Heart rate zones: more of them, all editable/customizable

[branning]

The heart rate zone feature is great, but the user-editable heart rate "zone" is not useful at all. The common heart-rate training protocols include up to 5 heart rate zones, and the beginning and end all need to be editable according to the individual's own maximum heart rate.

Ideally, these would also have editable names.

Zone	HR begin	HR end
Z1 light	100	130
Z2 easy	130	140
Z3 aero	140	150
Z4 anaerobic	150	160
Z5 VO2max	160	190

Moderator edit: added labels

[pcraenme]

+1 Current HR graphs are useless for me. Almost everything is shown in the peak zone, even on the slower training runs and the Charge HR even captures my HR with lower values than the HR belt I use for my Garmin 610. My max HR is more than 20bpm higher than Fitbit calculates. Fitbit should have a look at how Garmin handles this.

[sdamask]

I would like to see this feature added as well.  I'm on beta blockers which inherently limit my peak heart rate.  I would like to be able to set this to something more realistic for my situation which is not possible with the current layout.  Thanks!

[Platos]

I just purchased the Surge. And yes, I am quite old and on Betablockers.

The issue I have is that the tablets slow down my heart rate, and the customized settings only allow for "min" and "max" rate input, whatever that means.

The effect of the tablets can be charted as a straight curve, and I can easily determine the three "zones" that the Surge uses. Why can I not put in the values for 50%, 70% and 85%?

[fionac]

I got my Charge HR a week or so ago and love it, but I'd really like to be able to adjust my maximum heart rate and therefore the ranges of the HR zones.  I am 50 and, if the readings are reasonably accurate, when I run I am constantly in peak zone even though I'm doing not much more than a fast jog, I can talk and don't feel particularly breathless.  To stay in the cardio zone indicated for my age, I'd be plodding along doing an 11 minute mile which, while easy, doesn't make me feel like I'm getting anywhere.

This seems to suggest that my max heart rate is above the 170bpm calculated by the 220 minus your age calculation.  I am planning on using a Watt Bike next week to determine accurate heart rate ranges and it would be awesome if I could input these into my Fitbit dashboard so that the length of time I spend in any one zone is more accurately recorded.

[sfsking]

Like many of the above posters I was surprised to find the un-editable and terribly inaccurate calculation for maximum heart rate used on my new Surge. A complete fail...rendering the heart rate zone feature unusable. 

[Mtngrl]

I too am disappointed with the heart rate zones.   I've used the work around of changing my age from 60 to 25 in order to get accurate readings.   My modification is based on testing done by cardiologists and exercise specialists throughout my life.   Apparently my heart is perfectly healthy pumping at that rate.   I have read several times that the zones you have set are only accurate for a minority of people.   Please give us the option of setting our own heart rate zones.   Thank you

[Kalakian]

The current formula, as others have stated, is completely useless. We need customisable zones so that we can tailor things based on our own fitness levels. I'm just starting out and my resting heart rate is quite high, so sitting at my computer has me in the fat burn zone ... hardly ideal, as I'm supposed to be getting out of my chair to burn calories.

At the very least, the formula should take resting heart rate into consideration. You have customisable strides though, so why no customisable heart rate zones? As a Software Engineer, I know that this would be an incredibly simple change, and I'm really surprised this wasn't put in straight away.

[maidenchina]

As everyone knows, the generic 220-age for MaxHR is BUNK.  I am 78 so Fitbit thinks it's 142.  I was in a 6 month walking treadmill clinical study at Duke University and my assigned heart rate was 145 - 160 for 62 minutes.  My MHR had been determined in this clinical study to be 190.  FITBIT NEEDS TO ALLOW MANUAL MAXIMUM HEART RATE SETTING.  It should be a rather minor software fix and it would make this bit of equipment (I have a Charge HR) much more useful.  Setting your own custom zones would be nice but the critical component missing is the inability to enter your own personal max.

[Thane]

Fully agree - Surge is fantastic, but I need to have fully editable HR zones if I am to use it at all as a serious training device, where I can set my own Aerobic Threshold and 5 training Zones.  This woul enable me to replace my Garmin Forerunner!  Thanks and look forward to teh software update!

