Target Heart Rate by Age: Chart, Formula and Zones

Last updated: October 27, 2026

Your target heart rate is the pulse range that shows you are exercising at the right intensity. The American Heart Association puts it at about 50% to 70% of your maximum heart rate for moderate activity and 70% to 85% for vigorous activity, with maximum heart rate estimated as 220 minus your age.

Below are a target heart rate chart by age, the formula and ways to check your pulse. The figures are averages for healthy adults, not medical advice.

Contents

Target heart rate chart by age
How to calculate your target heart rate
Target heart rate using resting heart rate
Moderate vs. vigorous heart rate zones
How to check your heart rate during exercise
How accurate is 220 minus age?
Frequently asked questions

Target heart rate chart by age

The table below starts from the American Heart Association target heart rates chart, which lists the full 50% to 85% zone and the age-predicted maximum heart rate (220 minus age). We split the zone into the moderate (50% to 70%) and vigorous (70% to 85%) ranges the AHA describes, rounded to the nearest beat.

Age	Estimated maximum heart rate	Moderate zone (50%–70%)	Vigorous zone (70%–85%)	AHA full target zone (50%–85%)
20 years	200 bpm	100–140 bpm	140–170 bpm	100–170 bpm
30 years	190 bpm	95–133 bpm	133–162 bpm	95–162 bpm
35 years	185 bpm	93–130 bpm	130–157 bpm	93–157 bpm
40 years	180 bpm	90–126 bpm	126–153 bpm	90–153 bpm
45 years	175 bpm	88–123 bpm	123–149 bpm	88–149 bpm
50 years	170 bpm	85–119 bpm	119–145 bpm	85–145 bpm
55 years	165 bpm	83–116 bpm	116–140 bpm	83–140 bpm
60 years	160 bpm	80–112 bpm	112–136 bpm	80–136 bpm
65 years	155 bpm	78–109 bpm	109–132 bpm	78–132 bpm
70 years	150 bpm	75–105 bpm	105–128 bpm	75–128 bpm

If your age falls between two rows, use the closest one or calculate your own numbers with the formula below. Some medications, such as beta blockers, lower heart rate, so the AHA advises people with a heart condition or on medication to ask a health care professional what their target should be.

How to calculate your target heart rate

The standard target heart rate formula takes three steps:

Estimate your maximum heart rate. Subtract your age from 220. A 45-year-old gets 220 − 45 = 175 beats per minute (bpm).
Find the low end of your zone. Multiply the maximum by the lower percentage. For moderate exercise, 175 × 0.50 = 88 bpm.
Find the high end of your zone. Multiply the maximum by the upper percentage. For moderate exercise, 175 × 0.70 = 123 bpm.

For vigorous exercise, use 0.70 and 0.85 instead. The same 45-year-old would aim for about 123 to 149 bpm.

Other percentage ranges you may see

Sources do not all use the same percentages. Harvard Health uses 64% to 76% of maximum for moderate-intensity exercise and about 77% to 93% for vigorous exercise. In its example, a 65-year-old with an estimated maximum of 155 bpm has a moderate range of 99 to 118 bpm and a vigorous range of 119 to 144 bpm.

Target heart rate using resting heart rate

A second method, called heart rate reserve, also uses your resting heart rate, so it adjusts for fitness. The federal Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans describe relative intensity as a percentage of reserve, where 0% is resting and 100% is maximal effort. They define relative moderate intensity as 40% to 59% of reserve and vigorous intensity as 60% to 84%.

Subtract your resting heart rate from your maximum heart rate to get your heart rate reserve.
Multiply the reserve by the percentage you want.
Add your resting heart rate back.

Example: a 50-year-old with a resting heart rate of 70 bpm has a maximum of 170 bpm and a reserve of 100 beats. At 40% to 59% of reserve, the moderate range works out to about 110 to 129 bpm.

To measure resting heart rate, the AHA suggests checking it in the morning after a good night’s sleep, before you get out of bed. For most adults, 60 to 100 bpm is normal. Lower resting rates often reflect better fitness, which you can also track with ways to improve your VO2 max.

Moderate vs. vigorous heart rate zones

The CDC guide to measuring physical activity intensity lists everyday examples of each level:

Moderate intensity: brisk walking (2.5 miles per hour or faster), recreational swimming, cycling slower than 10 miles per hour on level ground, doubles tennis and general yard work.
Vigorous intensity: jogging or running, swimming laps, singles tennis, cycling faster than 10 miles per hour, jumping rope and heavy yard work such as digging.

The Physical Activity Guidelines recommend that adults get at least 150 to 300 minutes a week of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous activity, or an equivalent combination. Many training plans split these ranges into narrower bands; see the five heart rate training zones and what Zone 2 training means. Short, hard intervals push you into the vigorous range, as explained in our HIIT explainer.

No monitor? Use the talk test

The CDC says a person doing moderate-intensity activity can talk but not sing, while someone doing vigorous activity cannot say more than a few words without pausing for breath. On a 0 to 10 effort scale, moderate is a 5 or 6 and vigorous starts at 7 or 8. Even a brisk walk can count, as covered in whether walking counts as cardio.

How to check your heart rate during exercise

A wearable tracker shows your heart rate automatically. To check it by hand, the AHA recommends:

Find your pulse on the inside of your wrist, on the thumb side.
Place the tips of your first two fingers (not your thumb) over the artery and press lightly.
Count the beats for 30 seconds.
Multiply by 2 to get beats per minute.

Harvard Health suggests checking a wrist-worn device against a manual count at rest and at different intensities, because optical sensors can be less accurate for some people. If your number is above your zone, slow down; if it is below and the effort feels light, the AHA says you may want to work a little harder. Beginners should aim for the low end of the zone and build up gradually.

How accurate is 220 minus age?

The 220-minus-age rule is a rough estimate. Harvard Health notes that it was created in the early 1970s from testing done on men, tends to overestimate peak heart rate in women, and can be off by as much as 15 bpm for any individual. Measuring your true maximum requires a cardiopulmonary exercise test.

A 2001 meta-analysis by Tanaka and colleagues covering 18,712 subjects proposed 208 − (0.7 × age) instead and found that 220 minus age underestimates maximum heart rate in older adults. For a 60-year-old, the two formulas give 160 and 166 bpm.

Frequently asked questions

What is the formula for target heart rate?

Estimate your maximum heart rate as 220 minus your age, then multiply it by the percentages for the intensity you want. The American Heart Association uses about 50% to 70% for moderate activity and 70% to 85% for vigorous activity.

What is a good heart rate while exercising?

For most adults, a good exercise heart rate falls within 50% to 85% of the age-predicted maximum. For a 40-year-old, that is about 90 to 153 beats per minute, according to the American Heart Association chart.

What is a normal resting heart rate?

For most adults, a resting heart rate between 60 and 100 beats per minute is normal. Very active people and athletes may have a resting heart rate as low as 40 beats per minute.

How do I check my heart rate without a watch?

Place the tips of your index and middle fingers on the inside of your wrist on the thumb side and press lightly. Count the beats for 30 seconds and multiply by 2 to get beats per minute.

Is it dangerous to go over your maximum heart rate?

Harvard Health says that for avid exercisers it is usually not a problem to reach or briefly exceed the estimated maximum. People who have or are at risk for heart disease should ask their clinician how hard to exercise.

Sources

Image: “Radial pulse.jpg,” U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jeanette Copeland, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Resized.

Target Heart Rate by Age: Chart, Formula and How to Check It