Heart rate zones alert feature

[kingtut1975]

 Many fitness enthusiasts and individuals of whom base their workouts on target heart rate zones would really appreciate a heart rate alert feature implemented into the new Fitbit Ionic as well -if possible ALL Fitbit watches. This feature would allow a Fitbit user to manually set their Fitbit watch to alert the user once their targeted maximum and minimum heart rate has been achieved while performing a workout. Â The watch would vibrate on the user's wrist alerting the user when their selected heart rate has been accomplished or met allowing the user to more cater their workouts to stay within a selected threshold. Â Implementing this feature will also serve well as a safety feature which can alert the user when their calculated heartrate is dangerously high or above the maximum threshold that they set enabling the user to adjust their workout accordingly. Â Some Fitbit users I can imagine and many other individuals have cardiovascular/heart related issues which prevent them engaging in a workout that is too intense therefore a heart rate alert feature implemented into the new Fitbit Ionic would make the watch more marketable to the present customer base, a broader audience of fitness enthusiasts, and desirable to a whole new market of individuals of whom have cardiovascular/heart issues and will really appreciate a heartrate alert feature implemented into their fitness/activity trackers. Overall, implementing this feature will likely increase popularity of the watch, increase revenue, and appeal to a wider range of individuals that are taking steps to improve their health through daily workouts but are limited to what they can do due to cardiovascular/heart concerns. Â Implementing this feature can likely be as simple as have software engineering add it to a software/firmware update which will allow it to perform identical to the silent/vibrating alarm feature already included in most Fitbit watches anyhow.

Moderator edit: updated subject for clarity, format & labels.

[Kevinandjenny7]

I would love to see this have a heartrate monitor alarm. To beep or alarm with someone gets out of their heart rate recommended zone.

[jamorenov]

Heart Rate Goals for each zone: Burn, Cardio, Peak. According to several medical associations, a person should exercise 75 min/week in the Cardio zone or 150 min/week in the Burn zone. It would be nice to see the total mins in each zone every week on the application and on the weekly report received by email.

[jamorenov]

Pre-determine Performance Test: Several fitness machine have available performance test such as the US Marine Corps test (3 miles in 10 min); Cooper's Test (meters ran in 12 mins). It would be nice to be either able to set a time or select a pre-determine test when you are running outside.

[jamorenov]

Pace Display: It would nice to see the pace when you are walking or running on the Charge HR as well as a vibration when you get out of pace, for example, 1 vibration for going too fast, 2 vibration for going too slow.

[SunsetRunner]

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jamoreno wrote:
It would be nice to see the total mins in each zone every week on the application and on the weekly report received by email.

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@jamorenov

On the website dashboard, the main HR graph, set the first of the two dropdown boxes to heart, the next one to 7 days, hover over any of the individual bars with your mouse, at bottom in the footer is shown the accumulated HR zones time breakdown for the selected week.

On the Android app, from the dashboard, tap on heart rate, slide the resting heart rate line graph to show the minutes in HR zones bar graph, tap it, up top select 3 month, slide left or right, tap an individual bar, the popup shows the accumulated HR zones time breakdown for the selected week.

I don't have an iOS app handy atm but I guess it would be similar.

Yes having this in the weekly email would be good.

[jeremyvictor]

I've just started training using the Maffetone Method. Last night was my first run. One of the foundations of the method is maintaining a heart rate level at or below a certain number.

In a 3 1/2 mile run, I likely looked at my wrist more than 1000 times to check my heart rate. Please add this functionality. It's really a critical component of any heart rate training, knowing when you are out of a particular zone.

Add to this if I was on a bike ride, it would be extremely dangerous to constantly have to remove one hand from the handle bars.

It's seems like such a simple task.

[jamorenov]

@SunsetRunner: I checked the website and I see the cardio mins under each day but there is not a summary of the minutes spent in each zone, the system shows total minutes in all zones. In my Iphone, I have to go into each day to see the minutes in each zone but there is not a summary for the week. Thanks for the tip, I did not know that.

[eKim]

Please, Fitbit developers add a "high heartbeat" alarm. As a recent heart
bypass patient, I want to become fit with the help of my fantastic Fitbit.
But I am worried about overextending my self while exercising. Putting in
this alarm could save a life. ps You could just give us that option
instead of the "wake up" alarm. Everyone has an alarm clock. Almost no
one has a "slow down, your gonna have a heart attack" alarm. Please, have
a heart, Fitbit developers. What if it was your Dad asking for this?

[eKim]

Please, Fitbit developers add a "high heartbeat" alarm.  As a recent heart bypass patient, I want to become fit with the help of my fantastic Fitbit.  

But I am worried about overextending my self while exercising.  Putting in this alarm could save a life.  

ps You could just give us that option instead of the "wake up" alarm.  Everyone has an alarm clock.  Almost no one has a "slow down, your gonna have a heart attack" alarm.  

