Zone 2 Heart Rate Calculator

Zone 2 is 65–75% of your maximum heart rate — an easy, conversational aerobic pace. To calculate it, estimate your max heart rate with the Tanaka formula (208 − 0.7 × age), then multiply it by 0.65 and 0.75: for a 40-year-old that is 180 bpm max and a Zone 2 of 117–135 bpm. Enter your age below for your exact Zone 2 bpm range (and all five zones), or use the by-age Zone 2 chart further down.

By escapethematrix.app · Updated October 4, 2026

Zone 2 heart rate by age

Zone 2 at 65–75% of estimated maximum heart rate (Tanaka: 208 − 0.7 × age), rounded to the nearest beat. Use it as a starting range; your own max heart rate can sit 7–12 bpm either side of the estimate.

How the formula works

Your training zones are percentages of your maximum heart rate, so everything depends on estimating that maximum. Two formulas are in common use:

• 220 − age. Widely quoted, easy to remember, and systematically off at the ends of the age range — it underestimates maximum heart rate in adults over 50 and overestimates it in the young.
• Tanaka: 208 − 0.7 × age. Published by Tanaka, Monahan and Seals in 2001 from a meta-analysis of 351 studies covering 18,712 subjects, then validated on 514 healthy adults. It fits observed data better across the adult lifespan, particularly over 40. This calculator uses it.

Neither escapes the roughly ±7–12 bpm of individual variation inherent in any age-based estimate. Tanaka is the better formula; it is not a precise one.

A formula cannot know your individual physiology; only a properly conducted maximal test or a lab lactate test can. Treat the numbers above as a starting range and adjust from how efforts actually feel.

Zones on this page are a percentage of maximum heart rate, not of heart rate reserve (the Karvonen method, which also uses resting heart rate). That is the same approach Body Vitals uses, so this range is the same starting point the app works from.

Why Zone 2 gets all the attention

Zone 2 sits at 65–75% of maximum — easy enough to hold a conversation, hard enough to be training. It builds aerobic capacity and mitochondrial density with a low recovery cost, which is why endurance plans spend most of their volume there and why it dominates training discussion.

The common mistake is drifting up. Zone 2 done at Zone 3 intensity accumulates fatigue without the adaptation benefit, and because it feels productive, it is easy to do for weeks before noticing the cost in your recovery metrics.

Setting zones on an Apple Watch

watchOS calculates zones automatically from your health data and date of birth. To use the values above instead, open the Watch app → My Watch → Workout → Heart Rate Zones, switch from Automatic to Manual, and enter the limits for zones 2, 3 and 4.

Once zones are set, Body Vitals can track your weekly Zone 2 minutes alongside readiness and HRV from the same Apple Watch data.

Track Zone 2 automatically with Body Vitals

The Body Vitals Zone 2 Training Tracker (Pro) uses the same 65–75% of max heart rate band as this calculator. It reads workout heart rate from Apple Health, so it works with Apple Watch, Garmin, Strava or any app that writes heart rate to HealthKit; it uses your own max heart rate instead of the formula if you enter one, and it shifts the band a few beats lower for cycling and rowing, where heart rate runs lower at the same effort. Weekly Zone 2 minutes sit on a ring card with an 8-week trend.

Frequently asked questions