How to Calculate Your Maximum Heart Rate (+ Insights From a Physiotherapist)

As a strength athlete, you likely have a working estimate of your one-rep max in different lifts at any given time. It informs your training day to day and week to week. But when it comes to hopping on the treadmill and getting our heart rates up, we may tend to be a little less informed.

But knowing your maximum heart rate is a fantastic tool for improving your cardiovascular fitness. It’s also a good piece of information to have in your back pocket to keep tabs on your overall health. For insight into what goes into your HRmax and why it’s so important, I chatted with Calum Fraser, physiotherapist and owner of Advantage Healthcare and Physiotherapy. You’ll learn how to calculate your max heart rate and why you’ll want to. 

What Is Your Maximum Heart Rate?

Your maximum heart rate (MHR or HRmax), defined plainly, is the fastest rate at which your heart can beat. More specifically, max heart rate signifies how quickly your heart can beat when your body is under stress during physical activity. It’s measured in beats per minute (BPM). 

What Is a Resting Heart Rate?

Your resting heart rate (RHR) refers to how quickly (or slowly) your heart beats when your body is at rest. Also measured in beats per minute, your resting heart rate can change throughout the day and is usually lower during deep sleep than during the day. 

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A “normal” resting heart rate for the average adult is considered to be 60 to 100 BPM, according to the American Heart Association (AHA). What’s considered healthy varies by age, activity level, and other factors — athletes may have a resting heart rate as low as 40 BPM, according to Harvard Health. 

Factors That Impact Your Heart Rate

Let’s take a look at some things that can alter your resting heart rate and max heart rate. 

• Genetics: Genetics influence heart rate just like they do other human characteristics. Some people have a naturally higher or slower resting heart rate than others. Genetics also influence an individual’s heart rate response to exercise. (1) 
• Age: The defined “normal” range for resting heart rate changes with age. It’s higher for infants and young children, lower for teens and adults, and higher for older adults. (2)
• Fitness Level: One’s resting heart rate generally decreases as your cardiovascular fitness increases. (3)
• Gender: People assigned female at birth have a higher heart rate than individuals assigned male at birth, by a few beats per minute. (4)
• Stress: Acute stress, physical or emotional, elevates the heart rate. Chronic stress may alter your heart rate, according to the AHA. (5)
• Sleep: Being short on rest time, especially chronically, may increase your resting heart rate. (6)
• Nutrition: Emerging research suggests that micronutrient intake may change resting heart rate. Sugar, alcohol, and caffeine are known to affect heart rate, and simply eating a meal elicits an acute cardiovascular response (7)(8)(9)(10)(11)
• Medical Conditions: Any form of heart disease, including high blood pressure, can alter your resting heart rate and exercising heart rates. Beta-blockers, for instance, slow your heart rate, which means you may need to adjust your HRmax. (12)
• Pregnancy: Pregnancy alters many physiological functions, including heart rate. (13)
• Weather Conditions During Exercise: When exercising, environmental conditions affect your heart rate. In hot conditions, your heart rate will be higher than it would be for the same session at a more comfortable temperature. If you’re training at higher altitudes than you’re used to, expect your HRmax to decrease. (14)(15)

Why Calculate Your Maximum Heart Rate?

Knowing your HRmax helps you plan workouts that suit you, Fraser explains. This especially applies if you’re an athlete, and even more so if you’re an endurance athlete. 

“For sports like long-distance running or cycling, understanding your HRmax helps you train smarter to improve your heart health and avoid getting hurt,” Fraser explains. 

Low- and moderate-intensity training is important for endurance athletes. If you know your heart rate range for each target zone, you can avoid strength training at a vigorous intensity when you should be training at a moderate intensity. 

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This is important because endurance athletes are training to be more aerobic (long, lower-intensity efforts) so that their bodies can sustain efforts for longer periods. Training too much in anaerobic zones (short, higher-intensity efforts) can backfire for the endurance athlete. 

“Non-[competitive] athletes too can benefit from knowing their HRmax,” Fraser continues. “It can help them structure their fitness regimen within safe limits, minimizing the risk of overstressing the heart, especially for those with underlying heart conditions.”

How to Estimate Your Maximum Heart Rate

There are a variety of methods for estimating your HRmax. Let’s go through a few here.

Estimated Maximum Heart Rate Formula (Fox Formula)

The age-predicted formula, 220 minus age, is the simplest and most common way for individuals to calculate their max heart rate. While it’s a good starting point, Fraser emphasizes that it’s just an approximation and does not account for any individual factors aside from age. 

