Target Heart Rate

Age:

Note: This tool is not applicable to children. The maximum heart rate in healthy children is about 200 beats per minute. According to the American Heart Association, there is no need to arbitrarily restrict healthy children to lower heart rates.

How to Use

During exercise, you want to elevate your heart rate to strengthen it while avoiding rates that endanger it. According to the American Heart Association, the best heart rates to achieve during exercise are between 50 - 85% of your maximum heart rate.

Use our Target Heart Rate Calculator to compute the appropriate heart rate for people your age to achieve during exercise. If you're beginning an exercise program, you should aim for the low end of this range. More experienced exercisers can aim for higher target rates.

1. Enter your age in the space provided.

2. Click SUBMIT.

More About This Tool

You're sweating through another aerobic workout, and you're wondering whether you're overdoing it or not working hard enough. Pacing yourself is extremely important to maximizing the benefits of exercise. What's the right pace for you?

One way of finding the right pace is to monitor how fast your heart is pumping during your workout. According to the American Heart Association, the safest and most effective pace of exercise is one that keeps your heart pumping at a speed between 50 - 85% of your maximum heart rate. Fill in the information below and we'll calculate the range of target heart rates that may be best for you during exercise.

Review Date: 6/20/2008
Reviewed By: David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, A.D.A.M., Inc. Previously reviewed by Alan Greene, MD, FAAP, Department of Pediatrics, Packard Children's Hospital, Stanford University School of Medicine; Chief of Future Health, A.D.A.M., Inc. (6/9/2006)

The information provided herein should not be used during any medical emergency or for the diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition. A licensed medical professional should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions. Call 911 for all medical emergencies. Links to other sites are provided for information only -- they do not constitute endorsements of those other sites. © 1997- A.D.A.M., Inc. Any duplication or distribution of the information contained herein is strictly prohibited.