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Aerobic vs Anaerobic Threshold Calculator

See where your aerobic threshold ends and the anaerobic zone begins.

How it is calculated

Both thresholds are placed as fractions of heart-rate reserve, not of maximum heart rate: HR = resting + fraction × (max − resting). The aerobic threshold (VT1) uses 70 % and the anaerobic threshold (VT2) uses 88 %. The easy zone starts at 60 % of reserve and ends at VT1, the tempo zone runs VT1 to VT2, and the anaerobic zone runs from VT2 up to maximum. If you leave maximum heart rate blank or at 0, it is estimated with the Tanaka formula 208 − 0.7 × age (the output is labelled Tanaka). All values are in beats per minute, rounded to whole numbers, plus each threshold as a percentage of maximum. These are population-style estimates, not a lab or lactate test result.

Worked example

Age 40, resting 55 bpm, maximum left blank. Tanaka maximum: 208 − 0.7 × 40 = 180 bpm. Reserve: 180 − 55 = 125 bpm. VT1: 55 + 0.70 × 125 = 142.5, shown as 143 bpm. VT2: 55 + 0.88 × 125 = 165 bpm. Easy zone 130–143 bpm, tempo zone 143–165 bpm, anaerobic zone 165–180 bpm. As percentages of maximum, VT1 is 79 % and VT2 is 92 %.

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Common mistakes

  • Expecting thresholds at fixed percentages of maximum heart rate. Here they are percentages of reserve, so a lower resting rate moves both thresholds lower.
  • Using the estimated maximum from age when you know a real one from a race or test. Tanaka can miss by many beats for an individual, and both thresholds follow it.
  • Entering a resting rate from a hard day or after caffeine. It raises the whole zone ladder.
  • Treating VT1 and VT2 as measured values. They are fixed 70 % and 88 % points of reserve, whereas your real thresholds can sit elsewhere; a lactate or gas-exchange test is needed for that.
  • Confusing 'percent of reserve' with the percent-of-max column. At 88 % of reserve VT2 is 92 % of maximum in the example, which is a different number.

About this calculator

VT1, the aerobic or first ventilatory threshold, marks the pace you can hold while still talking comfortably, where fat oxidation still dominates energy production. VT2, the anaerobic or lactate threshold, marks the point where lactate starts accumulating in the blood faster than the body can clear it. Without lab testing, both are commonly estimated from heart rate, as percentages of the range between resting and maximum heart rate (heart-rate reserve).

Endurance coaches use these two thresholds to define training zones: everything below VT1 is easy base training, the zone between VT1 and VT2 is tempo or threshold work, and anything above VT2 is anaerobic/VO2max territory. Knowing where your own thresholds sit matters directly for marathon and half-marathon pacing and for structuring a training block correctly.

This calculator takes your age, resting heart rate and, optionally, your maximum heart rate (if you leave it blank, it is estimated as 208 − 0.7 × age). It places VT1 at 70% and VT2 at 88% of your heart-rate reserve and returns those heart rates, plus the training zone that sits between them.

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