Target heart rate
calculator.
Work out the heart rate for moderate and vigorous exercise from your age or a measured maximum. Compare 220 − age with the Tanaka formula, add your resting heart rate for the Karvonen method, and get the 10-second pulse counts to check mid-workout.
At age 40 (estimated maximum 180 bpm), moderate-intensity exercise is 90–126 bpm and vigorous is 126–153 bpm.
- Maximum heart rate
- 180 bpm
- Moderate (50–70%)
- 90–126 bpm
- Vigorous (70–85%)
- 126–153 bpm
- Moderate, beats in 10 seconds
- 15–21
- Vigorous, beats in 10 seconds
- 21–26
- Other formula
- Tanaka 208 − 0.7 × 40 = 180 bpm
HRmax = 220 − 40 = 180; moderate = 180 × 0.5 to × 0.7 = 90 to 126; vigorous = × 0.7 to × 0.85 = 126 to 153Your pulse,
put in its zone.
- Estimated maximum heart rate: 220 − age, as used by the CDC, or 208 − 0.7 × age from Tanaka, Monahan and Seals (2001). You can enter a measured maximum instead.
- % of maximum: moderate is 50–70% and vigorous 70–85% of the maximum (CDC); the ACSM option uses 64–76% and 77–95%.
- Heart-rate reserve (Karvonen): reserve = maximum − resting rate, and target = resting rate + % × reserve, with ACSM’s 40–59% for moderate and 60–89% for vigorous.
- Zone limits are rounded to whole beats per minute, halves up, as in the CDC’s examples (185 × 0.70 = 129.5 → 130). Beats in 10 seconds are the bpm divided by 6, rounded the same way.
- These are population estimates for healthy adults. They are informational only and do not replace targets set by a clinician.
How do you calculate your target heart rate?
Estimate your maximum heart rate by subtracting your age from 220, then take a percentage of it. The CDC’s worked example is a 50-year-old: 220 − 50 = 170 beats per minute, so moderate-intensity activity at 50 to 70% is 170 × 0.50 = 85 to 170 × 0.70 = 119 bpm. Vigorous activity at 70 to 85% is 119 to 145 bpm.
For a 40-year-old, the calculator’s default, the maximum is 180 bpm, moderate is 90–126 bpm and vigorous is 126–153 bpm.
max HR = 220 − age
target = max HR × intensity (0.50 to 0.85)Which maximum heart rate formula is more accurate, 220 − age or Tanaka?
Tanaka, Monahan and Seals pooled 351 studies with 18,712 people and found maximum heart rate fell with age as 208 − 0.7 × age, confirmed in a laboratory study of 514 healthy adults. The relationship did not differ between men and women or with activity level, and the authors concluded that 220 − age underestimates the maximum in older adults.
The two formulas agree at 40 (180 bpm). At 60, 220 − age gives 160 bpm and Tanaka 166 bpm, moving the moderate zone from 80–112 to 83–116 bpm. Either way, the estimate can be off for an individual: a 2024 review gives Tanaka’s standard error as about 11.4 bpm. A maximum measured in a supervised exercise test is better than any formula.
Tanaka: max HR = 208 − 0.7 × ageHow do you use the Karvonen formula?
The Karvonen method works from your heart-rate reserve, the difference between your maximum and resting heart rate. Take a percentage of the reserve and add the resting rate back. For a 45-year-old with a resting rate of 60 bpm, the reserve is 175 − 60 = 115 bpm. Moderate intensity at 40 to 59% is 60 + 0.40 × 115 = 106 to 60 + 0.59 × 115 = 128 bpm, and vigorous at 60 to 89% is 129 to 162 bpm.
Because the resting rate is included, two people of the same age get different targets if one has a lower resting heart rate. Swain and Leutholtz (1997) showed that a percentage of heart-rate reserve matches the same percentage of oxygen-uptake reserve, which is why exercise guidelines use it to set intensity.
reserve = max HR − resting HR
target = resting HR + intensity × reserveWhat heart rate counts as moderate or vigorous exercise?
It depends on the standard. The CDC’s heart rate guidance used 50–70% of maximum for moderate and 70–85% for vigorous. The American College of Sports Medicine’s classification is stricter: 64–76% of maximum for moderate and 77–95% for vigorous, or 40–59% and 60–89% of heart-rate reserve. For a 40-year-old, ACSM’s moderate zone is 115–137 bpm, against 90–126 bpm with the CDC’s.
Choose the standard in “Zone standard”, or switch to heart-rate reserve if you know your resting rate. The table below the result shows every 5% step from 50% to 95% so you can see where each zone starts and ends.
How do you check your heart rate during exercise?
The CDC recommends taking your pulse at the wrist: place the tips of your index and middle fingers on the artery in line with the thumb and press lightly, then count for 60 seconds, or for 30 seconds and double it. A 10-second count times 6 is quicker but coarser, because each beat you miss changes the result by 6 bpm. For a 50-year-old, the moderate zone is 14 to 20 beats in 10 seconds.
