Zone 2 Heart Rate Calculator

Updated 2026-07-28

Find your zone 2 heart rate: the easy, conversational range at 60 to 70% of your max heart rate where aerobic base building happens. Enter your age for the Tanaka estimate, or your measured max heart rate if you know it; add your resting heart rate to also get the Karvonen version most sports watches use.

What Zone 2 Is, and Why It Gets Its Own Calculator

Zone 2 is the second of the five standard heart rate training zones: 60 to 70% of your maximum heart rate, an effort you could hold for an hour while speaking full sentences. It is where endurance athletes spend the bulk of their training, and the research behind that habit is consistent: analyses of elite training across aerobic sports find roughly 80% of sessions at low intensity and 20% hard (Seiler, 2010). The easy majority builds the aerobic base, the oxygen delivery machinery your VO2 max runs on, while keeping you fresh enough to train often and to hit the hard sessions properly.

The catch is that zone 2 has boundaries, and most people miss them on the high side. Ride or run by feel and the effort drifts into the unproductive middle: too hard to recover from easily, too easy to raise your ceiling. The zone is a heart rate range, and knowing your numbers is what keeps the easy days actually easy. The full training method lives in our zone 2 guide; this page gets you the numbers.

Three Ways to Find Your Zone 2

1. Percentage of max heart rate

The standard definition: 60 to 70% of your max HR. Estimate your max with the Tanaka formula, 208 - (0.7 x age), validated across 18,712 subjects (Tanaka et al., 2001). A 40-year-old: max about 180, zone 2 about 108 to 126 bpm. If you know your real max from a hard workout or a field test, use it instead; the calculator accepts it as an override, and our max heart rate calculator compares all four estimation formulas.

2. Karvonen (heart rate reserve)

Straight percentages ignore your resting heart rate. The Karvonen method (Karvonen et al., 1957) works from your reserve instead: target = (HRmax - HRrest) x 0.6 to 0.7 + HRrest. The result sits noticeably higher than the plain percentage zone, and it is the method most Garmin, Polar, and Apple Watch zone settings use by default, which is the usual reason your watch's zone 2 disagrees with a formula. Enter your resting heart rate above to see both side by side.

3. The talk test

No monitor needed: in zone 2 you can speak a complete sentence without gasping, but singing would be uncomfortable. It sounds crude and tracks the physiology surprisingly well. Use it to sanity-check the numbers, especially on hills and in heat where heart rate drifts.

Zone 2 Heart Rate by Age

Using the Tanaka max estimate and the standard 60 to 70% definition:

These are population estimates: individual max heart rates spread roughly plus or minus 10 bpm around any age formula, so treat the table as a starting point and refine with a measured max or the talk test.

Keeping Yourself in the Zone

Knowing the range is half the job; staying inside it is the other half, and it is harder than it sounds. Heart rate drifts upward over a session, terrain pushes you out, and the pace that felt easy at minute 5 quietly stops being zone 2 by minute 40. This is exactly what PEAKVO2's guided zone 2 sessions are for: your target range on screen and wrist for the whole session, so the easy day stays easy without staring at numbers.

And the 20% hard side of the split has a home too: interval protocols like the Norwegian 4x4 at 90 to 95% of max HR, which raised VO2 max 7.2 percent in eight weeks in a controlled trial (Helgerud et al., 2007). Zone 2 builds the base; the intervals raise the ceiling. Both targets come from the same max heart rate you just calculated.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is zone 2 heart rate?

The easy aerobic zone at roughly 60 to 70% of your maximum heart rate: a conversational effort you could hold for an hour or more. It is where endurance athletes spend most of their training time, because it builds the aerobic base with minimal fatigue. The complete method is in our zone 2 training guide.

How do I find my zone 2 heart rate?

Take 60 to 70% of your max heart rate, estimated as 208 minus (0.7 times your age) if you have not measured it. A 40-year-old: roughly 108 to 126 bpm. The calculator above does the arithmetic and adds the Karvonen version if you enter your resting heart rate.

What is the Karvonen zone 2 and why is it higher?

The Karvonen method computes zones from your heart rate reserve (max minus resting) instead of straight percentages: target = (HRmax minus HRrest) x intensity + HRrest. It accounts for your resting heart rate, sits noticeably higher than the plain percentage zone, and is what most sports watches use by default, which is why your watch's zone 2 often disagrees with the simple formula.

How do I know I am really in zone 2?

The talk test: full sentences comfortable, singing not. On a monitor, stay under the top of your calculated range and accept that hills, heat, and cardiac drift will try to push you over; slowing down or walking briefly is part of doing it right.

How much zone 2 per week?

For most people, 2 to 4 sessions of 30 to 60 minutes, following the 80/20 split observed in elite endurance training: about 80% of weekly training time easy, 20% hard. Pair it with one or two interval sessions like the 4x4 and the two ends of the intensity spectrum reinforce each other.

Why does my zone 2 feel too slow?

Because it probably is correct. Untrained aerobic systems make genuine zone 2 feel frustratingly easy, and runners often need walk breaks to stay under the ceiling. That is the point: the pace at a given heart rate is exactly what improves as the base builds, and watching it improve is the most motivating part of zone 2 training.

References

1. Seiler S. What is best practice for training intensity and duration distribution in endurance athletes? Int J Sports Physiol Perform. 2010;5(3):276-291. PubMed
2. Tanaka H, Monahan KD, Seals DR. Age-predicted maximal heart rate revisited. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2001;37(1):153-156. PubMed
3. Karvonen MJ, Kentala E, Mustala O. The effects of training on heart rate; a longitudinal study. Ann Med Exp Biol Fenn. 1957;35(3):307-315. PubMed
4. Helgerud J, Høydal K, Wang E, et al. Aerobic high-intensity intervals improve VO2max more than moderate training. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2007;39(4):665-671. PubMed