medical or dietetic advice; consult a qualified professional for guidance about your health.
About the Heart Rate Calculator
This tool estimates your maximum heart rate and maps out personalised training zones — including the popular fat-burning zone — so your cardio workouts have a clear target rather than guesswork. Enter your resting heart rate and it also gauges your cardiovascular fitness and sharpens the zones.
Max heart rate and why zones matter
It estimates your maximum heart rate two ways: the familiar 220-minus-age and the more modern Tanaka formula, which is more accurate for older adults. From there it builds five training zones. The value of zones is that each develops something different: gentle Zone 1 for recovery, Zone 2 for the aerobic base where most endurance training belongs, Zone 3 for general fitness, and the demanding Zones 4 and 5 for threshold and maximum efforts used in short, infrequent intervals. Training to zones stops every session becoming an aimless slog and makes easy days genuinely easy.
The fat-burning zone, honestly
Around 60–70% of max heart rate, your body burns a higher proportion of energy from fat — the basis of the "fat-burning zone". But proportion is not total: higher-intensity work burns more calories overall, including more fat afterwards. The sensible takeaway is to do plenty of comfortable Zone 2 work for health and endurance while sprinkling in harder efforts, rather than fixating on one magic zone.
Personalise with resting heart rate
If you add your resting heart rate — measured lying down just after waking — the tool switches to the Karvonen method, which personalises zones using your heart-rate reserve, and comments on your cardio fitness, since a lower resting rate often reflects a well-trained heart. Remember these are estimates that can be off by several beats for any individual. This tool gives general information for education, not medical or dietetic advice; consult a qualified professional for guidance about your health.