Max Heart Rate Calculator.
Estimate your maximum heart rate from your age. Enter your age - and your resting heart rate if you have it - and this max heart rate calculator shows your HRmax from three verified formulas at once: the classic 220 minus age, Tanaka, and Gellish. Then it teases the training zones that number unlocks.
Age is the only input the three formulas need.
Add it to see your heart rate reserve, the gap the Karvonen method uses for personal zones.
Estimates only. Your true max can sit 10 to 12 bpm off any formula. See the field test below for a real number.
Your estimated max heart rate
187 bpm
Tanaka estimate · 208 - 0.7 x age · the default most coaches use
220 minus age
Classic rule · 220 - age
190 bpm
Tanaka
Meta-analysis · 208 - 0.7 x age
187 bpm
Gellish
Longitudinal · 207 - 0.7 x age
186 bpm
Zones teaser · from Tanaka
Z2 Aerobic
60-70% of max
112-131 bpm
Z4 Threshold
80-90% of max
150-168 bpm
See all five training zones in the heart rate zone calculator.
Age-based formulas carry a standard deviation of about 10 to 12 bpm between individuals. A hard field test beats every one of them.
the short answer
Your maximum heart rate is the highest your heart can beat during all-out effort, and it drifts down with age. Three age-based formulas estimate it: the classic 220 minus age, Tanaka (208 minus 0.7 times age), and Gellish (207 minus 0.7 times age). For a 30-year-old those give 190, 187, and 186 bpm. Tanaka and Gellish track real data better across the age range than the old 220 rule. Take any of them as a starting point only: true max heart rate varies by roughly 10 to 12 bpm between people of the same age, so a hard field test beats every formula.
Why the three formulas give different numbers.
Your maximum heart rate is a ceiling, not a target. It is the fastest your heart can beat when you push to genuine exhaustion, and it is set mostly by your age and genetics. Because measuring it directly means going all-out, most people reach for an age-based formula instead. The trouble is that the formulas disagree, and it helps to know why.
The famous one, 220 minus age, was never the product of a controlled study. It came from a loose fit across older data in the 1970s and stuck because it is easy to remember. It assumes your max falls by exactly one beat per year, which is too steep. The result reads high for people in their twenties and low for people past sixty.
Tanaka: max HR = 208 - 0.7 x age
Gellish: max HR = 207 - 0.7 x age
Tanaka came out of a 2001 meta-analysis of 351 studies covering more than 18,000 people, plus a fresh lab sample. It found max heart rate falls closer to 0.7 beats per year, which is why its line is flatter. Gellish reached almost the same equation from a separate 2007 longitudinal study that tracked adults over years. Two independent teams landing on the same 0.7 slope is the reason coaches trust it.
In practice the three formulas converge around age 40 and spread apart at the edges. For a 30-year-old the gap is small, from 186 to 190 bpm. For a 60-year-old, 220 minus age says 160 while Tanaka says 166, a difference big enough to shift a training zone. When the numbers disagree, lean on Tanaka or Gellish, and remember that even they carry a spread of 10 to 12 bpm from person to person.
When max heart rate matters for a client.
Maximum heart rate is useful for one main job: anchoring training zones. Once you have an estimate, you split it into intensity bands so a client knows when an easy session is actually easy and when a hard interval is actually hard. That is the whole point of the number, and it is why this tool sits right next to the heart rate zone calculator.
What max heart rate is not is a fitness score. It does not climb when a client gets fitter, and a high or low reading says nothing about their conditioning. Two clients the same age can sit 20 bpm apart for no reason other than genetics. What training actually moves is how much work someone can hold at a given heart rate, and their resting heart rate, which tends to drop as fitness climbs. If you want a number that reflects fitness, point clients to the VO2 max calculator. Keep max heart rate in its lane: it sets the scale, it does not grade the athlete.
A field test coaches can run.
A formula gets a client into the right ballpark, but some want their real number. A supervised field test is the practical way to get it without a lab. Run it only with healthy adults who are cleared for high-intensity exercise. Anyone with a heart condition, chest pain, dizziness, uncontrolled blood pressure, or medication that affects heart rate, such as beta blockers, should get medical clearance first, and the test is not appropriate for them. This is general coaching information, not medical advice.
Have the client wear a chest-strap monitor, which reads more reliably than a wrist sensor at high intensity. Warm up for at least 10 to 15 minutes until they are breathing hard but comfortable. Then run three to four progressively harder efforts of two to three minutes each, with a short jog between, building toward all-out. On the final effort, have them empty the tank for the last 30 to 60 seconds, ideally up a gentle hill or on a track. The highest number the monitor shows across the session is a strong estimate of their true max.
Repeat it every few months, since the reading can wander a little day to day with sleep, heat, and freshness. The Cooper test is another field option worth running, though it estimates aerobic capacity rather than max heart rate; see the Cooper test calculator. Whatever number you land on, plug it into the heart rate zone calculator to turn it into the zones a client trains by.
Store every client's heart rate targets in one place.
Coachway lets you set each client's max heart rate and zones, program the week around them in a workout builder, and deliver the session inside a branded client app with the targets baked in. It is the operating system for online fitness and nutrition coaches, so you stop stitching together calculators, spreadsheets, and chat.
Frequently asked.
What is my maximum heart rate?
Your maximum heart rate is the highest number of beats per minute your heart can reach during all-out effort. It is set mostly by genetics and age, not by fitness, and it slowly declines over the years. Because measuring it directly means pushing to exhaustion, most people estimate it from age. This calculator shows three age-based estimates side by side: 220 minus age, Tanaka, and Gellish.
Which maximum heart rate formula is most accurate?
Tanaka (208 minus 0.7 times age) and Gellish (207 minus 0.7 times age) are more accurate across the age range than the old 220 minus age rule, which reads high for younger adults and low for older ones. That said, every age-based formula carries a standard deviation of roughly 10 to 12 bpm between individuals, so no equation nails your personal number. A hard field test or a lab test beats all of them.
Is 220 minus age accurate?
The 220 minus age rule is easy to remember but was never built from a controlled study. It is close enough near age 40, but it drifts at the ends of the range: too high for people in their twenties and too low for people in their sixties and beyond. It works as a rough anchor, but Tanaka and Gellish are the better default for setting training zones.
Does a higher maximum heart rate mean I am fitter?
No. Maximum heart rate is not a fitness score. Two people of the same age and fitness can sit 20 bpm apart, and you cannot train yours higher. What training changes is how much work you can hold at a given heart rate, and your resting heart rate, which tends to fall as you get fitter. For a number that reflects fitness, look at VO2 max instead.
How do I find my true maximum heart rate?
The most accurate way is a graded exercise test in a lab. Outside a lab, a supervised field test gets you close: warm up thoroughly, then build through several hard efforts to a final all-out push while wearing a chest-strap monitor, and record the highest reading. Only healthy adults cleared for intense exercise should attempt it, and it is best done with a coach.
What can I do with my maximum heart rate?
The main use is setting training zones. Once you have an HRmax estimate, you split it into intensity bands so easy sessions stay easy and hard sessions are genuinely hard. Feed your number into the heart rate zone calculator for the full five-zone breakdown in beats per minute, with an optional Karvonen mode if you also know your resting heart rate.
This calculator is general information, not medical advice. Predicted max heart rate is an estimate, not a diagnosis. If you are new to exercise, are managing a heart condition, or take medication that affects heart rate, talk to a qualified professional before training to these numbers or attempting a max effort test.
Keep going: turn your max into training zones with the heart rate zone calculator, set pace targets with the running pace calculator, or browse every free tool in the tools hub.
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