Heart Rate Zones Calculator
Calculate all 5 training zones
Formula
Max HR = 220 - Age
Zones = % of Max HR
The 5 Zones
| Z1 Recovery | 50-60% |
| Z2 Fat Burn | 60-70% |
| Z3 Aerobic | 70-80% |
| Z4 Threshold | 80-90% |
| Z5 Maximum | 90-100% |
Related
Complete Guide to Heart Rate Zones Calculator
Heart rate training zones help you optimize workouts for specific goals - whether that's fat loss, endurance, speed, or recovery. Each zone trains different energy systems and produces different adaptations.
Understanding the 5 Zones
- Zone 1 (50-60%): Active recovery, warm-up/cool-down. Very easy effort, can hold full conversation.
- Zone 2 (60-70%): Fat-burning and endurance base. Comfortable pace, can talk in sentences. Where most easy training should occur.
- Zone 3 (70-80%): Aerobic/cardio zone. Moderate effort, breathing harder, limited talking.
- Zone 4 (80-90%): Lactate threshold. Hard effort, can only speak few words. Improves speed and race performance.
- Zone 5 (90-100%): Maximum effort. Sprint intervals only. Develops power and VO2 max.
Training Distribution
The 80/20 rule: 80% of training should be easy (Zone 1-2), 20% hard (Zone 4-5). Zone 3 is often called the "gray zone" - too hard for recovery, too easy for significant gains. Avoid spending too much time there.
Frequently Asked Questions
Zone 2 (60-70% max HR) burns the highest percentage of fat. However, higher zones burn more total calories and fat overall. For weight loss, total calorie burn matters more than the 'fat burning zone'.
Measure first thing in the morning before getting out of bed. Count pulse for 60 seconds or use a fitness tracker's overnight average. Typical RHR is 60-80 bpm; athletes may be 40-60 bpm.
It's a rough estimate with ±10-15 bpm error. For precision, do a max HR test (hard but safe under supervision) or use the Tanaka formula: 208 - (0.7 × age). Individual variation is significant.
Follow the 80/20 rule: 80% easy (Zone 1-2), 20% hard (Zone 4-5). Avoid excessive Zone 3 training. This polarized approach builds the biggest aerobic base while still developing speed.
Zone 3 is too hard to recover from quickly but not hard enough to trigger significant speed/power adaptations. It's tempting to train here because it feels productive, but it often leads to fatigue without proportional gains.
Both! Heart rate provides objective data, but factors like caffeine, stress, and heat affect HR. Learn to correlate zones with how you feel. Eventually, perceived exertion becomes reliable without watching numbers.
Training specific zones develops specific systems. Zone 2 builds aerobic base and fat metabolism. Zone 4 raises lactate threshold. Zone 5 increases VO2 max. Targeted training beats random hard efforts.