Heart Rate Recovery Fitness Calculator

About this calculator

Heart rate recovery (HRR) is the drop in heart rate during the first minute after peak exercise effort, calculated simply as peak HR minus 1-minute HR. A faster drop generally reflects better cardiovascular fitness and more efficient parasympathetic (rest-and-digest) nervous system response, while a slow recovery has been linked in research to higher cardiovascular risk.

This calculator subtracts your 1-minute post-exercise heart rate from your peak heart rate and places the result into a fitness category — commonly, a drop of less than 12 bpm is considered a warning sign, while drops over 25 bpm suggest excellent conditioning. Runners, cyclists, and anyone tracking cardio fitness can use it after an interval workout or field test to gauge how efficiently their heart rate comes down.