Zone 2 heart rate calculator
Find your zone 2 heart rate: steady cardio at an effort where you can still hold a conversation.
Add your age to see your zone 2 range.
Zone 2 heart rate by age, estimated
| Age | Estimated max | Zone 2 |
|---|---|---|
| 20 | 194 bpm | 116 to 136 bpm |
| 30 | 187 bpm | 112 to 131 bpm |
| 40 | 180 bpm | 108 to 126 bpm |
| 50 | 173 bpm | 104 to 121 bpm |
| 60 | 166 bpm | 100 to 116 bpm |
| 70 | 159 bpm | 95 to 111 bpm |
| 80 | 152 bpm | 91 to 106 bpm |
How the range is worked out
Zone 2 here is 60 to 70% of your maximum heart rate, the same range the Ageon app uses. Without a measured maximum, it's estimated as 208 minus 0.7 times your age, from a study of over 18,000 people. Real maximums vary by about 10 beats either way, so a measured max or the talk test is better.
Is zone 2 worth it?
Moderate cardio is: the WHO recommends 150 to 300 minutes a week, and meeting 150 is linked to about a third lower risk of death. A 2025 review found no evidence that zone 2 beats harder exercise, though. It's a good base because it's easy to recover from. Add some harder efforts if you can, and see how your VO2 max responds.
Questions
What is zone 2 heart rate?
Steady cardio at 60 to 70% of your max heart rate, an effort you can talk through. For a 40-year-old, that's about 108 to 126 beats per minute.
How long should zone 2 workouts be?
30 to 60 minutes, two or three times a week, is a common target. The Ageon app counts a zone 2 day from 20 minutes.
Sources
- Age-predicted maximal heart rate revisited. Tanaka et al., Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 2001.
- World Health Organization 2020 guidelines on physical activity and sedentary behaviour. Bull et al., British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2020.
- Leisure time physical activity and mortality: a detailed pooled analysis of the dose-response relationship. Arem et al., JAMA Internal Medicine, 2015.
- Much ado about zone 2: a narrative review assessing the efficacy of zone 2 training. Storoschuk et al., Sports Medicine, 2025.
Go deeper: Zone 2, the easy cardio you can talk through