Zone 2 training has become one of the most talked-about fitness ideas of the decade — and for good reason. It is the exercise intensity where your body burns fat most efficiently, builds the aerobic engine that powers every other workout, and still feels easy enough that you can chat with a training partner the whole time. The catch is that most people train either too easy or too hard, and spend almost no time in the actual zone. In this guide you will learn what Zone 2 is, how to calculate your personal Zone 2 heart rate using two proven methods, and how much Zone 2 cardio to aim for each week.
Enter your age and resting heart rate into our heart rate zones calculator and it will calculate your Zone 2 range — along with all five heart rate zones — in seconds.
Calculate My Heart Rate ZonesZone 2 training is steady, aerobic cardio performed at 60–70% of your maximum heart rate on the standard 5-zone model. It is the highest intensity at which your body still relies mostly on fat for fuel and you can speak in full sentences — push much harder and your breathing becomes labored as lactate starts to accumulate.
To understand where Zone 2 sits, picture the five heart rate zones as a ladder. Zone 1 is a gentle recovery effort, barely above a stroll. Zone 2 is the first rung of genuine training: brisk enough to raise your heart rate and make you breathe a little harder, but controlled enough to sustain for 45 minutes or more. Above it, Zone 3 becomes noticeably harder — conversation gets choppy — and Zones 4 and 5 are the hard, breathless efforts you can only hold for minutes at a time.
The defining feature of Zone 2 is the talk test: if you can hold a conversation in complete sentences, you are probably in Zone 2. If you can only gasp out a few words between breaths, you have climbed too high. This simple test is remarkably reliable, which is why coaches have used it for decades — no gadget required.
Zone 2 matters because it directly trains your mitochondria — the tiny structures inside your cells that convert fat and oxygen into usable energy. Regular Zone 2 work improves how efficiently your mitochondria burn fat, clear lactate, and handle fuel, which shows up as better insulin sensitivity, healthier blood sugar control, and a stronger aerobic base for everything else you do.
Fat oxidation peaks at this intensity, which is one reason Zone 2 is a favorite for sustainable weight management. Unlike very hard intervals, Zone 2 does not spike hunger or leave you exhausted, so it is easy to repeat day after day. Over weeks and months, that consistency compounds: your body becomes better at using fat at rest and during exercise alike.
Zone 2 has also become a pillar of the longevity movement, popularized by physician Peter Attia, who commonly recommends around 150–180 minutes of Zone 2 cardio per week as part of a long-healthspan exercise plan. The reasoning is simple: cardiorespiratory fitness is one of the strongest predictors of longevity, and Zone 2 is the most sustainable way to build it — gentle enough on the joints and nervous system that you can accumulate a large weekly volume without breaking down.
There are two reliable ways to find your Zone 2 heart rate: take 60–70% of your estimated maximum heart rate (the simple method), or use the Karvonen formula, which also factors in your resting heart rate. Both methods work — the simple method is fastest, while Karvonen produces a more personalized range.
First, estimate your maximum heart rate (MHR). The classic formula is 220 minus your age. A more modern alternative, the Tanaka formula, is 208 minus (0.7 × age), which tends to be more accurate for older adults because max heart rate declines a little more slowly than the old formula assumes. You can estimate your max heart rate with either formula.
Then multiply by 0.60 and 0.70 to get your Zone 2 range. For a 40-year-old, the classic estimate gives a max heart rate of 180 beats per minute (bpm), so Zone 2 is 108–126 bpm. The Tanaka estimate for a 40-year-old also lands at 180 bpm, giving the same range — the two formulas diverge more at older ages.
This method is a great starting point, but it treats everyone of the same age identically. A fit 50-year-old and a sedentary 50-year-old get the same range, even though their hearts are very different. That is where the second method comes in.
The Karvonen formula personalizes your zones using your heart rate reserve — the gap between your resting heart rate and your max heart rate. The formula is:
Target HR = ((max HR − resting HR) × intensity) + resting HR
To use it, you need your resting heart rate: measure it first thing in the morning, before getting out of bed, on two or three days and take the average — or calculate your resting heart rate zone with our tool. Then plug in 0.60 and 0.70 as the intensity for your Zone 2 boundaries.
