Skip to content

Free tool

Heart rate zone calculator.

Five zones from your heart-rate reserve, the Karvonen method. The same zones inbeat sets for you when you have none of your own.

For 220 − age when you don’t know your max.
The highest you have seen in a hard effort.
Your usual overnight or morning resting rate. 60 if empty.
Max 185 bpm · resting 60 bpm · reserve 125 bpm
ZoneHeart rateShare of reserve
Zone 1 · Recovery50–60% of reserve123–135bpm
Zone 2 · Aerobic base60–70% of reserve136–148bpm
Zone 3 · Tempo70–80% of reserve149–160bpm
Zone 4 · Threshold80–90% of reserve161–173bpm
Zone 5 · VO₂max90–100% of reserve174–185bpm

How the zones are set

Your heart-rate reserve is your maximum minus your resting heart rate. The top of zone 1 sits at 60% of that reserve above your resting rate, zone 2 at 70%, zone 3 at 80% and zone 4 at 90%; zone 5 is everything above.

A lower resting heart rate, which usually comes with fitness, widens your reserve and moves every zone. Recalculate when your resting rate changes. The inbeat app does it for you from your recent nights and uses the zones for your training load.

FAQ

Zones, answered.

What is the Karvonen method?

It sets zones as shares of your heart-rate reserve, the gap between your resting and maximum heart rate, instead of shares of your maximum alone. Two people with the same maximum but different resting rates get different zones, which fits fitness better.

How do I find my real maximum heart rate?

220 minus your age is only a starting point and can be off by 10 beats or more. The highest heart rate you reach at the end of a hard race or an all-out hill effort is closer. The inbeat app takes the highest it sees in your workouts over the year.

Which zone should most of my training be in?

For endurance, most coaches keep around three quarters of training time easy, in zones 1 and 2, and the rest hard. inbeat shows your split zone by zone over four weeks.

Early access · free

Let your zones set themselves.

Leave your email and we’ll tell you the day inbeat is in the App Store. Nothing else.

Free during early access. iPhone and Apple Watch. No spam, one email when we launch.