We want heart rate training to be a staple in your program no matter what your goals are.  

We also want it to be fun and engaging.  

Last, but certainly not least, we want your zones to be accurate for your unique fitness and physiology.  

We know that most people are not going pay someone to do invasive lab-based testing to measure heart rate zones and we know that many people don't have access to this type of service anyway.  

Max Heart Rate (MHR)

The oldest and most widely used formula to estimate MHR is to subtract your age from 220.

For example, if you're 45 years old, subtract 45 from 220 to get a MHR of 175. 

Then heart rate zones are set by using percentage ranges of the MHR number.

It's important to note that maximum heart rate is only a guide.  You may have a higher or lower maximum heart rate, sometimes by as much as 15 to 20 beats per minute. 

There may also be slightly different calculations that take into account sex differences in target heart rate zones.  These differences are so small that most casual athletes don't need separate calculations for men and women.

Bottom Line

For most people, getting a good estimate of Max HR combined with the power of Morpheus’s 3 dynamic heart rate zones provides enough accuracy to both use the data effectively and get amazing results.

Morpheus Heart Rate Zones

In Fitness Settings of the app, there are 2 things to be aware of that affect your default heart rate zones (ie your zones when you are at 100% recovery score).

1. Max Heart Rate – if you don’t edit this, it will calculate this number based on your age, gender, and your fitness level.
2. Rate your overall fitness level – you can choose High, Moderate, or Low.  This is very subjective and it’s not a rating of you against anyone else; it is just how you interpret your own fitness level.   

The items above may provide enough accuracy for you, especially since Morpheus zones are dynamic (they change every day based on recovery score) and not static like all other heart rate zone calculation methods.  So you may not ever need to do a test like the one outlined below.  But you can!  And that's the point of this article.

Max HR Estimation Test

Below are two options to use Morpheus to estimate your personal Max HR.  

The most accurate (and safest) way to find your max heart rate is through a VO2 max laboratory test.  However, for individuals with a good aerobic foundation and who have experience with intense bouts of fitness, one of the two self-administered testing options below will work.  It’s best to perform this test when your body is fully recovered for optimal results.

NOTE:  If you do not have access to cardio equipment, you can do this test outside or inside with no equipment.  

Warmup:

You don't want to do a test like this "straight out of the box"; you should complete a warmup first.  There's no standard on how you need to complete this warmup.   Just gradually increase your heart rate over 10-20 minutes until you feel good, not tired.  Maybe even include some harder efforts within the warmup (such as some 20-30 second "bursts") to prep the body for a hard effort.

Option 1: the 20-minute test

1. Run for 20 minutes at a moderate to hard pace.
2. Pick up your pace in the last kilometer (about half a mile).  Increase your pace during the final 3 minutes.
3. For the final 30-60 seconds, push yourself as hard as you can.
4. The max heart recorded should be your absolute max heart rate.  Enter that number into the app in Menu - Settings - Fitness Settings.

Option 2: the 4 by 2 test

1. Complete 4 repeats of 2 minutes at maximum effort with a 1-minute rest interval.
2. By the third set, you should be close to your absolute max heart rate.  The goal is to get your heart rate up a bit higher with each rep you do until you hit a point where it simply won’t go up any more despite your max effort.