How to Find Your Minimum and Maximum Heart Rate

Determining your minimum and maximum heart rates help establish safe and effective exercise heart ranges for workouts. You can target your range with a specific training goal in mind. For example, you use one range if your goal is weight loss, whereas another is better suited if you want to improve your anaerobic threshold. Two formulas available to calculate exercise ranges and involve your age.

Things You'll Need

  • Watch or clock with a second hand
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Instructions

    • 1

      Find out your minimum resting heart rate (RHR) in the morning, right after you wake up for most accurate result. Place two fingers on your carotid artery in the side of your neck (you have found it when you feel a slight pulsing against your fingers). Use light pressure or you might not feel it. Have a watch handy. Count the beats for 15 seconds and multiply this number by four. The result is your RHR.

    • 2

      Determine your approximate maximum heart rate (MHR) by subtracting your age from 220 and this is your MHR. For example, using this formula, a 40-year-old person's MHR is 180. This formula is the most common and is not exact.

    • 3

      Use the rates to establish ranges while exercising. Keep in mind that it is not recommended to reach your MHR while working out. Only very fit individuals can reach it for a brief time period while conducting interval training. Use MHR only as a tool to calculate appropriate training ranges.

    • 4

      Use the following formula to calculate training zones for specific performance goals: (MHR - RHR) X percent of maximum heart rate + RHR = beats per minute.