Free Clinical Tool
Heart Rate Zone Calculator
Calculate five heart rate training zones from age and optional resting heart rate. Supports both the standard percentage method and the Karvonen formula.
Heart rate zone training is a cornerstone of exercise prescription in physical therapy, health coaching, and fitness-based rehabilitation. By identifying specific heart rate ranges, practitioners can design exercise programs that target fat burning, aerobic conditioning, anaerobic threshold training, or maximum performance. This calculator determines all five standard training zones using either the simple percentage-of-max method or the more personalized Karvonen formula (which accounts for resting heart rate). Physical therapists use these zones for cardiac rehabilitation protocols, health coaches for exercise programming, and chiropractors for wellness-focused movement recommendations.
Heart Rate Zone Calculator
Find your training zones based on age and optional resting heart rate.
Leave blank to use the standard percentage method.
How to Use This Calculator
Enter the patient's age. Optionally enter their resting heart rate for a more personalized calculation using the Karvonen method — if left blank, the calculator uses the standard percentage-of-max-HR method. The calculator displays all five training zones with their heart rate ranges, zone names, and descriptions of the training benefits for each zone.
Formula & Method
Maximum Heart Rate (estimated): 220 − age. Standard method: Zone range = Max HR × zone percentage. Karvonen method: Target HR = ((Max HR − Resting HR) × zone percentage) + Resting HR. Zone 1 (50–60%): Recovery/warm-up. Zone 2 (60–70%): Fat burning/base endurance. Zone 3 (70–80%): Aerobic conditioning. Zone 4 (80–90%): Anaerobic threshold. Zone 5 (90–100%): Maximum effort/VO2 max.
Disclaimer
The 220-minus-age formula provides an estimate of maximum heart rate that can vary by 10-15 bpm from actual values. Patients on beta-blockers or other heart-rate-affecting medications will have altered heart rate responses. Consult a physician before beginning any new exercise program, especially for patients with cardiovascular conditions.
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