[DBDude]

Add another to those needing custom HR zones.  My heart is healthy (I've had numerous tests) but beats far faster than normal - Runs can get into the 200's and resting is 80s in my 40s.  Therefore, there are plenty of times where I'm just walking across the house and its calculating it as "active time", which throws off calorie calculations, and so on.

[SunsetRunner]

I know that there is already a request for the ability to edit activities but included in this I would also like the ability to edit the heart rate data logged by my Charge HR in exercise mode. 

For example this is the graph shown on the dashboard for last night's session: 

The two big dips you see there just didn't happen. We all know that the heart rate monitoring can be inaccurate at times. Most of the time it is pretty good but occasionally dips like these happen for no apparent reason. Consequently my overall burn for the session was lower than it should have been. 

Being able to edit the activity and manually enter the calories would be good, but I could only guess the number. A great feature would be the ability to edit the heart rate data points (by click & drag on the graph) to smooth out those dips -- and have the dashboard automatically recalculate and update the calories burned graph and total as well. 

Even better would be if the device could identify errors like this, but I recognise that this is more difficult -- especially since I would also like the Charge HR to be more responsive to fast / dramatic changes in heart rate. I guess you can't have everything!  But the ability to edit the data points would be fantastic. 

Thanks Fitbit 🙂

[AimezTaVie]

Hi, I've had my HR for 3 weeks.  The 3 zones are OK for general use and have been fine so far, but as I develop and try to implement a more structured training regimin based on goals of minutes per heart rate zone this becomes more difficult using this tool because the general settings become less useful.  My target heart rate zones don't align with the general ones.  60% is fine as a baseline, but that just means you're moving.  I got excited when I read in a forum that it was customizable, but when I got to the right screen that customization only offers 1 range.  Take that beginning and end range entry system and multiply it times 3-4 and then let me establish my zones as appropriate. That would make this dynamic, flexible, and truely customizable for anyone.

Also, I would like to be able to see a time based report of my minutes in each heart rate zone so I can assess my training progress.  It would be helpful now even it's only in the standard 3 zones.

[maidenchina]

So why doesn’t Fitbit listen to the community and do something about this obvious problem? What good is a heart rate monitor if it doesn’t produce good data?

[pcraenme]

The data it captures is fine. It's the software Fitbit uses to process this data which is the problem. Fitbit can learn a lot from other companies like Garmin in this area (5 fully customisable heartrate zones). I would expect after introducing the Surge, they would make work of this if they want to become a serious player in the market for training devices as well.

[rebeccatx]

I have to download tcx file from the Surge and import it to Mapmyrun to see my charts with my HR. kind of a pain.. My zones are so differnt then the average 45 yr woman. 

[pcraenme]

@Fitbit How come the status of this idea is still New when it was raised Dec-2014?

[libland]

I agree. 220-age is no where near accurate. Please add this feature - at least allow one to set the max heart rate.

[Remo253]

As others have stated the 220-age calculation is not accurate. It's a means of getting a ballpark figure based on the general population. In order for the HR information to be of use during afitness activity it MUST be based on an accurate maximum HR, this requires the user be able to enter their own max HR data.

Fit individuals, or those wishing to get fit, the Fitbit market demographic, are going to have significantly different numbers. In addition, as one poster mentioned, medications can have a significant impact on a person's heart rate, another reason the 220-age doesn't work.

To back this up here is a link to a study done on this subject: Age-predicted maximal heart rate in healthy subjects: The HUNT fitness study

From the abstract:

"Previously suggested prediction equations underestimated measured HRmax in subjects older than 30 years. HRmax predicted by age alone may be practically convenient for various groups, although a standard error of 10.8 beats/min must be taken into account. HRmax in healthy, older subjects and women were higher than previously reported."

I've found two formulas that predict my 65 year old max heart rate very accurately (tested on a medical treadmill plus my own workout experience, I can push into the very low 170's). In the abstract to the above article it uses (211-0.64 age). A more complicated one I found some time ago is (210 minus 50% of your age minus 5% of your body weight (pounds) + 4).

