Zone 2 Heart Rate Calculator: Your Zone 2 Range by Age

Zone 2 heart rate by age

Zone 2 for ages 20 to 80, with max heart rate estimated by the Tanaka formula (208 − 0.7 × age). The third column is 60 to 70% of that max. The fourth is the same percentages of heart rate reserve for a resting heart rate of 60. The last is the 180 minus age rule of thumb, which is a single upper limit.

Age	Max	60-70% of max	Reserve, resting 60	180 − age
20	194	116-136	140-154	160
25	191	114-133	138-151	155
30	187	112-131	136-149	150
35	184	110-128	134-146	145
40	180	108-126	132-144	140
45	177	106-124	130-142	135
50	173	104-121	128-139	130
55	170	102-119	126-137	125
60	166	100-116	124-134	120
65	163	98-114	122-132	115
70	159	95-111	119-129	110
75	156	93-109	117-127	105
80	152	91-106	115-124	100

All in beats per minute. Ranges are worked out from the unrounded estimate and then rounded, so they can differ by a beat from a sum done on the rounded max. Use the calculator for your own resting heart rate.

How it works

Zone 2 is a label, and different systems attach it to different heart rates. This page works out the common ones and says which is which.

Percent of max heart rate. The five-zone model splits effort at 50, 60, 70, 80 and 90% of your maximum heart rate, and zone 2 is the band from 60 to 70%. Polar and Garmin both describe their zone 2 this way. It is the big number on the calculator.
Percent of heart rate reserve. The Karvonen formula takes the same percentages of the gap between your resting and maximum heart rate, then adds your resting rate back on. Because it counts up from resting and not from zero, it gives higher numbers: for a 40-year-old with a resting heart rate of 60, 132 to 144 bpm against 108 to 126. A Garmin watch can be set to base its zones on heart rate reserve, and then shows numbers of this kind.
Lactate or ventilatory threshold. In sport science, zone 2 is tied to the body’s response and not to a percentage. A 2025 panel of 14 sport scientists and coaches noted that there is no clear agreement on the definition, and settled on intensities just below the first lactate or ventilatory threshold. Finding that point takes a test that measures blood lactate or breathing gases during exercise. No age formula gives it.
180 minus age. A rule of thumb from Phil Maffetone, who uses it as the starting point for the top heart rate of aerobic training and then lowers it by 5 or 10 beats, or raises it by 5, depending on health and training history. It is one upper limit, not a range, and he calls it the MAF heart rate.

The max heart rate behind the first two comes from your own number if you have one, or from an age formula: Tanaka (208 − 0.7 × age) or 220 − age. The max heart rate calculator compares five such formulas.

Plates & Pace is not affiliated with Polar, Garmin or Phil Maffetone.

The formula

Formula

Max heart rate
  Tanaka     208 − 0.7 × age
  or         220 − age

Zone 2, percent of max
  low  = max × 60%
  high = max × 70%

Zone 2, heart rate reserve
(Karvonen)
  reserve = max − resting
  low  = reserve × 60% + resting
  high = reserve × 70% + resting

Rule of thumb (Maffetone)
  upper limit = 180 − age
  (before his adjustments)

Worked example

A 40-year-old with a resting heart rate of 60.

Max heart rate, Tanaka: 208 − 0.7 × 40 = 180 bpm. The 220 − age rule gives 180 as well at this age.
Percent of max: 180 × 60% = 108 and 180 × 70% = 126, so zone 2 is 108 to 126 bpm.
Heart rate reserve: 180 − 60 = 120. Then 120 × 60% + 60 = 132 and 120 × 70% + 60 = 144, so 132 to 144 bpm.
Rule of thumb: 180 − 40 = 140 bpm as the upper limit.

Three methods, three answers. 140 bpm is above zone 2 by percent of max and inside it by heart rate reserve.

Zone 2 by age with 220 − age

The same chart with max heart rate from 220 − age, the estimate the American Heart Association uses in its target heart rate chart. It gives a higher max than Tanaka below age 40 and a lower one above, so zone 2 moves the same way: at 70 it is 90 to 105 bpm here against 95 to 111 with Tanaka.

