Finding Your Maximum Heart Rate
Your maximum heart rate (HRmax) is the single number every heart-rate zone is built on. Get it wrong by 10 beats and every zone shifts by 5–10 bpm, so it's worth getting right. Here's what it is, how to estimate it, and how to test it for real.
What max heart rate actually is
HRmax is the highest your heart can beat during all-out effort. It's largely genetic, drifts down slowly with age, and, importantly, is not a measure of fitness. A fitter athlete doesn't have a higher HRmax; they just do more work at the same heart rate.
You can't train your max heart rate up. Its only job is to anchor your zones.
Estimate it in five seconds
The fastest way to a number is an age formula. The famous 220 − age rule is easy to remember but was never derived from solid data. It runs high for older athletes and low for some younger ones. Modern equations like Tanaka (208 − 0.7 × age) are more accurate.
Rather than do the arithmetic, drop your age into the live calculator below: it shows six published formulas side by side so you can see the spread:
推奨HRmax
184bpm
Tanaka (2001)
全6モデルの平均
183bpm
迷ったらこれを使ってください
公表された6つの予測式を並べて比較（典型誤差 ±10〜12 bpm）
| Fox / Haskell (1971) | 185 bpm |
| Tanaka (2001)推奨 | 184 bpm |
| Gellish (2007) | 183 bpm |
| Nes (2013) | 189 bpm |
| Gulati, women (2010) | 175 bpm |
| Londeree & Moeschberger | 181 bpm |
| 6モデルすべての平均上記の予測式の平均 | 183 bpm |
- Tanaka (2001) を推奨します。これは18,712名のメタ分析から再導出されたもので、年配のアスリートで高めに出やすい古い「220引く年齢」のルールよりも、幅広い年齢で正確だからです。
- 式で予測したHRmaxは標準偏差がおよそ ±10〜12 bpm あり、同じ年齢でも2人のアスリートで20 bpm以上違うことがあります。あくまで出発点として使ってください。
- 正確さを求めるなら、最大強度のフィールドテスト（例：きつい坂道ダッシュの反復や、監督下のランプテスト）を行い、デバイスから本当のHRmaxを読み取ってください。
パーソナライズされた結果のPDFと、いつでも再表示できるQRコード付き。
Notice how much the estimates differ? That spread is exactly why a formula is a starting point, not gospel.
Test it for real
A field test is more accurate than any equation. After a thorough warm-up:
- Run or ride 2–3 minutes hard uphill.
- Recover briefly, then go again, building to an all-out final 30 seconds.
- The highest number you see is close to your true HRmax.
Stop if you feel unwell: this is a maximal effort and not for beginners. One good test lasts a long time: HRmax drifts down only about 0.7 bpm per year.
Then build your zones
Once you have a trustworthy HRmax, everything downstream falls into place:
- Heart-rate zone calculator: the standard %HRmax 5-zone split.
- LTHR zones: if you'd rather anchor to lactate-threshold heart rate, which many coaches prefer.
- Max heart rate calculator: the six-formula tool from above, on its own page.
Train by the number, not the formula, and your easy days stay easy and your hard days stay honest.