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Zone 2 Heart Rate Calculator
Find your Zone 2 heart rate — the aerobic base zone behind the "Zone 2 training" trend — from your age, using the research-validated Tanaka formula (max HR = 208 − 0.7 × age) rather than the stale, age-biased 220 − age. Zone 2 is 60–70% of your maximum heart rate. For a 40-year-old, max HR works out to about 180 bpm, so Zone 2 by %HRmax is roughly 108–126 bpm. If you also enter your resting heart rate, the calculator shows the Karvonen (%HRR) version of Zone 2 — for a resting HR of 60 that is about 132–144 bpm, some 20 bpm higher. Seeing both side by side matters, because conflating %HRmax and %HRR is the single most common heart-rate-zone mistake. Zone 2 work should feel easy and conversational; it builds your aerobic engine. This is a fitness estimate — age-predicted max HR varies ±10–12 bpm, and a lab or field test, or a wearable, is the most accurate way to pin your true zones.
Zone 2 = 60–70% of max HR (Tanaka 208 − 0.7 × age by default)
- Age 40 → max HR ≈ 180 bpm, Zone 2 ≈ 108–126 bpm by %HRmax
- With resting HR, Karvonen (%HRR) Zone 2 runs ~20 bpm higher (≈ 132–144 bpm)
Frequently asked questions
What is my Zone 2 heart rate at age 40?
For a 40-year-old, max HR by Tanaka is about 180 bpm, so Zone 2 (60–70% of max) is roughly 108–126 bpm by %HRmax. Using the Karvonen method with a resting HR of 60, the same Zone 2 works out to about 132–144 bpm — the calculator shows both.
Should Zone 2 feel easy?
Yes. Zone 2 is the aerobic base zone — an easy, conversational effort you can hold for a long time. If you are gasping or can only speak in short bursts, you have drifted into Zone 3 or. Keeping the effort genuinely easy is the point of Zone 2 training.