Target Heart Rate Calculator and Chart
Information provided by Disabled World - Published: 2010-06-11
Calculate your target heart rate for optimal exercising and aerobics fitness with this online target heart rate calculator.
Monitoring your exercise intensity is the best way to get the most out of your cardio workouts. The target heart rate calculator below is one way to make sure you're working within your target heart rate zone, the most effective zone for improving your fitness and burning calories. You can use a heart rate monitor to track your heart rate during your workouts. If you don't have a heart rate monitor, take your pulse for 6 seconds, count how many times your heart beats and add a zero to get an estimate.
Your heart rate is the number of heartbeats per unit of time, expressed as beats per minute, which can vary as your body's need for oxygen changes, such as during exercising or sleeping.
Target heart rates let you measure your initial fitness level and monitor your progress in a fitness program.
Your target heart rate zone is the range between 60% and 80% of your maximum heart rate. Working within this zone will provide you with the maximum health and fat-burning benefits from your cardiovascular activity.
The Target Heart Rate (THR), or Training Heart Rate, is a desired range of heart rate reached during aerobic exercise which enables one's heart and lungs to receive the most benefit from a workout. This range varies based on one's physical condition, gender, and previous training.
Target Heart Rate Calculator
Heart Rate Zones for Exercising Chart:
* Healthy Heart Zone (Warm up) = 50 - 60% of maximum heart rate:
* Fitness Zone (Fat Burning) = 60 - 70% of maximum heart rate
* Aerobic Zone (Endurance Training) = 70 - 80% of maximum heart rate
* Anaerobic Zone (Performance Training) = 80 - 90% of maximum heart rate
* Red Line (Maximum Effort) = 90 - 100% of maximum heart rate
Note: The target heart rate calculator above uses calculations based on averages. It is highly recommended you exercise within 55 to 85 percent of your maximum heart rate for at least 20 to 30 minutes to get the best results from aerobic exercises. A few high blood pressure medications lower the maximum heart rate and thus the target zone rate. If you're taking such medicine, call your physician to find out if you need to use a lower target heart rate. View our Blood Pressure Chart
The Target Heart Rate Formula for Calculations
Below are two ways to calculate and chart one's Target Heart Rate. In each of these methods, there is an element called "intensity" which is expressed as a percentage. The THR can be calculated as a range of 65%–85% intensity. However, it is crucial to derive an accurate HRmax to ensure these calculations are meaningful.
Example for someone with a HRmax of 180 (age 40, estimating HRmax as 220 - age):
65% intensity: (220 - (age = 40)) * 0.65 ? 117 bpm
85% intensity: (220 - (age = 40)) * 0.85 ? 153 bpm
Zoladz method - An alternative to the Karvonen method (below) is the Zoladz method, which derives exercise zones by subtracting values from HRmax.
THR = HRmax – Adjuster ± 5 bpm
Zone 1 Adjuster = 50 bpm
Zone 2 Adjuster = 40 bpm
Zone 3 Adjuster = 30 bpm
Zone 4 Adjuster = 20 bpm
Zone 5 Adjuster = 10 bpm
Example for someone with a HRmax of 180:
Zone 1 (easy exercise) : 180 - 50 ± 5 ? 125 - 135 bpm
Zone 4 (tough exercise): 180 - 20 ± 5 ? 155 - 165 bpm
Karvonen method - The Karvonen method factors in Resting Heart Rate (HRrest) to calculate Target Heart Rate (THR), using a range of 50%–85%:
THR = ((HRmax - HRrest) × %Intensity) + HRrest
Example for someone with a HRmax of 180 and a HRrest of 70:
50% intensity: ((180 - 70) × 0.50) + 70 = 125 bpm
85% intensity: ((180 - 70) × 0.85) + 70 = 163 bpm
- This web page is from the Disabled World Calculators and Charts section which provides: Calculators graphs and charts for weights and measures distance conversions and health and fitness charts including height to weight ratio.
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