By sport
Hiking & Rucking Training Zones
Load and grade drive intensity more than pace. Keep heart rate aerobic (Zone 2 / MAF) and track vertical meters per hour.
Max Heart Rate Calculator
Your maximum heart rate is the highest your heart can beat at all-out effort. Age formulas estimate it: Tanaka gives 208 − 0.7 × age, the classic 220 − age runs high. At age 35 that is 184 and 185 bpm, but true values vary by ±10–12 bpm, so test it.
Heart Rate Zone Calculator
Heart-rate zones are percentages of your maximum heart rate: Zone 1 is 50–60%, Zone 2 60–70%, Zone 3 70–80%, Zone 4 80–90% and Zone 5 90–100%. At a max of 185 bpm, Zone 2, the aerobic-base zone, is 111–130 bpm. Most easy training belongs in Zones 1–2.
Target Heart Rate Calculator
Your target heart rate for moderate exercise is 64 to 76% of your maximum heart rate, and 77 to 93% for vigorous exercise, with the maximum taken as 220 minus your age. For a 50-year-old that is 109 to 129 bpm moderate and 131 to 158 bpm vigorous. The American Heart Association draws the same bands lower, at 50 to 70% and 70 to 85%.
Fat Burning Zone Calculator
Fat oxidation peaks at roughly 74% of your maximum heart rate, not in the low band most gym equipment labels fat burn. For a 190 bpm maximum that is about 141 bpm, with fat oxidation staying near its peak from 129 to 150 bpm. Below that you burn a higher percentage of fat but fewer fat grams per minute.
MAF 180 Formula Calculator
Maffetone's 180 Formula sets your maximum aerobic heart rate at 180 minus your age, adjusted for health and training status. A consistent, injury-free 35-year-old gets 180 − 35 = 145 bpm and an aerobic range of 135–145 bpm. Train at or below it to build the aerobic base.
Hiking & Rucking has no clean heart-rate or power anchor for every effort. Gauge intensity with the RPE scale (Borg & CR10) and map it onto the zone models above.