Understanding Your Exercise Heart Rate Zones
Monitoring your heart rate during exercise is a powerful tool for optimizing your training. It helps you ensure you're working at the right intensity – not too hard that you risk injury, and not too easy that you're not seeing the desired fitness benefits. Your heart rate zones are typically calculated based on your maximum heart rate (MHR), which is the highest number of times your heart can beat in one minute during strenuous activity.
A common and simple formula to estimate your MHR is 220 minus your age. Once you have your estimated MHR, you can determine different training zones. These zones correspond to various exercise intensities and offer different physiological benefits:
- Zone 1 (Very Light): 50-60% of MHR. Great for warm-ups, cool-downs, and active recovery.
- Zone 2 (Light): 60-70% of MHR. Builds aerobic base, improves endurance, and aids in fat burning.
- Zone 3 (Moderate): 70-80% of MHR. Improves aerobic fitness and increases muscle endurance.
- Zone 4 (Hard): 80-90% of MHR. Boosts anaerobic threshold and improves speed and power.
- Zone 5 (Maximum): 90-100% of MHR. Improves maximum oxygen uptake and is used for very short, high-intensity intervals.
Using these zones can help you tailor your workouts to your specific fitness goals, whether you're training for a marathon, aiming for weight loss, or simply looking to improve your cardiovascular health.
Your Estimated Heart Rate Zones:
Maximum Heart Rate (MHR): bpm
Zone 1 (Very Light – 50-60%): bpm
Zone 2 (Light – 60-70%): bpm
Zone 3 (Moderate – 70-80%): bpm
Zone 4 (Hard – 80-90%): bpm
Zone 5 (Maximum – 90-100%): bpm
function calculateHeartRateZones() {
var ageInput = document.getElementById("age");
var age = parseInt(ageInput.value);
if (isNaN(age) || age = 120) {
alert("Please enter a valid age.");
return;
}
var maxHeartRate = 220 – age;
var zone1Min = Math.round(maxHeartRate * 0.50);
var zone1Max = Math.round(maxHeartRate * 0.60);
var zone2Min = Math.round(maxHeartRate * 0.60);
var zone2Max = Math.round(maxHeartRate * 0.70);
var zone3Min = Math.round(maxHeartRate * 0.70);
var zone3Max = Math.round(maxHeartRate * 0.80);
var zone4Min = Math.round(maxHeartRate * 0.80);
var zone4Max = Math.round(maxHeartRate * 0.90);
var zone5Min = Math.round(maxHeartRate * 0.90);
var zone5Max = Math.round(maxHeartRate * 1.00);
document.getElementById("maxHeartRate").textContent = maxHeartRate;
document.getElementById("zone1″).textContent = zone1Min + " – " + zone1Max;
document.getElementById("zone2″).textContent = zone2Min + " – " + zone2Max;
document.getElementById("zone3″).textContent = zone3Min + " – " + zone3Max;
document.getElementById("zone4″).textContent = zone4Min + " – " + zone4Max;
document.getElementById("zone5″).textContent = zone5Min + " – " + zone5Max;
document.getElementById("result").style.display = "block";
}
.exercise-heart-rate-calculator {
font-family: sans-serif;
line-height: 1.6;
max-width: 800px;
margin: 20px auto;
padding: 20px;
border: 1px solid #ddd;
border-radius: 8px;
}
.exercise-heart-rate-calculator h1, .exercise-heart-rate-calculator h2, .exercise-heart-rate-calculator h3 {
color: #333;
}
.exercise-heart-rate-calculator article {
margin-bottom: 30px;
border-bottom: 1px solid #eee;
padding-bottom: 20px;
}
.exercise-heart-rate-calculator ul {
list-style-type: disc;
margin-left: 20px;
}
.calculator-form div {
margin-bottom: 15px;
}
.calculator-form label {
display: block;
margin-bottom: 5px;
font-weight: bold;
}
.calculator-form input[type="number"] {
width: 100%;
padding: 10px;
border: 1px solid #ccc;
border-radius: 4px;
box-sizing: border-box;
}
.calculator-form button {
background-color: #4CAF50;
color: white;
padding: 12px 20px;
border: none;
border-radius: 4px;
cursor: pointer;
font-size: 16px;
}
.calculator-form button:hover {
background-color: #45a049;
}
.calculator-result {
margin-top: 20px;
padding: 15px;
background-color: #f9f9f9;
border: 1px solid #eee;
border-radius: 4px;
}
.calculator-result p {
margin-bottom: 8px;
}
.calculator-result span {
font-weight: bold;
}