One of the most effective ways to use Morpheus to improve your health, fitness, and performance, is to get in your zone and dial in the intensity of each workout.
Training with Morpheus starts using with the M7 chest strap to get accurate heart rates for any and all types of training. Unlike optical sensors that are not suited or accurate to use for high-intensity and/or high-speed exercises, the M7 can be used for virtually any type of workout you may throw at it.
The M7 is also extremely versatile because there are three different options to use it in your workouts:
- With the Morpheus app – the best option when you can look at your phone while you’re training
- By itself – No phone required. The M7 can save your workout and upload to the Morpheus app after you’re done.
- Connected to a Garmin (or other 3rd party) ANT+ watch or device – makes it easy to see your heart rate during your workout without a phone.
In the sections below, you’ll learn how to use the M7 for each of these three scenarios. Make sure to take a minute to read through through the entire section so you will know exactly how to get the most out of each and every workout.
Note that if you are training with the older M9, click here or with the M5, click here, for training guidelines.
Wearing the M7
Before you use the M7 for your first workout, make sure you’ve completed the setup process first. Click here if you haven’t done that.
Once it’s time to train, wearing the M7 correctly is the most important step to getting consistent and accurate heart rate. There are three simple keys to wearing the M7 properly: placement, sensor orientation, and skin contact.
Placement:
The M7 should be placed directly underneath the pectoral muscles with the sensor over the bottom of the sternum as seen below. It’s recommended to put the chest strap on and then snap the sensor into place before each workout.
Sensor Orientation
In order to read accurately, the heart rate sensor must be snapped into the chest strap so that the Morpheus logo is right side up and could be read by someone facing you.
This means when you snap the sensor into the chest strap, the Left snap should be on the left side of your body and the Right snap should be on the right. The back side of the sensor also has L and R next to the pins.
Skin Contact
To get the most accurate heart rate reading during all types of training, the M7 needs to have good skin contact. First, you should add either water or electrode gel to the chest strap as shown below. Electrode gel will provide the best contact possible, but water works well for most people.
Second, it’s important to make sure the strap is tightened to fit snugly. If the strap is too loose, it may move around when you’re training and lose skin contact.
Note: When you are not wearing the M7, always completely unsnap the sensor from the chest strap to save battery life. It will turn on automatically when you snap it back in and put it on.
Please note: all M7s ship with a standard size (M-XXL) chest strap. Chest straps are generally available in two main sizes (M-XXL and XS-S). If you adjust the M7 strap to it’s smallest size and it’s still too big for you, please reach out to us at support@trainwithmorpheus.com and we can direct you to a smaller compatible strap.
M7 LED Colors
Once the M7 is worn correctly, the LED will begin flashing white to indicate that it is searching for heart rate.
When it has found your heart rate, it will flash blue for 10 seconds. This lets you know the M7 is working correctly and recording your heart rate.
When you take the M7 off or it’s unable to monitor heart rate, it will beep three times to let you know it is no longer receiving or recording heart rate.
Training with the M7
With its 10+ hours of onboard memory and ANT+ compatibility, the M7 gives you the ability to train with or without the Morpheus app.
Using the app gives you the best view of your Morpheus heart rate zones so you can dial in the right intensity.
Training without the app makes it easy to do various types of training where it may not be possible to use the app.
The different ways to train with the M7 will be covered in this lesson, as well as in lessons to come.
Using the M7 with the Morpheus app
Connecting the M7 to the Morpheus app gives you the ability to see exactly which Morpheus heart rate zone you’re in at all times.
This is particularly valuable when you’re doing a workout that incorporates any of the Morpheus zone-based training methods.
To connect the M7 to the Morpheus app, select “TRAIN” from the navigation menu and then choose the workout type: cardio, mixed, or strength workouts.
If you only be doing cardiovascular work, select cardio.
If you will only be doing strength training, then select strength. Note that heart rate zones are not displayed during strength-only workouts.
