Heart Rate Zones Calculator – 5 Training Zones by Age
Heart Rate Zones Calculator
Calculate your 5 personalised training zones based on age and resting heart rate.
Heart Rate Zone Results
📊 Your 5 Training Zones
💡 Zone Training Tips
Training in the correct heart rate zone is the difference between burning fat, building endurance, or improving speed. Our Heart Rate Zones Calculator gives you five personalised training zones based on your age and resting heart rate using your choice of the Tanaka, Basic (220-age), or Karvonen formula.
Stop guessing and start training smarter. Each zone has a specific physiological benefit from easy recovery work in Zone 1 to maximum VO2 max efforts in Zone 5.
How to Use This Calculator
- Enter your age in years. Your maximum heart rate decreases with age.
- Enter your resting heart rate measure this first thing in the morning before getting out of bed. A normal range is 50–80 bpm.
- Choose your preferred formula. Tanaka is most accurate for adults; Karvonen accounts for individual fitness level.
- Click “Calculate Zones” to see your personalised bpm ranges for all 5 training zones.
The 5 Training Zones Explained
- Zone 1 (50–60% max HR): Recovery very easy, warm-up and cool-down, active recovery days
- Zone 2 (60–70% max HR): Aerobic base fat burning, conversational pace, foundation of endurance
- Zone 3 (70–80% max HR): Tempo aerobic capacity building, comfortably hard effort
- Zone 4 (80–90% max HR): Threshold lactate threshold, race pace training, improves speed
- Zone 5 (90–100% max HR): Maximum sprint intervals, VO2 max improvement, short bursts only
Frequently Asked Questions
Which zone is best for fat loss?
Zone 2 (60–70% max HR) is the traditional fat burning zone because fat provides the primary fuel source. However, higher intensity zones burn more total calories per minute. For overall fat loss, a combination of Zone 2 aerobic work and occasional higher-intensity sessions is most effective.
How often should I train in each zone?
Most coaches recommend the 80/20 rule: 80% of training in Zones 1–2, and 20% in Zones 3–5. Spending too much time in Zone 3 is one of the most common training mistakes it is hard enough to fatigue you, but not hard enough to drive significant adaptation.
Why use resting heart rate in the Karvonen formula?
The Karvonen formula uses Heart Rate Reserve (HRR = Max HR minus Resting HR). This accounts for individual cardiovascular fitness a well-trained athlete with a low resting heart rate will have different zone boundaries than an unfit person of the same age, even with the same max HR.