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Why it is important to know your Max Heart Rate

When you want to train rigorously, knowing your Max Heart Rate is an essential prerequisite. It is also the basis for classifying the type of activity you do.

To really work on fitness level, you can adapt your training program to reach a particular heart rate while you exercise. This way, you have control over your training and you can aim for a certain intensity for your exercises and increase in intensity as you improve your fitness. 

You can find your HR Max which is the higher value of your HR for the day in the Circular App under the “Activity Analysis” circle by swiping to the HR graphs. But this is not your Max HR. Your Max HR will be given by Kira as a recommendation in your feed after calculating it. You can also find it in profile information > advanced information.


How is your Max Heart Rate (MHR) calculated 


We give you a theoretical MHR according to an improved formula using your age. For your info, your Maximum heart rate decreases as you get older due to the physiological effects of aging.

Studies have shown that this formula is not completely accurate but is a quite precise estimate. In the end, we would have +/- 10 possible pulses of deviation. 


It will soon be possible to complete a physical test within the app to detect your real MHR thanks to a future update of the app. 


Determine your target heart rate zone


Once you know the value of your maximum heart rate, you can determine your target heart rate zone for your exercises. By exercising in the target heart rate zone, you can get a better idea of the intensity your heart provides during work and organize your exercise program more accurately.

As a general rule, your heart rate during medium activities (endurance activities) is about 55 to 75% of your maximum heart rate.

If you are engaged in intense exercise (HIIT activities), your heart rate should theoretically be between 75% and 90% of your maximum heart rate.

Monitor your heart rate during an activity


You just need to check at your live heart rate in the “Activity Analysis” circle during your exercise. Check your live heart rate right after the effort by clenching your fist. When you exercise, your heart rate should be between 55% and 85% of your maximum heart rate. If you go below 55%, try to increase the intensity of your exercises. Do not go above 90% for too long as this can damage your heart.


You can read the article on How Circular tracks your Activity intensity to know how to take advantage of your Max Heart Rate.


We remind you that the Circular™ ring is not a medical device and should not be used to diagnose or monitor a pathology.

Amaury Kosman

CEO of Circular, Amaury is all about technology and human capabilities improvement. He is a dedicated marathon runner and loves optimizing his training.

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