Tanaka et al.
About this reference
Tanaka and colleagues analysed group mean maximum heart rates from 351 published studies involving 18,712 participants, then cross-validated the result in 514 healthy adults aged 18-81. The resulting equation is 208 - 0.7 x age. The authors found no significant difference in the regression line by sex or habitual activity level. FitnessNorms uses the equation as a point estimate and applies a clearly labelled normal approximation with a fixed 10 bpm standard deviation to show the substantial individual spread reported by the laboratory study; the paper did not publish age-band percentile tables.
Known limitations
- The equation describes healthy, nonmedicated, nonsmoking adults and should not be generalized to people outside that source population without caution
- The laboratory cross-validation covered ages 18-81; estimates outside that range would be extrapolations
- The paper reports age-specific standard deviations of 7-11 bpm rather than one full percentile table; FitnessNorms uses 10 bpm as a transparent approximation, so displayed P5-P95 values are derived rather than published