Medicines that slow the heart, such as beta-blockers, lower your maximum heart rate, so age-based targets can be too high. If you take them or have a heart condition, use the targets your clinician gives you.
Worked examples.
Age 40, % of maximum
A 40-year-old using 220 − age and the CDC zones.
90–126 bpm for moderate exercise; vigorous is 126–153 bpm.
Load this exampleThe CDC’s 50-year-old
Age 50, 220 − age, CDC zones.
85–119 bpm moderate (14–20 beats in 10 seconds); vigorous is 119–145 bpm.
Load this exampleTanaka formula at 60
Age 60 with 208 − 0.7 × age and the CDC zones.
83–116 bpm moderate from a maximum of 166 bpm (220 − age would give 160).
Load this exampleACSM zones
Age 40, 220 − age, ACSM’s 64–76% and 77–95%.
115–137 bpm moderate; vigorous is 139–171 bpm.
Load this exampleKarvonen with a resting rate
Age 45, resting heart rate 60 bpm, heart-rate reserve method.
106–128 bpm moderate; vigorous is 129–162 bpm, from a reserve of 115 bpm.
Load this exampleMeasured maximum and a pulse check
Maximum 190 bpm from a test, resting 50 bpm; a pulse of 150 bpm during a run.
106–133 bpm moderate; 150 bpm is 71.4% of reserve, in the vigorous zone.
Load this exampleWhat this calculator
does not do.
- Age formulas describe averages. People of the same age can have maximum heart rates 10 bpm or more above or below the estimate, so the zones can be off by the same amount.
- Medicines such as beta-blockers, heart conditions, heat, dehydration and caffeine change heart rate; the targets here do not account for them.
- The formulas were derived from adults; for children and teenagers they are rougher.
- It is informational only and not medical advice. It does not tell you whether exercise is safe for you.
Common questions.
What is my maximum heart rate?
A common estimate is 220 minus your age, so 180 bpm at 40. The Tanaka formula, 208 − 0.7 × age, gives the same at 40 and higher values for older adults.
What is a good target heart rate for moderate exercise?
About 50–70% of your maximum by the CDC’s guidance, so 90–126 bpm at age 40. ACSM’s range is 64–76%, or 115–137 bpm.
What is heart-rate reserve?
Your maximum heart rate minus your resting heart rate. The Karvonen method takes a percentage of it and adds the resting rate back.
Is a higher heart rate always better for fitness?
No. Moderate and vigorous zones both count toward activity guidelines. Vigorous work is harder, and above about 85–95% of maximum the effort is near all-out.
Why is the 10-second count only approximate?
It is multiplied by 6, so a single missed or extra beat moves the result by 6 bpm. Count for 30 seconds and double it for a better reading.
- CDC, Target Heart Rate and Estimated Maximum Heart Rate (page last updated March 30, 2011; archived copy) — 220 − age; moderate 50–70% and vigorous 70–85% of maximum; worked examples for ages 50 and 35; counting the pulse at the wrist for 60 or 30 seconds. CDC’s current measuring page no longer gives heart-rate figures.
- Tanaka H, Monahan KD, Seals DR. Age-predicted maximal heart rate revisited. J Am Coll Cardiol 2001;37(1):153–156 — “A regression equation to predict HRmax is 208 - 0.7 x age in healthy adults”; 220 − age underestimates the maximum in older adults
- Almaadawy O, Uretsky BF, Krittanawong C, Birnbaum Y. Target Heart Rate Formulas for Exercise Stress Testing: What Is the Evidence? J Clin Med 2024;13(18):5562 — standard error of the Tanaka estimate around 11.4 bpm; beta-blockers reduce maximum heart rate by about 10–15 bpm
- Schumann M, et al. Using Free-Living Heart Rate Data as an Objective Method to Assess Physical Activity (INTERLIVE-Network). Sports Med 2025;55(2):275–300 — ACSM intensity categories: moderate 40–59% and vigorous 60–89% of heart-rate reserve; 64–76% and 77–95% of maximum
- Swain DP, Leutholtz BC. Heart rate reserve is equivalent to %VO2 reserve, not to %VO2max. Med Sci Sports Exerc 1997;29(3):410–414 — percentage of heart-rate reserve tracks percentage of oxygen-uptake reserve and “should be used in exercise prescription”
The maximum comes from 220 − age, 208 − 0.7 × age or your measured value. Zone limits are that maximum times the percentage, or the resting rate plus the percentage of the reserve, rounded half up to whole beats. Our tests reproduce the CDC’s worked examples, check six hand-worked cases, and compare 600 random ages and resting rates with a separate calculation, confirming that zones never overlap out of order, fall with age, and that the Karvonen target is never below the same percentage of the maximum.
Built and reviewed by CalculatorLab against the sources above; every worked example on this page is re-checked by our automated test suite before each release. How we build and check calculators. Found a problem? Tell us.