Because Karvonen accounts for your resting heart rate, it automatically adjusts for fitness. A fitter person with a lower resting heart rate gets a slightly higher, wider Zone 2 band than a less fit person of the same age — which matches what exercise physiologists observe in the lab.
Simple method: max HR = 220 − 40 = 180 bpm. Zone 2 = 60–70% of 180 = 108–126 bpm.
Karvonen method: heart rate reserve = 180 − 60 = 120. Lower bound = (120 × 0.60) + 60 = 132 bpm. Upper bound = (120 × 0.70) + 60 = 144 bpm. So Zone 2 = 132–144 bpm.
Notice that the Karvonen range runs higher than the simple range. That is normal: by crediting you for a healthy resting heart rate of 60, Karvonen shifts the zone upward. As a rule of thumb, beginners and less active people do well starting with the simple method, while fitter people with a low resting heart rate will find the Karvonen range more accurate. If you want the number without doing the arithmetic, our dedicated Zone 2 heart rate calculator runs both methods for you.
The table below shows Zone 2 ranges for ages 30 through 60 using both methods. The Karvonen column assumes a resting heart rate of 60 bpm — if yours is higher or lower, your personal range will shift accordingly, which is exactly why measuring your own resting heart rate is worth the effort.
| Age | Est. max HR (220 − age) | Zone 2 — simple method (60–70%) | Zone 2 — Karvonen (resting HR 60) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | 190 bpm | 114–133 bpm | 138–151 bpm |
| 40 | 180 bpm | 108–126 bpm | 132–144 bpm |
| 50 | 170 bpm | 102–119 bpm | 126–137 bpm |
| 60 | 160 bpm | 96–112 bpm | 120–130 bpm |
Note: using the Tanaka formula (208 − 0.7 × age), the estimated max heart rates are 187, 180, 173, and 166 for ages 30, 40, 50, and 60, giving simple-method Zone 2 ranges of 112–131, 108–126, 104–121, and 100–116 bpm. These are estimates — a lab test or a well-worn heart rate monitor gives the truest numbers.
Zone 2 should feel comfortably challenging — about a 4 or 5 out of 10 on a perceived effort scale — where you can breathe through your nose and hold a full conversation. It should never feel like a grind; you should finish a Zone 2 session feeling refreshed, not wrecked.
For most beginners, Zone 2 looks like a brisk walk at 3–4 mph (4.8–6.4 km/h), an easy bike ride on flat ground, a steady rowing machine session, or walking on a treadmill at an incline. As your fitness improves, the same heart rate will demand a faster pace — that is the whole point, and it is a sign your aerobic base is growing. Fit runners often need a slow jog to stay in Zone 2, while very fit athletes may need to jog uphill.
Aim for roughly 150–180 minutes of Zone 2 per week — the target popularized by longevity physician Peter Attia. In practice that means about 30–45 minutes per session, 4–5 days a week, and you can split it into shorter bouts (two 20-minute walks count just as well as one 40-minute session).
If 150 minutes sounds like a lot, start where you are. Even 90 minutes a week of true Zone 2 builds a meaningful aerobic base, and you can add roughly 10% more time each week. Pair it with two or three full-body strength sessions per week and you have a complete, longevity-oriented training program. You can find this guide alongside all of our training tools in our fitness and health hub.
One more thing worth knowing: Zone 2 sits far below your maximum aerobic effort. If you are curious how your aerobic ceiling compares, our VO2 max calculator estimates the other end of the spectrum — the hard intervals that complement, but never replace, your Zone 2 base.
Plug in your age and resting heart rate — our heart rate zones calculator will map out your Zone 2 target plus all five training zones.
Calculate My Zones NowWritten by the Live Fitness Check editorial team · Reviewed against our calculator methodology · Last updated October 2026
Disclaimer: This guide is for educational purposes only and is not medical advice. If you have a heart condition, take heart-rate-affecting medication, or are new to exercise, check with your doctor before training in target heart-rate zones.
