06/03/2025
The Latest 180-Formula
A personalized exercise HR for optimal performance based on your health and fitness levels
Dr. Phil Maffetone
There have been various 180-Formula updates over the past 45 years. Originally, I created this heart rate approach to help people lose excess body fat. It quickly was evident that injuries in those who exercise at this HR resolved faster. I soon realized that this method could help improve overall human performance from brain to toes.
A boon for competitive athletes and everyone else who works out, and replacement for the old 220-formula, over the years the 180-Formulaâs fine-tuning more easily allowed individuals to obtain an optimal exercise HR based on their particular needs. It mimics how I worked one on one with professional athletes, and also corresponds to laboratory measures of fat burning, aerobic and ventilatory thresholds, and other measures. Most important is to consider key health factors and fitness history when calculating your personal exercise HR.
The 180-Formula posted below is the latest version. It appeared in a paper on maximum aerobic function (MAF) I wrote with Professor Paul Laursen and published in the journal Frontiers in Physiology . This version of the Formula emphasizes vital features we should not forget, otherwise the resulting training HR can be too high to reap aerobic benefits like fat burning, muscle balance, improved endurance, and many others.
When calculating your HR, the condition of overfat is important to consider, and something we canât make assumptions about. Unless youâve had a DEXA scan lately, an accurate approach is the waist-to-height ratio. For normal healthy body fat, the waist, measured at the level of the belly button, should be less than half your height. Being overfat puts you in the Formulaâs category 2b.
Another important condition in the latest Formula is overtraining, both acute and chronic forms. Itâs not easy to accept to the possibility of an impaired hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which may be the earliest stage of overtraining. These apply to the categories 2b and 2a, respectively.
Dietary stress can ruin exercise results regardless of HR. The problem, of course, is refined carbohydrates, including sugar, which impairs fat burning and the aerobic systemâeven very small amounts for many people.
As you carefully read through the Formula below, an honest evaluation will guide you to determine a personalized training HR based on your level of health and fitness. If in doubt about the calculations, choose the result with the lower HR.
The good news is that as you eat and train well, your performance will improve over time at the same HR. The MAF Test is the best guideâif itâs not improving or plateaus too soon (within about six month) either your HR or carbohydrate intakeâor bothâis too high. As improvements in health and fitness are realized, you can raise the training HR, such as when body fat normalizes, overtraining resolves, or medication is no longer necessary.
If youâre happy with the results of your current exercise, competition, body fat, or other factors, youâre right on. Otherwise, please reassess your approach. Discipline is one of the most important features in getting the most from every minute of exercise. Itâs not about just doing itâŚbut doing it right.
The formula
1. Subtract your age from 180.
Modifications if necessary.
A. Subtract another 5 points if you are injured, recovering, get sick more than twice a year, or are overfat.
B. Subtract 10 points from 180-age if you are recovering from a major illness/surgery, in rehab, or needing to take any medication on a regular basis.
C. If you have been training regularly for more than 2 years without any of the issues above, and progress in your serial MAF testing, and see improvement, you can add five points.
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