Target Heart Rate Percentage Calculator

About this calculator

Once maximum heart rate is known (or estimated from age), a target heart rate is simply a chosen percentage of that ceiling — for example, 70% of a 190 bpm max HR gives a target of 133 bpm. Exercise physiologists define standard training zones by these percentages: roughly 50–60% for warm-up and recovery, 60–70% for fat-burning and base endurance, 70–80% for aerobic/tempo training, 80–90% for VO2max and lactate-threshold intervals, and 90%+ for maximal anaerobic efforts — each zone stimulating a different physiological adaptation.

Personal trainers, cardiac rehabilitation programs and endurance coaches all prescribe workouts by target heart rate percentage rather than pace or power alone, because heart rate responds consistently to physiological strain across different activities and adjusts naturally for heat, fatigue and altitude in ways a fixed pace target can't. Wearable fitness trackers use the same percentage-of-max-HR zones to color-code workout intensity in real time, letting an athlete stay in a specific zone throughout a session.

This calculator takes your maximum heart rate and a chosen target percentage and returns the exact beats-per-minute you should aim for, so you can train precisely within the zone your workout calls for.