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Target Heart Rate Calculator

Enter your age — and, if you know it, your resting heart rate — to estimate your maximum heart rate and the heart-rate ranges commonly used for moderate and vigorous exercise. All values are general estimates for adults, calculated locally in your browser.

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1. About you

Adults · general estimate

2. Estimated ranges

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Enter your age, then press Calculate heart rate.
Caution: these are general estimates, not medical advice or a diagnosis. If you have a heart condition, symptoms such as chest pain, dizziness or breathlessness, take medication that affects heart rate, or have any concerns about exercise, consult a qualified healthcare professional before using these ranges.
About this tool

About Target Heart Rate Calculator

Target Heart Rate Calculator estimates your maximum heart rate with the Tanaka formula (208 − 0.7 × age) and shows the heart-rate ranges commonly used for moderate and vigorous exercise. If you enter your resting heart rate, it also calculates Karvonen ranges based on heart-rate reserve.

Exercising within a heart-rate range is a simple way to gauge effort. Seeing both the standard percentage-of-maximum ranges and the Karvonen ranges, with the method stated, helps you understand where your numbers come from — while remembering that they are general estimates.

How to use

Step by step

  1. Enter your age in whole years (18–100).
  2. Optionally enter your resting heart rate.
  3. Choose moderate, vigorous or a custom intensity range.
  4. Press Calculate heart rate.
  5. Read your estimated maximum and ranges, then copy or download the summary.
Key features

What it offers

  • Maximum heart rate from the Tanaka formula, clearly stated
  • Moderate (64–76%) and vigorous (77–93%) ranges of maximum heart rate
  • Karvonen heart-rate-reserve ranges when resting heart rate is entered
  • Custom intensity range applied to both methods and labelled
  • Checks for invalid ages and implausible resting heart rates
  • Visible health caution and no diagnostic claims
Best practices

Tips for best results

  • Measure resting heart rate on a few mornings and use the average.
  • Use how the effort feels alongside heart-rate numbers.
  • Remember individual maximum heart rates can differ widely from the estimate.
  • Check with a healthcare professional if you take heart-rate-affecting medication.
Benefits

Why people use it

Two methods

Standard and Karvonen ranges side by side.

Clearly stated

Formula and percentages are shown.

Flexible

Moderate, vigorous or custom intensity.

Private

Calculated in your browser.

FAQ

Common questions

With the Tanaka formula: maximum heart rate = 208 − 0.7 × age, in beats per minute. It was published in 2001 from a large analysis of healthy adults. Real maximum heart rates vary widely between people of the same age, often by 10 beats per minute or more.
The standard method uses a percentage of maximum heart rate: moderate 64–76% and vigorous 77–93%. The Karvonen method uses a percentage of heart-rate reserve (maximum minus resting): moderate 40–59% and vigorous 60–89%.
It adds your resting heart rate back in: target = (maximum − resting) × intensity + resting. Because it accounts for your resting heart rate, it is often considered more individual. It is shown only when you enter a resting heart rate.
Sit or lie quietly for a few minutes — ideally soon after waking — then count your pulse for 60 seconds, or for 30 seconds and double it. Average the result over a few days.
It lets you enter your own low and high percentages. They are applied as a percentage of maximum heart rate for the standard method and as a percentage of heart-rate reserve for the Karvonen method, and both results are labelled.
Yes. Beta-blockers and some other medicines, heart conditions, pregnancy and other factors can change heart-rate responses so that these estimates do not apply. Anyone with a heart condition, symptoms, medication effects or concerns about exercise should consult a qualified healthcare professional.
No. These are general estimates for healthy adults, not medical advice, an exercise prescription or a diagnosis.
No. The calculation runs in your browser and nothing is saved.

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Private by design

This runs entirely in your browser

No file or text you enter here is uploaded. Encoding and decoding happen on your device using native browser APIs — close the tab and nothing remains on a server.

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