Tanaka Formula 

Another age-based equation, the Tanaka equation is 208 minus 0.7 × age. Again, it provides only a rough estimate, Fraser says, and doesn’t factor in fitness level or other important considerations. (16)

Gulati Formula 

The Gulati formula was developed specifically for cisgender women after researchers found that other methods tended to overestimate max heart rate for people assigned female at birth. The equation is 206 minus 0.88 x age. Even though this equation accounts for sex assigned at birth, it still fails to account for genetics, fitness level, health conditions, and other factors. (17)

Karvonen Formula

This formula is more complex and builds upon the Fox Formula, using your heart rate reserve (HRR) to determine maximum heart rate at a given exercise intensity. Your HRR is the difference between your max heart rate and resting heart rate (RHR). 

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You can use this formula to find target heart rate zones for exercise. For example, the Karvonen formula can tell you how fast your heart should beat when exercising at a 75-percent intensity level. 

Heart Rate Calculator 

There are a number of calculators online that can do all of that math for you. Just be sure to choose a calculator that has your desired formula programmed. 

Fitness Trackers

If you’re not a fan of math (I don’t blame you!), formulas are not the only way to estimate your max heart rate. If you have a heart rate monitor or fitness tracker, you can use that to get an idea of your resting heart rate and your heart rate at different effort levels while exercising. 

You’ll need to understand the concept of RPE — rating of perceived exertion — for this method to be beneficial. The idea is that you can correlate your effort level to the heart rate reading on your fitness watch. Over time, you can come to conclusions like, “When I’m running all out, huffing and puffing, and can’t talk at all, my watch reads between 175 and 185 beats per minute.” 

In that case, you can reasonably assume that your max HR is around 185 beats per minute. 

This method isn’t foolproof — fitness trackers aren’t 100 percent accurate — but it has the added benefit of providing more data over time. If you record data consistently, you can uncover patterns and then use that information to guide training intensity and exercise programs.

Some trackers, like WHOOP and various Garmin watches, will provide you with a heart rate max estimate after gathering enough data. 

“In terms of fitness trackers, while advancement in wearable technology has improved their accuracy, it can vary among different devices and under different exercise conditions,” Fraser says. “Therefore, they should not be used as a replacement for traditional testing methods, especially for individuals with medical conditions.”

Field Test 

You may be able to squeeze more accurate data out of your heart rate monitor by completing a field test. One example is INSCYD. This exercise test protocol has the athlete perform a number of running or biking intervals, with efforts ranging from warmups to moderate-intensity efforts to all-out sprints. INSCYD uses data collected by the fitness tracker, plus other data points like age, gender, and body fat percentage, to determine your max heart rate, VO2 max, and heart rate training zones. 

Stress Test 

For even greater accuracy, a lab test is the recommended option. A graded exercise test (GXT) evaluates your body’s physiological response to exercise. During such a test, you’ll exercise on a treadmill or exercise bike as instructed by the technician, gradually increasing your speed until you reach various thresholds, including your aerobic threshold and anaerobic threshold. A GXT can tell you key data points like your HRmax and VO2 max.

How to Use Your Heart Rate in Training

Now that you know how to find your max heart rate and heart rate zones, it’s time to deploy that knowledge to improve your physical fitness. 

From a fitness professional’s standpoint, knowing one’s HRmax is essential for exercise prescription, particularly for endurance athletes. That key number allows a personal trainer or coach to determine target heart rate zones at various exercise intensities, thus maximizing training load and training responses. 

In addition to knowing your HRmax, you must also be familiar with the standard heart rate zones: 

Zone 1	Very light, 50–60% of HRmax
Zone 2	Light, 60–70% of HRmax
Zone 3	Moderate, 70–80% of HRmax
Zone 4	Hard, 80–90% of HRmax
Zone 5	Maximum, 90–100% of HRmax

Once you know your maximum heart rate, you can calculate your heart rate zones and use them as a guide for training. Instead of guessing what intensity you’re working at, you’ll have concrete data to base your training sessions around. 

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It’s also helpful to understand the benefits of training in each zone. 

Zone 1	Good for recovery
Zone 2	Essential for building endurance, fat oxidation (burning), and capillary density
Zone 3	Good for improving efficiency and increasing skeletal muscle circulation
Zone 4	Improves speed and stamina
Zone 5	Increases power and sprinting performance

Takeaways

• Your max heart rate refers to the maximum number of beats your heart can complete per minute while exercising 
• Many factors, including age, gender, fitness level, and pregnancy, can impact your resting heart rate 
• There are several formulas you can use to find your max heart rate. Or, you can do a field test or lab test to find it. 
• Knowing your HRmax can help you maximize your training, particularly for endurance athletes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Editor’s Note: The content on BarBend is meant to be informative in nature, but it should not be taken as medical advice. When starting a new training regimen and/or diet, it is always a good idea to consult with a trusted medical professional. We are not a medical resource. The opinions and articles on this site are not intended for use as diagnosis, prevention, and/or treatment of health problems. They are not substitutes for consulting a qualified medical professional.

References

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