Whether you’re riding indoors or out, there are so many metrics you can track on your bike. There’s time and distance, of course, but also powerful data points like cadence and power. Each of these stats has its pros and cons, but together, they can give you unique insight into your training and help you gauge progress over time.

Your heart rate, specifically, can offer valuable clues about how your body is handling your training. While objective ride data, such as distance or power, provides a direct measure of your work, heart rate gets a bit more personal; it reflects your body’s physiological response to that effort. One key way to use this data point is through cycling heart rate zones.

No single metric offers a complete view of your health and workout performance, but tapping into your personal cycling heart rate zones might just be key to unlocking better performance and more intentional workouts. Here’s exactly how to do it. 

What Are Cycling Heart Rate Zones?

Similar to intensity ranges, heart rate training zones are a measurement of how hard your heart is working to sustain a certain cardiovascular output. Each zone is based on a percentage of your maximum heart rate (HR max). You can reference heart rate training zones during any form of exercise; cycling heart rate zones are simply when you use them to gauge your intensity while on a bike.

Peloton instructor Dr. Charlotte Weidenbach is keen on using this scale “to tell you if you’re warming up, cruising, working hard, or pushing max effort—it’s much more effective than guessing,” Dr. Charlotte says. In other words, cycling heart rate zones are like a translator for your heart—and your cardiovascular effort. 

The Benefits of Using Your Cycling Heart Rate Zones

Targeting certain heart rate ranges while cycling allows for a more focused workout, allowing you to more precisely dial in to your desired exercise intensity, says Jackie Sanders, a doctor of physical therapy and endurance medicine specialist at Anchor Wellness. For example, working at a certain cycling heart rate can help you train specifically to develop aerobic capacity, endurance, or maximal power production, she explains.

Monitoring your effort with heart rate zones is also a more personalized, dynamic way to gauge effort compared to standardized metrics like speed or power.

“[Many] variables like fatigue, training load, and emotional stress might cause a change in the power, pace, or rate of perceived exertion (RPE), but your heart rate will show how your body is interpreting the work,” Sanders explains. For instance, “when cycling in high humidity, with high training volume, and a full plate at work, you might notice lower power or higher RPE. The heart rate will consistently demonstrate what is happening physiologically,” she explains.

Your personal cycling heart rate zones may be higher or lower than your peers’ due to age, sex, physical fitness, and genetics, which is one of the major selling points, Sanders says. Cycling heart rate zones reflect your own “internal load,” Dr. Charlotte explains, or how your body is responding to the work. “For instance, if your heart rate is unusually high, this may be a sign that you’re overtraining,” she says. 

Moreover, certain stats like power—which can be measured via metabolic equivalent of task (METs) or via output (watts) and Power Zones (as you’ll see on the Peloton Bike or Bike+)—may not be consistent across bikes, Dr. Charlotte concedes. If you always train on the same bike, power is a great way to measure your efforts, she says; however, if you regularly switch between indoor and outdoor cycling, for example, monitoring intensity with cycling heart rate zones can be more consistent. 

Using a maximal heart rate achieved during high, sustained output—then aiming for percentages of this maximum—is an accurate way to monitor effort without expensive equipment or extensive tests, Sanders says. It’s a cinch to track with a heart rate monitor or smartwatch, whether you’re riding al fresco or inside.

Cycling Heart Rate Zones, Explained

There are five cycling heart rate zones, which increase in intensity as the numbers climb.

Zone 1: Up to 65% of HR Max

Zone 1 is super light; essentially, active recovery or a warm-up or cooldown. When you’re working within this cycling heart rate zone, you’re easily able to carry on a conversation, explains Heather Baker, a physical therapist at Swedish Hospital—Endeavor Health. 

Zone 2: 65–75% of HR Max

Zone 2 is the steady endurance range that builds our aerobic base. Here, you can still speak in full sentences and should be able to maintain this same effort for hours. Also known as the “fat-burning zone,” zone 2 efforts are “often neglected in endurance training because it has to be held for longer in order to be effective, which can get boring to some people,” Dr. Charlotte admits. “But it’s great for our heart health, fat metabolism, and also mental wellbeing!”

Zone 3: 75–85% of HR Max

Zone 3 is moderate effort, or tempo work, Baker says. At this stage, you’re beginning to feel winded, but can sustain the effort. This is the sweet spot to build aerobic endurance, according to Baker. While full conversations won’t be easy, you should still be able to stay at this intensity level for an hour or more, Dr. Charlotte says. “Some call this the ‘gray zone,’ because it’s not exactly easy, but not hard, either. I find that this zone is useful but can be overused, which can lead to overtraining,” Dr. Charlotte says.

