Maximum Heart Rate Calculator
Heart Rate Calculator
Enter an age to estimate maximum heart rate with the Tanaka formula, 208 − 0.7 × age. Add a resting heart rate to get zones by heart rate reserve (the Karvonen method), or enter a max heart rate measured in a hard effort to use instead of the estimate.
Training zones
| Zone | bpm | HRR bpm |
|---|
HRR bpm uses your resting heart rate (Karvonen method): resting HR + the percentage of the gap between resting and max.
Jack Daniels' intensities
| Training | bpm |
|---|
Repetition (R) work is too short for heart rate to guide it; run it by pace. Get your paces from the VDOT calculator.
Any formula is an average. Individual athletes commonly differ from it by 10 beats or more either way, so a max heart rate measured in a hard, well-warmed-up effort is always better than an estimate.
Why the Tanaka formula?
The familiar 220 − age rule was never derived from a study. It traces back to a rough line drawn through a small set of data in 1971, and it went into textbooks and exercise machines anyway.
In 2001 Hirofumi Tanaka, Kevin Monahan and Douglas Seals combined the results of 351 published studies covering 18,712 people, then checked the result in their own laboratory with 514 healthy adults. Both gave the same answer: maximum heart rate = 208 − 0.7 × age. Their meta-analysis also found that the formula held regardless of sex or how much a person trained.
The two formulas agree at age 40. Below 40, 220 − age gives a slightly higher number, and above 40 it gives a lower one: by age 60 it underestimates by about 6 beats, which pushes older athletes' training zones too low.
Source: Tanaka H, Monahan KD, Seals DR. “Age-predicted maximal heart rate revisited.” Journal of the American College of Cardiology 37(1):153–156, 2001. The study population was adults; for high-school and younger athletes the formula is still a reasonable starting point, but a measured max is worth the effort. Calculator suggested by Coach George Payan.
Maximum heart rate by age
| Age | Tanaka 208 − 0.7 × age | Traditional 220 − age | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 | 200 | 208 | −8 |
| 14 | 198 | 206 | −8 |
| 16 | 197 | 204 | −7 |
| 18 | 195 | 202 | −7 |
| 20 | 194 | 200 | −6 |
| 25 | 191 | 195 | −4 |
| 30 | 187 | 190 | −3 |
| 35 | 184 | 185 | −1 |
| 40 | 180 | 180 | 0 |
| 45 | 177 | 175 | +2 |
| 50 | 173 | 170 | +3 |
| 55 | 170 | 165 | +5 |
| 60 | 166 | 160 | +6 |
| 65 | 163 | 155 | +8 |
| 70 | 159 | 150 | +9 |
| 75 | 156 | 145 | +11 |
| 80 | 152 | 140 | +12 |
Beats per minute. Difference is Tanaka minus 220 − age.
Using heart rate in training
Heart rate is most useful for keeping easy days easy and for steady threshold and marathon-pace running. It lags behind effort in short intervals and drifts upward in heat and late in long runs, so for interval and repetition work, pace is the better guide. Daniels' intensities above come from Daniels' Running Formula; see the Jack Daniels training paces article for what each type of training is for.