Gulati Max Heart Rate

Gulati HRmax formula for women: 206 - 0.88 x age

Martha Gulati and colleagues published the equation HRmax = 206 - (0.88 x age) in Circulation back in 2010. It came out of the St. James Women Take Heart project, which followed 5,437 asymptomatic women aged 35-79. The point was to fix something Tanaka and 220-age got wrong by lumping the sexes together, since women hit a lower HRmax than men of the same age. Take a 40-year-old woman: Gulati puts her at 170.8 bpm while Tanaka says 180 bpm. That 9-10 bpm gap matters in practice when you are setting exercise zones or reading a stress test in a female patient.

Where it is used

You will see Gulati used in female cardiology, sports gynaecology, ergometric testing for women, and in personalised training plans on Garmin, Polar and Apple devices set up for female HRmax. The reason to reach for it is to keep from over-prescribing intensity in women, which would push real Z4/Z5 targets too high and raise the risk of injury.

FAQ

Why does HRmax differ between sexes? A woman's heart is smaller and pumps less blood per beat, so the resting rate tends to run higher while the ceiling under maximal effort comes out lower.

Does Gulati apply to athletic women? It does. Physically active women were part of the cohort. If you are dealing with an elite athlete, though, an individual stress test is the better call.

What about post-menopausal women? The cohort went up to age 79 and post-menopausal women were included, so the equation still holds for them.

Can a man use Gulati? No. Men should go with Tanaka (208 - 0.7 x age), which was validated in mixed populations and sits closer to actual male values.