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Heart Rate Zones
Many people do their cardio too hard to be easy and too easy to really make progress. Enter your age and resting heart rate and see which five zones to train in for recovery, base fitness or intervals.
50–60%
Recovery
Active recovery, warm-up
60–70%
Base
Fat burning, endurance
70–80%
Moderate
Fitness building
80–90%
Intensive
Performance capacity
90–100%
Maximum
Short, hard intervals
Percentage of your maximum heart rate. Calculate your own bpm values per zone below.
Measure your resting heart rate lying down, right after waking up, three mornings in a row, and take the average.
Maximum heart rate formula
Maximum heart rate
188
bpmResting heart rate
58 bpm
Heart rate reserve
130 bpm
Your training zones
Active recovery and warm-up. You can hold full conversations here.
Builds your aerobic base and fat burning. Most of your cardio belongs here.
Improves your endurance at pace. Talking is still possible in short sentences.
Around your anaerobic threshold. Hard, and good for intervals of 3 to 8 minutes.
Short, all-or-nothing efforts. Limit this to a few minutes per session.
Formulas are an estimate: individual maximums easily deviate by 10 bpm. If you feel unwell at a certain heart rate, or use heart medication, adjust your zones with a doctor.
01
Measure your resting heart rate in the morning
Do it right after waking up, still in bed. Take the average of a few days for a reliable number.
02
Stay easy often
Most of your cardio should be in the lower zones. Save the high zones for short, hard sessions.
03
Use the talk test
Can you still hold a conversation while training? Then you are in an easy zone. If you can no longer, you are going harder.
How are your zones calculated?
First your maximum heart rate is estimated from your age, then the Karvonen method divides the range between your resting and maximum heart rate into five training zones.
How accurate is an estimated maximum heart rate?
Formulas such as Tanaka or Fox give a good general estimate, but the actual value can differ by 10-15 beats per minute per person. A stress test with a doctor or sports physiologist gives the most exact value.
What is the difference from the simple formula (220 - age)?
“220 minus age” is the oldest and least accurate rule of thumb. Tanaka and Fox are based on more recent research and generally give a better estimate, especially for older athletes.
Why does the Karvonen method take my resting heart rate into account?
Two people with the same maximum heart rate can have very different fitness levels. By including your resting heart rate, Karvonen gives a training zone that is better matched to your personal fitness level.
Which zone should I train in the most?
For most goals (base fitness, fat burning, recovery), spending most of your cardio time in the lower zones (easy to moderate) is the most effective. Higher zones are meant for shorter, more intense intervals.