When you plan to do both strength and some form of cardio, choose mixed.
Next, choose START to get to the training screen.
From here, you will hit CONNECT to pair the M7 to the Morpheus app using Bluetooth.
IMPORTANT: make sure that you are wearing the M7 to turn it on before connecting it to the app.
The M7 will show up with its unique 5-digit ID in the available devices list. Press OKAY to connect to it to the M7 and your heart rate will be displayed on the screen.
Hit START to begin your workout.
Once you’ve completed the workout, it will automatically be saved in the app.
After each workout, it’s recommended to then unsnap the sensor from the chest strap until the next workout to maximize battery life.
Using the M7 without the Morpheus app – syncing workouts
If the type of training you’re doing makes it difficult or impractical to use the Morpheus app, you can use the M7’s onboard memory to train and record your workout to sync to Morpheus after it’s done.
You can choose to use the M7 by itself, or you can also connect it any heart rate watch or device that is compatible with ANT (see the section below for details).
All workouts that you do with the M7 are automatically recorded as long as it’s detecting your heart rate.
This makes it quick and easy to SYNC your workouts into the app so Morpheus can track them and adjust your recovery score.
IMPORTANT: To sync a saved workout from the M7 to the Morpheus app, you must first be wearing your M7 so that it is powered on.
Quick tip: you can also place your thumbs directly on the two silver nodes on the back of the sensor to turn it on as well.
Once the M7 is turned on, open the Morpheus app and press SYNC from the main navigation menu and then connect the app to the M7.
This will bring up a list of saved workouts that are stored on the M7.
Choose any of the saved workouts that you’d like to import by clicking on the box to the left of the workout(s).
Once you’ve done this, you will see the workout details appear on the screen.
You can adjust the starting and ending time of the workout using the sliders.
You will also need to select a workout category and then use the sliders to rate how hard the workout was, along with your performance.
When you are finished, tap “IMPORT” to complete the process.
DO NOT close the app or navigate away from the screen during the import.
Once the process is completed, it will give you the option to view the workout results or close the screen.
Note that if there are additional saved workouts that you have chosen not to import, it will ask if you’d like to delete unsaved data (workouts.
If you choose YES then these workouts will be permanently deleted.
If you choose NO, then they will still be available to import later.
Connecting the M7 to 3rd party watches
The M7 is compatible with any watch (or other HRM device) that uses ANT+ to receive heart rate signals, including the popular Garmin watches.
If you have a Garmin watch or other compatible device, this offers a great way to see your heart rate live during workouts when you aren’t able to use the Morpheus app on your phone.
To pair the M7 to other devices using ANT+, please see the instructions provided by the manufacturer of the ANT+ compatible device you are trying to connect to.
IMPORTANT: Garmin and some other 3rd party devices allow a device to be paired through either Bluetooth or ANT+.
In this case, it’s best to only connect through ANT+ and NOT Bluetooth.
If you pair the M7 to another device using Bluetooth, then the Morpheus app may not be able to find the M7 when you try to sync the workout later because it can remain connected to the other device.
An easy way to make sure you are pairing via ANT+ is that it will only display the 5-digit M7 ID as seen in the images above.
It will NOT show the device name M7 – before the ID.
If you see “M7 – ” before the 5-digit ID, do not pair as this means you are about to use a Bluetooth connection.
Once the M7 is properly paired to a Garmin watch or other device, it is generally saved within the device’s memory and will automatically connect each time you use the M7 within range of the device.
FAQ & Troubleshooting
For more information regarding how to get the most out of your M7, please see our FAQ & Troubleshooting lesson a bit later in this 101 course.
Direct link here.
If you need additional help with your M7, please don’t hesitate to contact us by sending us a support ticket from the Morpheus app, or by clicking here to submit a support ticket.
We answer all support tickets and email within 24 hours Monday – Friday and are happy to help make sure you’re getting the most out of your M7.