Zone 4: 85–95% of HR Max

Zone 4 feels hard. In this zone, you’re at your lactate threshold; meaning, lactate, a byproduct of energy production, begins to build up in the bloodstream quicker than your body can clear it. Lactate is building up, your legs start burning, and you can speak in short bursts only, Dr. Charlotte says. Working within this cycling heart rate zone helps improve your ability to ride hard—or maintain higher speeds—for increasingly longer periods. “This is a very effective zone, but beginners should only do short intervals of a few minutes max, with long recoveries sprinkled between,” Charlotte says.

Zone 5: ≥ 95% of HR Max

Zone 5 is your maximal effort; very hard or “brutal,” according to Dr. Charlotte. But brutal in an effective way: zone 5 “helps improve your ability to utilize oxygen during a workout, leading to faster overall speeds and more power,” Baker says. At this high-intensity anaerobic state, you’re giving your all and are “often working at a full-on, all-out sprint,” Baker adds. You can’t talk and won’t be able to maintain this for more than a few minutes. Beginners should steer clear of this zone initially and slowly add zone 5 to their workouts as zone 4 feels increasingly more doable.

How to Figure Out Your Cycling Heart Rate Zones

The most effective and precise way to find your cycling heart rate zones is through a lab test, Dr. Charlotte says. However, because that can be pricey, inconvenient, and it’s ideal to tabulate your zones every quarter, according to Baker, that’s far from your only option. 

Instead, consider making your bike your lab.  After warming up, strap on a smartwatch or heart rate monitor, and try this field test recommended by Dr. Charlotte: Perform at least 3–5 short, intense intervals (30 seconds to 2 minutes) with rest in between. Your highest observed heart rate should be a good estimate of your maximum heart rate.

To do this test properly, it’s important to really push yourself to exhaustion by starting at an intense level and then increasing the intensity even further each time, Dr. Charlotte explains; it should feel like hill sprints with a lot of resistance. The intervals also need to be long enough for your heart rate to rise, so 30 seconds should be the minimum. Ideally, you’d do this test under the supervision of a fitness or medical professional, or at least with caution, Dr. Charlotte adds.

With your HR max from that ride, you can build your zones by using an online calculator or doing some math using the percentages listed above.

No monitor or watch? No sweat. Dr. Charlotte recommends using the Tanaka formula: 208-(0.7 x age). Multiply your age by 0.7, then subtract that number from 208 to get an estimate of your maximum heart rate. (A 42-year-old’s max heart rate would be 179, for example.) Then calculate your cycling heart rate zones with that as 100 percent. Dr. Charlotte admits that “this is not nearly as accurate as a lab test, but it’s better than nothing.”

How to Use Cycling Heart Rate Zones to Guide Your Rides

You need not be training for a race for cycling heart rate zones to come in handy. Understanding your cycling heart rate zones can help you better gauge your effort while cycling (ensuring you’re not going too hard or too easy on any given day), incorporate a variety of intensities in your routine, and train strategically for the results you want.

For example, your mission might be simply to hit the recommended amount of exercise to promote heart health. For adults, the American Heart Association suggests 150 minutes per moderate-intensity cardio (which translates to zones 1–3) or 75 minutes of vigorous cardio (zones 3–5) per week—or you can combine a bit of both. 

If your aim is to take your fitness or cycling performance to the next level, being even more specific with your cycling heart rate zones can come in handy, Sanders tells us. Your best bet is to match your zone to your goal, Dr. Charlotte adds. Here’s a breakdown:

It may be tempting to shift into neutral and zone out in the 3 to 4 range, Charlotte says, but if all your workouts are there, “you’re working hard but not really optimizing. Zone 3 and 4 have their place, but periodization matters.” This may look like alternating low-intensity, moderate-intensity, and high-intensity days, or you can jump zones within one workout, Charlotte notes. Alternating easy and hard—say, doing intervals from 2 to 4, then 2 to 3, and repeating this pattern—will help you move the needle. As you grow stronger, you may want to sprinkle in 2 to 5, too. 

As you train, be sure to track trends, Sanders and Charlotte agree. When it takes your heart rate longer than usual to slow down, it’s wise to build in more recovery or rest. And if your resting heart rate is chronically elevated compared to your normal, it might be a clue that you’re experiencing systemic stress, fatigue, poor recovery, burnout, or illness. If you’re concerned about your heart rate or unsure of how to use heart rate training in a way that’s safe for you, it’s always a good idea to consult a medical or fitness professional. 

Cycling heart rate zones can serve as tremendous guides to help make training more targeted and effective, Charlotte says. That said, individual factors need to be taken into consideration, and these zones shouldn’t be followed blindly. “It’s, as always, important to know your body well and listen to that, too, instead of only focusing on heart rate,” she says. “Use zones as a guide, not a prison, and always listen to your body and adapt, if needed!”