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Max Heart Rate Calculator
Estimate your maximum heart rate from your age. The headline figure uses the Tanaka formula, with the familiar 220 − age rule and two other published formulas beside it, plus a table of heart rates at common training intensities.
- Classic (220 − age)
- 180 bpm
- Gulati, women (206 − 0.88 × age)
- 170.8 bpm
- HUNT (211 − 0.64 × age)
- 185.4 bpm
Percent of maximum (Tanaka)
| Intensity | Heart rate (bpm) |
|---|
Saved setups
Save a set of inputs you reuse — your usual rate, your loan, your room sizes — and load it back in one tap.
Your recent calculations
Results you calculate here are kept on this device so you can come back to them.
Formula
How to use it
- Enter your age.
- Compare the four estimates — the spread shows how uncertain any age-based figure is.
- Use the table to see what 60%, 70% or 85% of your estimated maximum is in beats per minute.
Worked examples
Age 40 — the age at which Tanaka and 220 − age agree
- Tanaka (208 − 0.7 × age)
- 180 bpm
- Classic (220 − age)
- 180 bpm
- Gulati, women (206 − 0.88 × age)
- 170.8 bpm
- HUNT (211 − 0.64 × age)
- 185.4 bpm
Age 25
- Tanaka (208 − 0.7 × age)
- 190.5 bpm
- Classic (220 − age)
- 195 bpm
- Gulati, women (206 − 0.88 × age)
- 184 bpm
- HUNT (211 − 0.64 × age)
- 195 bpm
Where the formulas come from
220 − age is the oldest and best-known rule, but it was never derived from a dedicated study. Tanaka, Monahan and Seals published 208 − 0.7 × age in 2001 from a meta-analysis of 351 studies; it gives lower values than 220 − age for adults under 40 and higher values above 40. The Gulati formula (2010) comes from a study of women only, and the HUNT formula (2013) from a large Norwegian fitness study.
All of them predict the average for an age. Individual maximums vary with a standard deviation of roughly 10 beats per minute, so yours may differ noticeably. The only way to know it is a supervised maximal test.
This is an estimate for general information, not medical advice. Talk to a doctor or other qualified clinician before making health decisions based on it.
Questions people ask
What is the maximum heart rate for a 40-year-old?
About 180 bpm: 208 − 0.7 × 40 = 180 by Tanaka, and 220 − 40 = 180 by the classic rule. Age 40 is where the two formulas agree.
Is 220 minus age accurate?
It is a rough average. It tends to overestimate for younger adults and underestimate for older adults compared with the Tanaka formula, and any individual can be 10 or more beats away from either.
Does maximum heart rate drop with fitness?
Hardly at all. Maximum heart rate declines with age and is largely unaffected by training; it is resting heart rate that falls as you get fitter.