Target heart rate is often used interchangeably with heart rate reserve because they are used for similar purposes, but they're actually different. My heart rate reserve - max heart rate minus resting heart rate (198 minus 58) - is 148. My max heart rate is 198 (I'm 22 years old, so I used 220 minus 22).
Subtract your resting heart rate from your maximal heart rate to determine your heart rate reserve.įor example, my resting heart rate is 58 beats per minute, based on the average that my Fitbit gives me.Estimate your maximum heart rate by subtracting your age from 220.Determine your resting heart rate using the method above or use data from an activity tracker or other device (more on those below).To measure heart rate reserve, follow these steps: Heart rate reserve is most often used to estimate a person's ideal training zones - high-level athletes use these zones to optimize their training.
Heart rate reserve refers to the difference between your maximum heart rate and your resting heart rate. Read more: Heart rate variability: The most important health metric you aren't tracking Heart rate reserve That is, your true maximum heart rate may be 10 to 20 beats per minute higher or lower than difference in these equations. Because of this, the standard deviation is 10 to 20 beats per minute. Note that neither calculation accounts for your fitness level, genes or other factors. However, that equation is considered inaccurate by some scientists, and a revised formula is now often used: 208 -0.7 x your age. The 220-minus-age formula is the traditional way of measuring max heart rate, and it's still widely used. Subtract your age from 220 to get an age-predicted max heart rate.
The easiest way to estimate your max heart rate is a simple math calculation. Read more: 6 ways to lower your resting heart rate Counting for a full 60 seconds will provide the most accurate result, but you can also count for 30 seconds and then multiply that number by two.įor example, if I count 30 pulses in 30 seconds, I'd multiply that by two to get 60 for my resting heart rate. Use a stopwatch during this process because it's unlikely that you'll be able to count both the pulse and the seconds in your head.