These give me a max HR of 169.4 and 170.6 respectively, as compared to the formula used by Fitbit, which says it should be 155. That's a difference of 15 bpm!

[maidenchina]

Here is another pretty good method for estimating your Maximum Heart Rate (MHR). You will take two tests each called “sub-maximal” because they are designed to keep your heart working well below its MHR. When you are done, you will estimate your MHR by combining the results of both tests. Both of these methods depend upon estimating your present fitness level, of necessity a somewhat subjective assessment.

Make sure to warm up adequately before performing these tests.

Sub-Max Step Test

On any step that is about 8 inches in height, start a four-count sequence of stepping up and down as follows: right foot up, left up, right down, left down.

Perform 30 sequences (up, up, down, down) per minute for 3 minutes, a total of 90 steps.

Watch your monitor as your heart rate rises. Write down your heart rate at the end of the 3-minute period. This is your “final heart rate.”

Add your fitness factor to this figure to estimate your MHR.

Fitness Level Now: Poor = 35, Averate = 45, Excellent = 55, Fit = 65

Example: If your final heart rate is 140 bpm and your are in average shape, your estimated MHR is 185 bpm (140 + 45 = 185).

Sub-Max Chair Test

Sit down on the seat of the chair and then stand up again. Perform this exercise set 30 times in one minute in a rhythmic way (1 second stand up and 1 second sit down). Keep your arms relaxed at your sides.

Watch your heart rate monitor and note your final heart rate number.

Add your fitness factor to estimate your MHR.

Fitness Level: Poor = 50, Averate = 60, Excellent = 70, Fit = 80

Example: If your final heart rate is 120 bpm and your are in excellent shape, your estimated MHR is the sum of 120 + 70 or 190 bpm.

To calculate your MHR from these two tests, take the average of the two results.

Your MHR is a relatively fixed number unless you become unfit. It’s genetically determined but it can be affected by drugs and altitude. It can be over 200 bpm for children, but as an adult it does not decline much with age. It CANNOT be determined by a mathematical formula. It provides the number to use as the cornerstone for your “heart zones.”

I used this method to calculate my MHR and I was also tested at Duke Medical Center. The two numbers were very close. My MHR is about 190. My age is 78. The 220 – my age is only 142.

[Mikeyp58]

This is a good test for MHR, do you then enter that number in the Fitbit? If so what number is entered in the MIN HR ?

Moderator edit: Removed personal information and email signature.

[pcraenme]

@Mikeyp58 That's what this feature request is about. To be able to specify your own min/max HR and also multiple zones. Fitbit does not support that atm, but hopefully they will consider this feature request.

[maidenchina]

To Mikeyp58,

Unfortunately Fitbit doesn’t allow you to manually enter your MHR. That is why I returned mine.

[nopeekiepeekie]

please please please look into this update.  my RHR is in the 70s (i'm 40) and my MHR easily gets near 200.  so my graph is always showing me in the "Fat Burn Zone", which has been debunked by multiple sources.  Honestly, yesterday it showed 216 mins in the fat burn zone, insane considering I work a 10 hour desk job.  If FitBit is adamant on keeping the "Fat Burn Zone", could you at least give the users the option to shut it off.

[blb4]

Hi nopeekiepeekie ,

It's rediculous fitbit doesn't support this, All other platforms do as is commen knowledge the standard 'rule' is generic and not usefull for anybody who takes zoning serious.

In the mean time you can get it a bit more meaningfull by adapting your age. My resting hart rate is 63 en max is 203, so I have set my age to 17 to have max hr 203 (220-17). So if you set your age to 20 the max hr will be set to 200.

[pcraenme]

Good tip @blb4! 🙂 However it's a shame we have to 'lie' about our age to get any meaningful data out of these HR graphs. Maybe this is a way of Fitbit making us feel younger? 😉 I changed my age to 20 now, and finally the graphs show my training sessions mostly in the cardio zone now instead of almost only the peak zone. However this does not 'fix' the lack of customizable training zones. I need 5, like Garmin does.