Target Heart Rate

📖 Overview

Running at 120 and running at 160 are not the same workout. Endurance work belongs in the low zones; speed needs the top ones, and judging by feelalone sends most people to the wrong place. This tool derives your maximum heart rate from age, optionally using your resting pulse, and then applies the heart rate reserve method to mark five training zones: warm up, fat burn, aerobic, anaerobic and maximum, each with its upper and lower bound. Once you supply a resting rate it switches to the Karvonen formula, which fits an individual better than a flat percentage of maximum. It can also estimate calories burned per zone from your weight and session length, which helps when you are coordinating with a meal plan. Wear a chest strap or watch and work against the zones. Zone boundaries are not arbitrary. The fat-burning band sits where your body can still supply energy aerobically and sustain the effort for a long time; above it, carbohydrate becomes the dominant fuel and fatigue arrives within minutes. Training mostly below your aerobic threshold builds the base that makes harder sessions possible later.

✨ Features

• Five ways to set maximum heart rate: the common formula, Karvonen, Tanaka and others, plus a field for your own measured value Each zone is labelled with what it trains and how it should feel, not just a number range.
• Five zones by the heart rate reserve method, warm up through maximum, each with lower and upper bounds The reserve method is used whenever a resting rate is present, and the plain percentage method otherwise.
• Switches to the Karvonen formula automatically once you enter a resting rate, for a better personal fit Session length can be set in fifteen-minute steps up to an hour.
• Estimates calories burned per zone from weight and session length to coordinate with your diet The estimate assumes steady-state effort at the middle of each zone.
• Flags a recommended zone so different goals point at different bands The recommendation changes with the goal you select, so endurance and speed point at different bands.
• Zone table can be exported for printing at the gym or saving to your phone Percentages of maximum are shown next to the beats so both conventions can be read.

🚀 How to use

1. Enter your age, and your resting heart rate if you have it
2. Choose how maximum heart rate is set, or enter your own measured maximum
3. Add weight and planned session length if you want the calorie estimate
4. Press Calculate to see the five zones and the recommended one
5. Train against the zones using a chest strap or a watch

⚠️ Notes

• Equations estimate: maximum heart rate formulas come from population data and can miss by ten to twenty beats; a measured value is better, which is why a measured maximum from a supervised test beats any formula
• Check with a doctor first: if you have cardiovascular disease, take medication, or feel chest tightness or dizziness while exercising, seek medical advice, and stop immediately if symptoms appear rather than pushing through
• Medication shifts readings: beta blockers and similar drugs lower heart rate, so anyone on them needs zones set by a clinician, and using a standard formula on those readings will set zones too high
• Burn is approximate: calorie estimates vary with weight, efficiency, environment and the individual, so treat the figure as indicative, so use it to compare sessions rather than as an exact energy balance
• Numbers only: a zero age or a resting rate above your maximum raises a message instead of a result, and a resting value above the calculated maximum is rejected