Calculate your target heart rate zones for fat burning, cardio, and peak performance. Free heart rate zone calculator. No signup required.
Training in the right heart rate zone makes exercise more effective — fat burning happens in one zone, cardiovascular fitness in another, and peak performance training in a third. Most people train at the same intensity for everything and miss out on the specific benefits of each zone. Our calculator finds your personal zones based on your age and resting heart rate.
Zone 1 (50-60% max HR): Recovery — easy walking, active recovery days. Zone 2 (60-70%): Fat burning and aerobic base — conversational pace, builds endurance. Zone 3 (70-80%): Aerobic fitness — moderate effort, improves cardiovascular efficiency. Zone 4 (80-90%): Threshold — hard effort, improves lactate threshold and speed. Zone 5 (90-100%): Maximum — sprint intervals, improves VO2 max.
Zone 2 (60-70% max HR) burns a higher percentage of fat versus carbs. However higher intensity zones burn more total calories per minute. 30 minutes in Zone 4 burns more total calories and more total fat than 30 minutes in Zone 2 despite lower fat percentage. Zone 2 is valuable for building aerobic base and recovery — not because of a magical fat burning effect.
Normal resting heart rate for adults: 60-100 beats per minute (bpm). Well-trained athletes: 40-60 bpm. Below 60 is bradycardia — common in fit people but worth checking if accompanied by symptoms. Above 100 is tachycardia — can be caused by stress, caffeine, dehydration, or underlying conditions worth discussing with a doctor.
The most common formula: 220 minus age. For a 40-year-old: 220 - 40 = 180 bpm estimated maximum. More accurate formula: 211 - (0.64 × age) which is slightly higher for older adults. Individual maximum HR can vary 15-20 bpm from these formulas. A stress test provides your true maximum.
For cardiovascular fitness improvement target Zone 3-4 at 70-85% of maximum heart rate for 20-45 minutes. For a 35-year-old with estimated max of 185 bpm: target 130-157 bpm. American Heart Association recommends 150 minutes per week of moderate intensity at 50-70% or 75 minutes of vigorous at 70-85%.
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The Target Heart Rate Calculator — Find Your Exercise Zones uses the same formulas, rates, and reference data that financial planners, professionals, and government sources publish. Results are estimates intended for planning and education — for situations involving large sums or legal consequences, confirm with a qualified professional before acting.
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