Understanding your heart rate zones is important to help you to train more effectively towards your goals. Here’s how to find out what your heart rate zones are and why they matter for your training. We’re going to look at:
📖 What your heart rate should be in each of the five zones
🤔 Why the different heart rate zones are important to runners
📈 How to work out your maximum heart rate
WHY DO RUNNERS NEED TO KNOW THEIR HEART RATE ZONES?
Knowing your heart rate zones can allow you to train in a smarter and more controlled way which can lead to performance improvements and help avoid overreaching and potential overuse injury.
The heart rate zones are based on your individual maximum heart rate, so knowing your own specific heart rate zones can help you train more effectively.
We can exercise in zones 1 to zone 5 and it’s good to run in every zone each week, but it’s essential to get your training balance right: you should mostly be in Zones 1 and 2, with just a little time in Zone 5, and you should understand the intention of each zone, which we cover below.
It’s important to know your heart rate zones as it allows you to run to specific intensities and efforts which can benefit your overall training. It’s good to try to run in each heart rate zone every week, but you should spend most of your time running in Zone 2.
HERE ARE YOUR HEART RATE ZONES
The heart rate zones are a percentage range based on maximum heart rate. If your Max HR is between the values in the table below then you can use a percentage calculator to work out your exact ranges. All heart rate values below are in beats per minute (bpm).
Below we discuss the purpose of each heart rate zone and how to work out your maximum heart rate.
WHAT’S THE PURPOSE OF THE DIFFERENT HEART RATE ZONES?
Each heart rate zone provides a different exercise stimulus. It’s important to know the difference so that you can be more intentional in your training and to avoid overreaching.
Zone 1: Mostly for warm ups, cool downs and active recovery. It doesn’t necessarily make you fitter or faster, but it can help you to feel ready for whatever training you have coming up.
Zone 2: An easy effort and low intensity training which you can sustain for a long time (if you need or want to). This builds cardio fitness and endurance and is essential for all athletes.
Zone 3: A tempo pace and moderate to moderately-hard effort. It’s a more challenging effort which can help to build race pace endurance. It’s important to be intentional with Zone 3: don’t sneak into it when you’re supposed to be doing a Zone 2 run.
Zone 4: A hard run where you are running at a high effort for a short period of time. Typically you run these as shorter intervals and then take a recovery before running another Zone 4 interval.
Zone 5: A very hard and high intensity effort. You will only be in Zone 5 for short distances because it comes with increased risks of injury or overreaching.
HOW FAR SHOULD YOU RUN IN EACH HEART RATE ZONE?
It’s key to understand overall training balance. Around 80% of your training will be in Zone 2 (and 1), and 20% will be split between Zones 3, 4 and 5. Think of it like a pyramid where you do mostly Zone 2 and then decreasing amounts of the other zones.
Here’s an example of the distance you might run in each heart rate zone based on overall weekly running volume. For clarity: if you have a workout of do 5 x 1km in Zone 4 with 3km warm up and 2km cool down, that’s going to be 5km in Zone 1-2 and 5km in Zone 4.
This table is also a great way to also show how running slow can help you to run faster. Basically it’s the idea that the more Zone 2 running you can build up to, the more faster running you may be able to handle in a week. So more slow running leads to more fast running, and that’s how you get quicker overall.
HOW DO YOU WORK OUT YOUR MAXIMUM HEART RATE?
There are several ways to work out your maximum heart rate.
Age Based Formula: This is the simplest way to get an estimated Max HR, but it doesn’t account for your fitness so is considered only as an approximation (with variance of 10-12 bmp). The age based Max HR formula is: 220 – your age. So a 40-year-old is 220 – 40 = Suggested Max HR of 180.
Max HR Run Test: You can do a workout to find your Max HR but it requires you to work very hard and push yourself to your limit, so be careful if you try this one. Warm up for 10-15 minutes. Go into a 5 minute hard tempo run, then over the next 2-5 minutes increase your pace until you’re running as hard as possible, and sustain this until you can’t run any further. If you can find a long steady hill to run up then that’s even better as it will test you more. If you run hard enough you’ll reach your Max HR.
Lab Test: This is the most accurate way to get your Max HR. It involves a challenging treadmill test under supervision where your effort will increase until you cannot work any harder. These can be expensive and only competitive runners may want to do this.
Watch Prediction: Many watches will be able to predict your approximate Max HR based on your training. But to get the most accurate results you will need a chest or arm straps, and not the wrist-based measurement.
FAQS ON HOW TO KNOW YOUR HEART RATE ZONES
What is the most important heart rate zone for exercise?You should do most of your exercise in Zone 2. This is low intensity aerobic exercise which can help to improve your overall fitness.
Does your Max HR decrease with age?Yes, your Max HR decreases with age at approximately one beat per minute per year. While you can’t stop that decline, being a well-trained athlete can slow down that rate of decline. Doing long endurance exercise in Zone 2 and also VO2 Max workouts will help the most here.
How can I measure my heart rate zones without a watch or heart rate strap?You can’t accurately measure your heart rate without a device. However, you can use effort to roughly correlate with your expected heart rate.
Zone 1 is a brisk walk or very light jog
Zone 2 is a low intensity run and conversational pace
Zone 3 is a tempo pace, faster than Zone 2 and something you could hold for an extended period (perhaps 60 minutes or more)
Zone 4 is a shorter, faster and higher intensity interval
Zone 5 is a very high intensity run which you can only sustain for a short amount of time
TL;DR ON HOW TO KNOW YOUR HEART RATE ZONES (AND WHY THEY MATTER TO RUNNERS)
It’s important to know your heart rate zones as it allows you to run to specific intensities and efforts which can benefit your overall training. It’s good to try and run in each heart rate zone every week but you should spend most of your time running in Zone 2. Understanding the difference between each heart rate zone can help you to train smarter and more effectively.
AUTHOR BIO
Mark is an experienced marathoner and ultrarunner. He thinks his max HR is 180 (but has never got beyond 177!). He spends too much time running in Zone 3.
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