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About this tool
Five running heart rate zones in bpm with the matching pace band for each, from Tanaka, Fox or Gulati max HR and Friel pace zones.
This calculator converts your age, resting heart rate and threshold pace into five running heart rate zones expressed in beats per minute, alongside the pace band that belongs with each zone. Maximum heart rate comes from Tanaka (208 − 0.7 × age), Fox (220 − age) or Gulati (206 − 0.88 × age for women), and zones are laid out either as a flat percentage of maximum or with the Karvonen heart rate reserve method. Pace bands follow Joe Friel's run pace zones, which are set as percentages of functional threshold pace.
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Add your input to the workspace.
Adjust the options until the result looks right.
Copy or download the output and put it to work.
Every zone shows both a bpm band and the pace band that matches it, so watch and legs agree.
Tanaka, Fox and the women-specific Gulati equation, or paste in a max heart rate you measured.
Uses heart rate reserve so a low resting heart rate shifts your zones the way it should.
Zone 2 sits at 60–70% of maximum heart rate on the percentage method. For a 35-year-old with a Tanaka maximum of 184 bpm, that is roughly 110–128 bpm; using Karvonen with a 50 bpm resting rate it becomes about 130–144 bpm, because heart rate reserve shifts every zone upward.
Tanaka's 208 − 0.7 × age tracks measured values better than 220 − age across the age range, and Gulati's 206 − 0.88 × age is the better fit for women. All of them carry a standard deviation of roughly 10 beats, so a proper maximal test or a hard race finish is more accurate than any equation.
Threshold pace is close to the pace you could hold flat out for about an hour — for most runners that lands between 10 km and half-marathon race pace. A 30-minute time trial run alone, taking the average pace of the final 20 minutes, is the usual field test.
Running is weight-bearing and recruits more muscle mass, so maximum heart rate in running typically measures around 5–10 beats higher than in cycling for the same athlete. Keep separate zone sets per sport rather than copying one across. If your heart rate behaves oddly at a familiar effort, or you get chest pain, dizziness or unusual breathlessness, stop and speak to a doctor.