Calculator
What the Maximum Heart Rate Calculator does
Maximum Heart Rate Calculator: calculates 220 − Age and Tanaka Estimate from Age. Formula: Max HR ≈ 220 - age; target zone = resting + (max - resting) x intensity. Example: age 30 gives 220 − age 190.
This calculator reads Age and produces 220 − Age and Tanaka Estimate. There is no submit step; the numbers move as you adjust them.
It is mostly used by anyone curious about a reading. Population formulas give you a starting point, not a verdict about your body.
Your measurements stay on your device. Health numbers are nobody else’s business, including ours.
Each field is explained further down, along with the method and a worked example that uses the default values.
What do the Maximum Heart Rate Calculator fields mean?
The Maximum Heart Rate Calculator uses 1 input. The starting figures are ordinary, not edge cases, so they make a sensible baseline.
| Field | What to enter | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Age | accepts 10 to 90 | 30 |
How does the Maximum Heart Rate Calculator work?
The 220 - age rule has a standard deviation of roughly 10 to 12 bpm, so treat zones as a range rather than a threshold.
Bad input produces an error, never a confident-looking wrong answer.
Worked example
These are the values the Maximum Heart Rate Calculator loads by default, and the result it produces from them. The defaults produce the result shown here; change any of them and the answer moves.
| Age | 30 |
|---|
| 220 − Age | 190 |
|---|---|
| Tanaka Estimate | 187 |
| What this means | Classic estimate 190 bpm; Tanaka 187 bpm. Both are population averages. |
Estimating maximum heart rate
Every maximum heart rate formula is a population estimate with a standard deviation of roughly 10 to 12 beats per minute. That is large enough that the choice of formula matters less than the inherent uncertainty.
| Fox (1971): the familiar one | 220 − age | age 40 → 180 bpm |
|---|---|---|
| Tanaka (2001) | 208 − 0.7 × age | age 40 → 180 bpm |
| Gulati (2010), women | 206 − 0.88 × age | age 40 → 171 bpm |
| Nes (2013) | 211 − 0.64 × age | age 40 → 185 bpm |
Worth knowing
- "220 − age" was never derived from research. It was an informal approximation that entered common use and stuck. Tanaka is better supported.
- The formulas diverge most at the extremes of age. Under 30 and over 60, the difference between them can exceed 10 bpm.
- Individual variation of ±10 to 12 bpm means your true maximum could be well outside any formula’s estimate.
- A supervised graded exercise test is the only way to measure it accurately, and it is not something to attempt alone.
How to use it
- Set Age (10 to 90).
- Results update continuously rather than on submit.
- Check 220 − Age, Tanaka Estimate and What this means on the right.
- If you need a record, Copy Link saves the inputs and Print produces a clean page.
What this tool does not do
- These formulas come from population averages and cannot account for your medical history.
- This is a screening estimate, not a diagnosis.
- It will not warn you that a different tool would suit your question better.
- The result inherits any error in the inputs without flagging it.
Frequently asked questions
You need Age. A starting value is in place for each, so the quickest approach is to replace the one number you actually care about.
Age accepts 10 to 90. Go outside it and you get an error against that specific field instead of a misleading number.
With the values loaded when the page opens, 220 − age comes out as 190. Edit any input and that figure moves with it.
No: there is no server involved. Close the tab and the values are gone.
No cost and no account. Use it as often as you like.
It is a screening estimate, not a diagnosis. The formulas are standard, but they describe averages and you are not an average. Use it as a starting point for a conversation with a professional.