Objective To explore the formula of predicting the maximum heart rate (HRmax) of college students in China from age,and examine its validity.Methods One hundred and one students (aged 20.9 ± 1.52 years) were recruited to undergo the VO2max test,and the HRmax was acquired after they finished the graded exercise test (GXT).The predicted value was also obtained according to the formulae of the age-predicted Hrmax:205.8-0.685 × age,206.9-0.67 × age and 210-0.66 × age.Results According to the paired t-test and one-way analysis of the variance,it was found that significant differences were observed between the measured HRmax and all the predicted values except the one got according to the formula of 210-0.66×Age.Through the method of Bland-Aitman plot,the predicted value of 210-0.66×age was more consistent with the measured value.Conclusion The 210-0.66×age equation owns the acceptable level of prediction error,and is the most suitable one of the four equations to predict the HRmax of college students in China.