Enter your age to see what two published equations estimate for your maximum heart rate.
Estimates are for general guidance only and are not medical advice. For a personalised plan, book a free guided tour at RPM Gym.
Two numbers, because two equations are in common use and they disagree. Tanaka's 208 − (0.7 × age) fits the data better across a wide age range; 220 − age is the one printed on gym machines, and it drifts low for older adults and high for younger ones.
Both are population averages, and the variation around them is the part that matters. Individual maximum heart rates scatter by roughly ten beats either side of the prediction, and some people sit twenty beats away without anything being wrong. Two 40-year-olds can genuinely have maximums of 165 and 195.
The number is only useful because other things are expressed as a percentage of it. On its own it tells you nothing about fitness — a fitter person does not have a higher maximum, and maximum heart rate falls with age regardless of training.
Tanaka: HRmax = 208 − (0.7 × age) Classic: HRmax = 220 − age At 25 they differ by 5 bpm; at 60 they differ by 6 in the other direction.
A 35-year-old.
About 184 bpm, with the two equations essentially agreeing in the mid-thirties. Allowing for normal individual variation, this person's true maximum is likely somewhere between about 174 and 194 — which is why anything built on top of it should be treated as approximate.
It's mostly a function of age: around 194 bpm at 20, 184 at 35, 173 at 50 and 166 at 60 using the Tanaka equation. Individual variation of ten beats either side of those figures is entirely normal.
It's a reasonable rough guide in the middle of the age range and drifts at both ends — too high for young adults, too low for older ones. Tanaka's 208 − (0.7 × age) was fitted to better data and is the more defensible of the two.
No. Training improves how much work you can do at a given heart rate, not the ceiling itself. Well-trained athletes often have slightly lower maximums than untrained people of the same age.
A supervised maximal exercise test, which is a clinical procedure. Short of that, the highest figure your monitor records during genuinely hard efforts across several months is a better estimate than any equation.
Not by itself — the estimate is an average and plenty of people exceed it. If it comes with chest pain, unusual breathlessness or dizziness, that's a reason to stop and see a doctor rather than to adjust a number.
No. Perceived effort and pace work perfectly well, and many people train productively for years without knowing the number. It's useful mainly if you want to structure intensity by heart rate specifically.
Cardio conditioning is about the work you can hold at a given heart rate, and that moves fast with training. Start on a free guided tour at RPM Gym in Al Manhal.