Beatcast
Max heart rate calculator
Updated
What this does
Enter your age. The calculator shows four published equations for maximum heart rate side by side, with Beatcast's choice marked. Everything runs in your browser. Nothing you type is sent, stored or logged. Choose female if you want the women's equation shown too.
The calculator
Whole years, 10 to 100.
Only adds the equation fitted on women.
The equations
| Equation | Formula | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Tanaka (Beatcast's default) | 208 minus 0.7 times age | Tanaka, Monahan, Seals, 2001 |
| "220 minus age" | 220 minus age | A rule of thumb. Robergs and Landwehr traced its history in 2002 |
| Nes (HUNT study) | 211 minus 0.64 times age, standard error 10.8 bpm | Nes et al., Scand J Med Sci Sports, 2013 |
| Women's equation | 206 minus 0.88 times age | Gulati et al., Circulation, 2010, 5,437 women |
For a 30-year-old: Tanaka gives 187, 220 minus age gives 190, Nes gives 192, and the women's equation gives 180.
How far apart they are
For young adults the four numbers sit within about a dozen beats of each other. They drift further apart with age, because 220 minus age falls by a full beat per year and the others fall more slowly.
None of them is your maximum. Real maximums vary by about 10 to 12 beats around any of these. Two people of the same age can differ by more than the gap between two equations.
Why Beatcast starts from Tanaka
Tanaka is a better fit than 220 minus age for older adults, which is the reason the choice was made. You can override it with a measured number, and the zones follow it.
Finding your own
A measured maximum comes from a hard effort, done rested. It is demanding. Skip it if you are untrained or unwell, or if you take anything that changes your heart rate, without asking your clinician first. Beatcast shows the highest reading of each finished session, which is not a maximum test, only the highest number that session reached.
These are training estimates. If you take medication that changes your heart rate or have a heart condition, ask your clinician before using age-based numbers. Beatcast is not a medical device.
Beatcast uses these numbers
Beatcast starts from Tanaka and takes a measured maximum when you enter one. Each finished session shows its own maximum. Your zones are built from whichever one it is using, and the sensor screen shows which.
Beatcast on the App Store. Fourteen days free, then one purchase.
Next step: turn a maximum into zones with the heart rate zones calculator.
Questions
Is 220 minus age accurate?
It is a rough guide. The other equations on this page are fitted to data, and all of them have a wide spread for any one person.
What is my max heart rate at 40?
Tanaka gives 180, 220 minus age gives 180, and Nes gives 185 (rounded).
Can my maximum change?
Ask a coach or clinician. Beatcast has no view.
Related
See also: Zones by age, calories burned by heart rate.
Good to know
Beatcast is not a medical device. It is built for training and general wellbeing, and it cannot detect, diagnose, treat or monitor any condition. If something about your heart worries you, talk to a doctor rather than to an app.
The Bluetooth word mark is a registered trademark of Bluetooth SIG, Inc. Apple, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, AirPods, Apple Health, Dynamic Island, Lock Screen and StandBy are trademarks of Apple Inc. Powerbeats and Beats are trademarks of Beats Electronics, LLC. All other device and app names belong to their owners and are used only to say which sensors Beatcast can read. Beatcast is an independent product and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or certified by any of them.
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