Target Heart Rate Calculator: Moderate and Vigorous Zones by Heart Rate Reserve
Enter your age (or a measured maximum) and your resting heart rate to get the heart rate ranges for moderate and vigorous exercise, worked out from your heart rate reserve, with a choice of maximum heart rate formula or your own measured maximum.
Subtract your resting heart rate from your maximum to get your heart rate reserve, then add a percentage of the reserve back to your resting rate. At 40 with a resting rate of 60 and a maximum of 220 - 40 = 180, the reserve is 120, so the guidelines' moderate (40 to 59%) and vigorous (60 to 84%) percentages, applied to heart rate reserve, give 108 to 131 bpm and 132 to 161 bpm.
This calculator gives general estimates for education; it is not medical advice, an exercise prescription, or a substitute for care from a qualified health professional. Predicted maximum heart rates can be off by 10 bpm or more, and medicines such as beta blockers, some heart conditions and pregnancy change how heart rate responds to exercise. If you have heart disease, chest pain, dizziness or unusual shortness of breath with exertion, are pregnant, or are starting after a long inactive spell, talk to your doctor before exercising to these numbers, and stop if you feel unwell.
Moderate intensity (40 to 59% of reserve)
108 to 131 bpm
Vigorous intensity (60 to 84% of reserve)
132 to 161 bpm
- Maximum heart rate
- 180 bpm (Fox)
- Heart rate reserve
- 120 bpm
Target = resting + percent x (maximum - resting). Percentages from the HHS Physical Activity Guidelines, 2nd edition, applied to heart rate reserve.
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About the Target Heart Rate Calculator
The federal Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, 2nd edition, describe exercise intensity in two ways. Absolute intensity is the energy an activity takes. Relative intensity adjusts for your fitness and can be expressed as a percent of your maximum heart rate, your heart rate reserve or your aerobic capacity reserve. The guidelines define relative moderate intensity as 40 to 59 percent of aerobic capacity reserve and vigorous as 60 to 84 percent, where 0 percent of reserve is resting and 100 percent is maximal effort. This calculator applies the same percentages to heart rate reserve, the gap between your maximum and resting heart rates: each target is your resting rate plus that share of the gap. That is a reasonable stand-in rather than an exact match, since heart rate and oxygen use do not track each other exactly. The maximum comes from the same four formulas as our max heart rate calculator, 220 minus age by default, or from a maximum you have measured in a supervised test. Because the reserve method starts from your own resting rate, two people of the same age get different targets when their resting rates differ.
Frequently asked questions
How do I find my resting heart rate?+
Count your pulse for a full minute while sitting or lying quietly. Readings vary from day to day, so a typical value from several mornings is steadier than a single reading.
Why does the calculator need my resting heart rate?+
This calculator measures intensity as a share of heart rate reserve, the gap between resting and maximum, where 0 percent is resting and 100 percent is maximal effort. Without your resting rate there is no reserve to take a share of. A lower resting rate widens the reserve, so the same percentage gives a different heart rate.
Which maximum heart rate formula should I pick?+
220 minus age is the most familiar, and the other three, from Tanaka, Gellish and Nes, are later equations fitted to study samples of their own. All four predict an average for your age, and your true maximum can differ by 10 bpm or more, so if you have had a measured maximum from a supervised exercise test, enter that instead.
What if I am pregnant?+
The guidelines say that during pregnancy, how hard the exercise feels is often a better guide to intensity than heart rate. Use the talk test or a 0 to 10 effort scale, and follow the advice of your health care provider rather than these ranges.
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