Calculate the maximum heart rate

To calculate the maximum theoretical heart rate the KARVONEN formula has been used for several years, from the name of the Finnish scholar who first elaborated it. According to this rule, the theoretical maximum heart rate is calculated by subtracting one's age from 220.

Fc max = 220-age (years)

The calculation is quite simple and the formula is easily remembered. However it is a general rule, certainly not error-free, calculated starting from the population average. Some studies have shown the existence of an important interindividual variability of the maximum heart rate that can reach up to 10-15% (± 20 beats per minute). Furthermore, the Karvonen formula overestimates FCMax in women.

In recent years a new relationship between heart rate and age has been introduced, discovered by Japanese scholar Hirofumi Tanaka during a study conducted at the University of Boulder, Colorado. The homonymous formula is slightly more complex than the previous one but also more precise.

Fc max = 208 - 0.7 * age

According to this rule the maximum theoretical heart rate is calculated by subtracting the product of the constant 0.7 for the age expressed in years to 208. Or expressing the concept in other terms: the theoretical maximum heart rate is obtained by subtracting the 70% of one's age from 208.

It must be remembered that in both cases, an indicative value is obtained, useful for beginners, but too general for professionals or agonists in general. The only way to calculate the real maximum heart rate is to undergo a maximal test.

A maximal test is a test that leads the individual to a maximum level of work intensity where fatigue or the onset of symptoms prevents a further increase in intensity. This type of test is contraindicated in the sedentary population, in elderly subjects and / or carriers of important pathologies.

A trained person, during a particularly intense sporting performance easily reaches his maximum heart rate, while an untrained tends to slow down sooner due to the poor degree of training.

HEART RATE	SYSTEMS (%)	DIASTOLE (%)
60	45	55
80	54	46
100	58	42
120	64	36
140	70	30
The increase in heart rate decreases the duration of the cardiac cycle and changes the systolic / diastolic ratio

The reserve heart rate

An interesting parameter that can be derived from the Fcmax is the so-called "reserve heart rate". This data is obtained by subtracting the resting heart rate from the Fcmax, measured in the morning a few minutes after waking up.