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CalculatorHeart rate zone calculator
Get five training zones for running and cycling from the best number you have: a threshold heart rate from a time trial, your maximum, or — least accurately — your age. Threshold is the anchor; age-based zones can be ten beats out.
| Zone | Running (bpm) | Cycling (bpm) |
|---|---|---|
| Recovery | under 142 | under 111 |
| Endurance | 142–149 | 112–135 |
| Tempo | 150–157 | 137–153 |
| Threshold | 159–165 | 155–171 |
| VO₂max | 167–177 | 173–196 |
Running zones: Joe Friel's, off threshold heart rate. Cycling: Coggan's.
Find your threshold heart rate
Zones work best off your lactate threshold heart rate (LTHR), not your maximum. To find it, run a solo 30-minute time trial as hard as you can sustain and take your average heart rate for the last 20 minutes. That number anchors Joe Friel’s running zones and Andrew Coggan’s cycling zones. Test on the bike separately for cycling: most people’s cycling threshold is a few beats lower.
If you only know your maximum heart rate, threshold is roughly 90% of it for running and 88% for cycling. If you only know your age, maximum heart rate can be estimated as 211 − 0.64 × age, from a large Norwegian study. For a 40-year-old that is 185. Individual hearts vary by ten beats or more either side, so treat age-based zones as a starting point and test when you can.
What the zones are for
Recovery and endurance are where most training should live — roughly 80% of the time. Tempo is steady work. Threshold is comfortably hard and very productive in repeats. VO₂max is hard, in short reps with real rest. If your easy runs keep drifting into tempo, the hard days suffer and the whole week becomes mediocre.
Heart rate at altitude and in heat
Heart rate responds to the real cost of an effort, which makes it a useful cross-check when pace lies: at altitude, in heat, into wind, up hills. In the first days at altitude it runs high at paces that normally feel easy. Slow down to the zone rather than chasing the pace.
Heart rate charts
Common questions
How do I find my maximum heart rate?
A properly hard effort — the end of a hard 5 km or a hill session — gets close. Formulas like 220 − age can be ten beats out for an individual.
Should I train by heart rate or pace?
Pace on flat ground in normal conditions; heart rate when pace misleads — altitude, heat, hills, wind. Many athletes use pace for hard sessions and heart rate to keep easy days honest.
Why are my cycling zones lower than running?
Less muscle mass is working on a bike and you are supported by the saddle, so heart rate runs lower for the same effort. That is why cycling and running zones are set separately.
What is zone 2 training?
The endurance zone: easy, conversational, sustainable for hours. It builds the aerobic base and should be most of your week.
Put this calculator on your club’s website
Free for running clubs, coaches, race organisers and bloggers. Copy the code below into any page that accepts HTML — WordPress, Wix and Squarespace all do — and your members get the same live heart rate zone calculator, with nothing to install and no sign-up.
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