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CALCPARK

Fat-Burning Heart Rate Calculator

Fat-burning zone (60–70% of max heart rate) and five training zones by age with the Tanaka, Fox or Gellish formula, plus Karvonen when you know your resting rate.

Calculated on your device
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How to use it

  1. Enter your age. The fat-burning zone, estimated maximum and the full zone table appear immediately.
  2. Optional: enter your resting heart rate, measured lying still right after waking, to switch the headline to the Karvonen method.
  3. Choose the maximum-heart-rate formula if your coach or device uses a different one (Fox 220 − age, Gellish 207 − 0.7 × age).
  4. Copy the summary or the link to set up the zones on your watch or app.

Example

Age 40: maximum heart rate = 208 − 0.7 × 40 = 180 bpm. Fat-burning zone = 180 × 0.60 to 180 × 0.70 = 108–126 bpm. The other zones are 90–108 (very light), 126–144 (moderate), 144–162 (hard) and 162–180 (maximum). With a resting heart rate of 60 the reserve is 120 bpm, and Karvonen puts the fat-burning zone at 60 + 120 × 0.60 = 132 to 60 + 120 × 0.70 = 144 bpm. By the 220 − age rule the maximum would also be 180 at this age; at 25 it would be 195 instead of Tanaka’s 190.5.

Formulas and their limits

Maximum heart rate:
  Tanaka 2001 (default):  HRmax = 208 − 0.7 × age
  Fox 1971:               HRmax = 220 − age
  Gellish 2007:           HRmax = 207 − 0.7 × age
Zones (% of HRmax):       50–60 · 60–70 (fat-burning) · 70–80 · 80–90 · 90–100
Karvonen:                 target = resting + (HRmax − resting) × %

Every age formula has a standard deviation of about 10 bpm: one person in three has a true maximum more than 10 beats away from the estimate, so a measured maximum from a supervised test is always better. Tanaka, Monahan and Seals derived 208 − 0.7 × age from a meta-analysis of 351 studies and a laboratory sample of 514 healthy adults; it applies to men and women alike. The 220 − age rule was never formally derived – Fox and colleagues drew it through a handful of data points in 1971. Gellish’s 207 − 0.7 × age comes from a longitudinal study of 132 adults. The Karvonen method (1957) uses heart rate reserve and tracks oxygen-uptake reserve more closely, which is why guidelines from the American College of Sports Medicine prefer it when a resting value is known. The previous version of this page used 220 − age for men and 216 − 0.88 × age for women; the latter was a misprint of the Gulati 2010 equation (206 − 0.88 × age, from women only). Tanaka is now the default for both sexes. Beta-blockers and some other drugs lower the maximum and make all formulas invalid.

Sources: Tanaka, Monahan & Seals 2001, J Am Coll Cardiol, Gellish et al. 2007, Med Sci Sports Exerc, Gulati et al. 2010, Circulation (women), Karvonen, Kentala & Mustala 1957, Ann Med Exp Biol Fenn, CDC – Target heart rate and estimated maximum heart rate.

Estimates only, not medical advice. If you have a heart condition, take medication that affects heart rate, are pregnant or are new to exercise, ask a doctor before training by heart rate.

Does the fat-burning zone really burn more fat?

At 60–70% of maximum, roughly half or more of the energy comes from fat; at 85% it may be a quarter. But total energy use rises faster than the fat share falls: 30 minutes in zone 3 burns more calories – and often more grams of fat – than 30 minutes in zone 2. What zone 2 offers is sustainability: you can hold it for an hour or more, recover quickly and build aerobic base. For fat loss, the deficit over the week matters more than the zone of any one session; the TDEE calculator helps with that side.

Questions

What is my fat-burning heart rate by age?
With Tanaka: age 20 → 116–136 bpm, 30 → 112–131, 40 → 108–126, 50 → 104–121, 60 → 100–116, 70 → 95–111. Enter your exact age for your own numbers.
Why does the calculator no longer ask for my sex?
The Tanaka, Fox and Gellish equations were fitted on both sexes and do not include a sex term. The old page used a separate female formula with a typo (216 instead of 206 − 0.88 × age); the women-only Gulati equation is cited in the method section for reference.
Should I use the Karvonen numbers or the plain percentages?
If your resting heart rate is reliable, Karvonen. It accounts for fitness: a trained person with a low resting rate gets higher targets that match their actual effort. Devices that only know your age use the plain percentages.
How do I measure my resting heart rate?
Count your pulse for 60 seconds while lying still, right after waking and before coffee, on three mornings and take the average. Typical adult values are 60–80 bpm; endurance athletes can be in the 40s.