❤️ Health
Finding Your Target Heart Rate Zones
How to estimate your maximum heart rate, work out moderate and vigorous training zones, and personalise them with the Karvonen (heart-rate-reserve) method.
Updated 19 October 2026 · 2 min read
Training at the right intensity is what makes exercise effective, and your heart rate is the simplest window into how hard you're actually working. Target heart-rate zones turn a vague sense of effort into numbers you can watch on a fitness tracker, so you know when to push and when to ease off.
Start with maximum heart rate
Every zone is a share of your maximum heart rate (max HR) — the fastest your heart can safely beat during all-out effort. The best-known estimate couldn't be simpler:
This is a population average, not a personal measurement. Real maximums vary by 10–20 bpm between people of the same age, so treat it as a starting point rather than a hard ceiling.
The main training zones
Once you have your estimated max, the common zones follow as percentages of it:
- Warm-up / recovery (50–60%): gentle effort for warming up, cooling down and easy recovery days.
- Moderate zone (50–70%): a conversational pace you can hold for a long time — the base of most endurance training.
- Vigorous zone (70–85%): harder cardio where talking gets difficult; builds fitness and performance.
- Peak effort (85%+): short, intense bursts, used sparingly in interval training.
The old label "fat-burning zone" refers to the moderate band, where a higher share of energy comes from fat. Higher-intensity work still burns plenty of fat overall because it burns more total energy — the zone name is a guide, not a rule for weight loss.
A more personal estimate: the Karvonen method
A flat percentage of max HR ignores how fit you already are. The Karvonen method fixes that by building zones from your heart-rate reserve — the gap between your maximum and your resting heart rate:
Measure your resting heart rate when you're calm, ideally first thing in the morning before getting up. Because it factors in your resting rate, Karvonen tends to give more tailored — usually slightly higher — zones, especially for fitter people whose hearts are efficient at rest. The target heart rate calculator shows both the plain-percentage and Karvonen zones side by side once you add a resting rate.
Heart rate pairs naturally with other training numbers: see how to calculate running pace to match effort to speed, and TDEE and calories explained for the energy side of the same workout.
Frequently asked questions
- How is maximum heart rate estimated?
- The usual formula is 220 minus your age. It's a rough average — individual maximums vary quite a bit — but it's a practical basis for setting training zones when you haven't had a lab test.
- What is the Karvonen method and why use it?
- Karvonen builds zones from your heart-rate reserve (maximum minus resting heart rate): target = resting + intensity × (max − resting). Because it accounts for your resting pulse, it gives more personalised zones than a plain percentage of maximum, particularly for fitter people.
- Is the fat-burning zone the best for losing weight?
- Not necessarily. The moderate zone burns a higher proportion of fat, but harder exercise burns more total energy, including fat. For weight loss, total calories burned and your overall diet matter more than staying in one specific zone.