Heart-rate zones

Choose a known maximum pulse or an estimate from your age, then a zone method and Calculate. The resting pulse is needed only for Karvonen. Changing inputs clears the result; Reset restores defaults.

Calculation

For a percentage p, the maximum method uses p × HRmax. Karvonen uses HRrest + p × (HRmax − HRrest). Identical percentages therefore give different pulses; they are not interchangeable.

Five bands from 50 to 100% are a display convention. They do not determine your lactate threshold, VO₂max or individual aerobic boundary. The upper percentage limit belongs to the next band, except 100%. Whole-bpm intervals exclude duplicates; a dash means no whole bpm fits that band.

Estimates and limits

Tanaka uses 208 − 0.7 × age; the alternative is 220 − age. Both are population estimates, not a measurement. Age input is restricted to adults (18–100 whole years); Tanaka's laboratory sample covered 18–81 years, so older ages extrapolate. Pulse input limits (maximum 100–230, resting 30–120 bpm) are practical calculator bounds, not a definition of normal health. The known-value option needs no age.

Personal training zones depend on testing, activity, health and medication. Neither method measures physiological thresholds. General intensity recommendations use different percentage bands from this five-zone display. MAF is a separate method and is not calculated here.

Sources

Tanaka et al. (2001) · Cleveland Clinic: heart-rate reserve · American Heart Association