Age	Max	60-70% of max	Reserve, resting 60
20	200	120-140	144-158
25	195	117-137	141-155
30	190	114-133	138-151
35	185	111-130	135-148
40	180	108-126	132-144
45	175	105-123	129-141
50	170	102-119	126-137
55	165	99-116	123-134
60	160	96-112	120-130
65	155	93-109	117-127
70	150	90-105	114-123
75	145	87-102	111-120
80	140	84-98	108-116

Zone 2 running pace

There is no formula from a zone 2 heart rate to a pace. Zone 2 pace is the pace at which your heart rate stays inside the range, and you find it by running with a heart rate monitor.

A race result gives a useful cross-check. Jack Daniels sets easy running at 59 to 74% of VO2 max, which he puts at about 65 to 79% of max heart rate. That band starts halfway up zone 2 by percent of max and runs almost to the top of zone 3, so an easy pace worked out from a race time can sit above this page’s zone 2. For a 50:00 10K the VDOT calculator gives an easy pace of 9:25 to 11:15 per mile, or 5:51 to 6:59 per km. The slow end of that range is the one closer to zone 2.

How far to trust these numbers

The max heart rate is an estimate. In the study behind the Nes formula, of 3,320 healthy adults in Norway, the standard error was 10.8 beats per minute. A max heart rate that is 10.8 beats out moves the bottom of zone 2 by about 6 beats and the top by about 8. Your own measured max removes that error.
A percentage is not a threshold. A 2025 study tested 50 cyclists in a lab and compared the usual markers of zone 2. Fixed percentages of max heart rate showed wide differences between individuals, and the authors write that such markers are simple to use but may not reflect the body’s metabolic response accurately.
Systems differ. A plan, a watch and this page may each mean something different by zone 2. If you follow a plan or a watch, use the method it uses.

If you have a heart condition or take medication that affects heart rate, ask your doctor what your heart rate should be.

Questions

What is my zone 2 heart rate?

In the five-zone model, 60 to 70% of your maximum heart rate. With the Tanaka estimate of max heart rate that is 112 to 131 bpm at age 30, 108 to 126 bpm at age 40, 104 to 121 bpm at age 50 and 100 to 116 bpm at age 60. If you know your real max heart rate, use it: the zone 2 calculator above takes it under My own number.

What is zone 2 heart rate by age?

It falls by about 5 beats per decade at the top of the zone, because estimated max heart rate falls with age. By the Tanaka formula the range is 116-136 at 20, 112-131 at 30, 108-126 at 40, 104-121 at 50, 100-116 at 60 and 95-111 at 70. The chart above has every five years from 20 to 80.

How do I calculate zone 2 with the Karvonen formula?

Subtract your resting heart rate from your max to get your heart rate reserve. Take 60% and 70% of the reserve and add your resting heart rate back to each. With a max of 180 and a resting heart rate of 60: (180 − 60) × 60% + 60 = 132 and (180 − 60) × 70% + 60 = 144.

Why does my watch show a different zone 2?

Because it may be using another method or another max. A Garmin watch, for example, can base its zones on percent of max heart rate, percent of heart rate reserve or percent of lactate threshold heart rate, and each gives different numbers. Check which one your watch is set to, and which max heart rate it holds, then pick the same here.

Is 180 minus age the same as zone 2?

No. It is Phil Maffetone’s starting point for a maximum aerobic heart rate: one upper limit, which he then lowers by 5 or 10 beats or raises by 5 depending on health and training history, and which he does not use for ages 16 and under. At 40 it gives 140 bpm, against a zone 2 of 108 to 126 bpm by percent of max. Treat it as a rule of thumb.

What pace is zone 2?

The pace at which your heart rate stays in your zone 2 range. It cannot be worked out from heart rate alone. See zone 2 running pace above for a cross-check from a race time.

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Zone 2 Heart Rate Calculator

Zone 2 by each method