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Heart rate zone calculator

Your 5 training zones and your zone 2 in seconds, from your age, your max heart rate or your thresholds. Made for trail running: easy days, climbs and long days in the mountains.

1What do you know?

years

Estimated max heart rate: 184 bpm (Tanaka formula: 208 − 0.7 × age)

2How trained are you?

/km

Your pace for a one-hour race (around 10K to half marathon). Adds a flat-ground pace to each zone.

Your heart rate zones

Max 184 bpm

Your zone 2

110–131 bpm

Easy running that builds your aerobic base: most of your trail training belongs here.

Z1
Z2
Z3
Z4
Z5
  • Z1

    Recovery

    92–109 bpm

    Very easy: you could chat all day50–60% of max

    Warm-ups, walks and steep hikes on long days

  • Z2

    Aerobic base

    110–131 bpm

    Easy: full sentences60–72% of max

    Most runs and long runs; hike the steep bits to stay here

  • Z3

    Tempo

    132–143 bpm

    Steady: short sentences72–78% of max

    Marathon and ultra race effort on runnable climbs

  • Z4

    Threshold

    144–154 bpm

    Hard: a few words at a time78–84% of max

    Hill repeats, threshold climbs and short races

  • Z5

    VO2max

    155–184 bpm

    Very hard: no talking84–100% of max

    Short, steep hill sprints

Estimated from your age or max heart rate and your level. For your real zones, find your thresholds with the test below.

Are these your real zones?

Age formulas can be 10–15 bpm off. Connect Strava and we work them out from your own runs.

Create your free account

How to calculate your heart rate zones

  1. 1Say what you knowYour age, your max heart rate, or your aerobic and lactate thresholds from a test.
  2. 2Pick your levelYour training level sets where your thresholds usually sit.
  3. 3Read your zonesGet your 5 zones in beats per minute, your zone 2, and paces if you add your threshold pace.

Put your zones on your watch

Set them as custom zones in beats per minute, so your watch alerts and your stats match them.

Garmin

Garmin Connect app › More › Settings › User settings › Heart rate zones › set them to BPM and enter each zone.

COROS

COROS app › Profile › Zones › Heart rate › Custom, then enter each zone.

Suunto

Suunto app › Profile › Heart rate zones › Customize, then set each zone.

Apple Watch

Watch app on iPhone › Workout › Heart rate zones › Manual, then set zones 2 to 5.

What each zone is for on the trail

Trail running is mostly easy time on your feet with a little hard climbing. A good week keeps about 80% of the time in zones 1 and 2.

Z1

Recovery

Recovery runs and the power-hiking that fills a long mountain day. It helps you recover, not get fitter.

Z2

Aerobic base

The engine of trail running: most of your weekly time should be here. On climbs, slow down or hike to stay below its top.

Z3

Tempo

Race pace for a trail marathon or an ultra. Useful in moderate doses; too much of it leaves you tired without getting fitter.

Z4

Threshold

Hill repeats and sustained climbs that raise the effort you can hold. One session a week is plenty.

Z5

VO2max

Short, steep hill intervals of 2 to 4 minutes. They raise your ceiling; a block of a few weeks a year is enough.

Heart rate, not pace, on the trail

On a climb your pace drops while your effort soars; on a descent it's the other way round. Heart rate tells your real effort on any slope, so on the trail you train by heart rate and use pace only on flat ground.

Find your real thresholds

  1. Warm up for 15 minutes, easy.
  2. Run 30 minutes as hard as you can hold steadily, on the flat or a steady climb, alone.
  3. Your average heart rate over the last 20 minutes is close to your lactate threshold (VT2). Your aerobic threshold (VT1) is about 10% lower.

Questions about heart rate zones

What is zone 2 heart rate?

Zone 2 is easy running below your aerobic threshold (VT1): you can talk in full sentences and could keep going for hours. It builds the aerobic base that endurance and trail running rely on.

How do I find my max heart rate?

The most reliable way is the highest reading at the end of an all-out race or a few hard hill sprints. Without that, the Tanaka formula (208 − 0.7 × age) is a better estimate than 220 − age, though anyone can be 10 beats above or below it.

Why are my zones different from my watch's?

Most watches cut zones at fixed shares of max heart rate (60, 70, 80, 90%). This calculator cuts them at your thresholds, which move as you get fitter: for trained runners zone 2 reaches higher than the watch says.

How accurate are zones from my age?

They're a reasonable start, but max heart rate varies a lot between people of the same age. Use a race or a field test to find your real numbers, then switch to My thresholds.

How do I stay in zone 2 on climbs?

Shorten your stride and slow down, and power-hike as soon as your heart rate passes the top of zone 2. On steep climbs, hiking is as fast as running and much cheaper.

How often should I update my zones?

Every 2 to 3 months, or after a test, a race or a big block of training. Your thresholds move with your fitness; your max heart rate barely changes.

Train with your zones

Our week-by-week trail running plans, from your first 10K to 100 miles, are built on these zones.

See training plans