Maximum heart rate calculator
Enter your age: the calculator estimates your HRmax with the five reference formulas, tells you which one to keep and shows the margin of error that comes with any of them.
About 15 seconds
The formulas used
All of them rest on the same observation: maximum heart rate falls with age, by roughly 0.7 beats a year. They differ only in slope and intercept, measured on different populations. Tanaka is the one to keep for the general population; Gulati was derived on women only, so it takes over when the form says female.
At 40, the Tanaka formula gives an estimated maximum heart rate of 180 bpm, which means a realistic individual range of 169 to 191 bpm.
Whatever the formula, an age-based estimate carries a standard error of roughly 10 to 12 bpm: at 40, a true HRmax of 170 or of 195 bpm is perfectly ordinary. A measured value always beats a calculated one.
The formulas side by side
| Formula | Equation | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Fox | 220 − age | Fox, Naughton & Haskell, Annals of Clinical Research, 1971 |
| Tanaka | 208 − 0.7 × age | Tanaka, Monahan & Seals, Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 2001 |
| Gellish | 207 − 0.7 × age | Gellish et al., Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, 2007 |
| Nes (HUNT) | 211 − 0.64 × age | Nes et al., Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports, 2013 (HUNT Fitness Study) |
| Åstrand | 216.6 − 0.84 × age | Åstrand & Rodahl, Textbook of Work Physiology, 1970 |
| Gulati (women) | 206 − 0.88 × age | Gulati et al., Circulation, 2010 (St. James Women Take Heart) |
Estimated HRmax by age (Tanaka formula)
| Age | Estimated HRmax | Individual range |
|---|---|---|
| 20 years | 194 bpm | 183–205 bpm |
| 30 years | 187 bpm | 176–198 bpm |
| 40 years | 180 bpm | 169–191 bpm |
| 50 years | 173 bpm | 162–184 bpm |
| 60 years | 166 bpm | 155–177 bpm |
| 70 years | 159 bpm | 148–170 bpm |
Measuring your real HRmax
After a full 15-minute warm-up, run three or four 3-minute climbs or track repeats, each one faster than the last, with the final one flat out until you can no longer accelerate.
The highest reading during the last seconds of the effort, or in the 15 seconds that follow, is your HRmax for the day — keep the highest figure you see across several tests.
A test like this assumes you are healthy and well rested. If you have any doubt, a heart condition, a treatment that affects heart rate or a long lay-off behind you, have it supervised by a sports physician.
Work out my heart rate zones · Estimate my VO2max with the Cooper test · See all calculators
Frequently asked questions
A few common questions about maximum heart rate.
The most reliable formula for the general population is Tanaka: 208 − 0.7 × age. At 40 that gives 180 bpm. The better-known 220 − age overestimates HRmax in young adults and underestimates it after 50.
It is a rule of thumb published in 1971, never derived from a regression on raw data. It works as an order of magnitude, but it drifts about ten beats away from measured values at both ends of the age scale.
Roughly 10 to 12 bpm of standard error, whichever formula you use. Two people of the same age can have maximum heart rates more than 20 bpm apart with nothing abnormal about either.
No. Maximum heart rate depends mostly on genetics and age, not on training: it says nothing about your fitness. What training improves is your resting heart rate and how fast you recover after an effort.
The app for fitness coachespoweredbyClaude
Manage your clients, payments, and programs from one single platform. Spend less time managing and more time coaching.