Please, have a heart, Fitbit developers.  Isn't it cheap and easy for you to do this?  

What if it was your Dad asking for this?

[LeanneSmith]

Please add the silent vibration alert for heart rate to accommodate interval training.  Its really annoying when doing HITT training to have to look at the watch verses feeling a vibration so you know when peak hR is reached.  This seems to be simple software update that could be pushed to the watch to allow the capability.  every heart rate monitor has an alerting ability.

[Shrikesghost]

I would love to see a verbal cue when I'm running, that I have changed heart rate zones

[RhynoLion]

I'd like to be able to set a minimum target heart rate, and have the tracker give me a buzz if I drop below that rate. My Charge HR would become a serious tool for focused, intense workouts, rather than a helpful but slightly distracting data collection device.

Thank you!

[MamaSmurfette]

I just recieved my "charge hr" and was surprised that the main selling piont "HR" (heart rate feature) is so down played, it would be awesome to more flex within this particular feature.

+1  

[Professorx00]

I totally agree. Right now it's not helpful for anything more then my runs. If I am doing any other type of cardiovascular I do not know where. I have hut my target heart else I stop and look

[fizzpop]

Would it be possible for those of us trying not to go *over* a certain heart rate to set an alarm for when we go over this threshold. This would help many with chronic conditions or rehabilitating to recover. Similarly for everyone... maybe an alarm if your resting hr keeps increasing? Slowing down to recover is as important as increasing activity for fitness. So I guess some recovery/rest targets eg. Lowering resting hr, or staying within safe zone targets would be brill.

Would also like to see hr when i lift watch....but not at night! So somehing to help set that up would be great.
Thanks!

[SallyB]

Also think it would be good if we could set a step target that we aim to stay under - thus success is staying BELOW the target, not getting ABOVE it.  I need to physically limit my daily activities, and use step count as one measure.  Thus I aim to keep my daily steps, and my rolling average below certain levels.  

I would therefore prefer if Fitbit would applaud me for staying below these levels.... 🙂

[michaelV]

I am still interested in the FIT Surge for my christmas present, but without the heart beat alert; i.e. simple vibration;  it makes no sense for me. Could one of the Fitbit colleagues update the community, whether this feature is planned in an update and when it will be available. Many Thanks 

[SC3385]

I would like to see the upper HR limit as well.  One of my primary motivations for tracking my HR with the Charge HR was for managing stress induced increases in HR.  I'm working on reducing my stress response and getting my HR down faster after stress or exercise induced increases, but this is hard to track with the available fitbit tools.  

The data I want is there, but more analysis tools in general would be helpful (ex. avg low and avg high HR, HR while awake vs asleep, time to recover back to resting HR after a peak, etc.).  I could do the data analysis myself, but the data export is EXTREMELY limited.  Why can't we export the HR data from throughout the day?  A daily average of resting HR is of very limited value for my needs and has me looking elsewhere for a tracker that will meet my needs.  Also, the graphs that are displayed have such poorly defined axes that it's difficult to get much insight from them (ex. my HR is never below 50, and it's difficult to pinpoint what time certain HR peaks occur at).  I'm really hoping to see some expanded capability on the data analysis side.  

It would be nice to be able to add event markers throughout the day.

[SC3385]

Agreed.  An upper and lower limit would be good - with a buzz if you fall out of the specified zone during an exercise session.

[JennyCY]

+1 for heart rate zone alert.  It's very important to monitor if my workout is effective.  Also, knowing if my heart rate is above safety zone is also very important to a safe workout.  It's diffifult to keep an eye on my Surge when I'm running.

[Tycho]

Hmmm - whilst this thread has been acknowledged, is there any chance at all that some feedback could be given as to if this is likly to be included or not?

As many others have said, I was surprised after buying the Charge HR that here was no Zone alerts whilst in excercise mode (entirly my own fault for not checking before I bought) - but sems such a simple yet hugly beneficial feature to add.

This is one of the most voted threads in the fourm, however it was started about a year ago, so is there any possibility of being informed if it will ever be added or not? 

[Mcore]

I like this @fizzpop. It's a really good idea and a very helpful one as well. I see many benefits, so I'll pass on your request. 

If you have any other ideas, feel free to share them or if they already have been posted, vote for it! Thanks.

[fizzpop]

Yay thank you! 🙂

[QueenOfHearts]

Yes, for those of us trying to stay below a certain heart rate, it would be handy to set an alarm for when we go over a threshold.

Not everyone who bought a Charge HR has a goal to earn as many activity badges as possible, I want to earn as few as possible. 😉

[sanman99]

For real. I can't even use this device by tapping my wrist every 2 seconds.

Personally, I find no use in steps, calories, whatnot.