Max hear rate as percentage?

[Octavius8]

Does anyone uses the apple watch for exercise and has left behind other exercise watches?.
I have. I dont use my Pxlar M400 or the spin bike companion app, I like my apple watch in general, but why, even in version 7 of the watch OS, is not possible to view our own hear rate as a percentage of the max hear rate?. All fitness/sports watches support this feature is quite simple, tap and swicht between beats per minute to percentage of max HR.
The formula is quite standard to calculate the max heart rate, the dumbest fitness watches do that calculation and is very good to allow the one to know if I am pushing my self over the healthy limit, or if am being a little lazy or it can help me to stay in the target zone of that exercise routine. This huge basic omission after so many years makes me wonder if Apple or anyone in the real world uses an apple watch as a serious fitness/exercise device.
I know there are apps that can do that, but they are far from ideal because the screen of the watch changes to show the time everytime the wrist is lowered and while doing exercise the watch does not "wakes" the app quickly or ever for a quick glance. If you are doing a spin session or any other intense exercise, you dont want to break concentration to push the crown or tap the display just to show the heart rate, if you do intense exercise routines, you know what I mean.
Does anyone find this omission frustrating or only me?.
Does Tim actually uses his watch for exercise?, he has not found this feature lacking compared to the myriad of devices that have supported this feature since much, much, much earlier than apple watch?.
I have already left a suggestion to apple, but pretty sure is not in priority list since it has not been implemented after all these years. But if more of us do it, maybe it could be implemented in watch os 15 or something like that

 

[BugeyeSTI]

Do you have a watch with an always on display? When I use mapmyrun it is always on the screen and all I have to do is look at the screen and I can see all pertinent data.. I don't have to tap the screen or press the crown, maybe you don't have the app display setup properly. On the watch go to settings/general/wake screen/scroll to bottom where all apps are listed and enable "return to app" on the workout app or whatever cycling app you want to use.. Works great for me. If you don't have a watch with always on display raise to wake may not work as well.

 

[Octavius8]

Watch 6, OS 7.3. Always on display configured.
I just tried MapMyRun, checked my settings as you mentioned, the screen changes to show the time (not the watch face, only the time), and the app is dimmed. If I raise my wrist in the correct way, the app shows back again. I checked apple manual and they specifically mention their own exercise papás the one that keeps truly “always visible”, no matter you lower your wrist, it does not have to “wake up” the display.

My main concern is that apple app does not show the heart rate zone. I can’t believe nobody just don’t care about it because is Apple, and we just accept that they know best.
For me the Apple Watch is a nice gadget, but far from a exercise tracking device, at least with the current OS.
I am a long time Apple user, I was reluctant about getting the watch, but in November I got and I use it 5 days a week, but it nags me that obvious fitness omission.

 

[BugeyeSTI]

When I swipe to the second screen on mapmyrun heart rate is displayed (I know it's not rate zone) but if you know what your zone is you can monitor and make adjustments from there. I used to use a dedicated heart rate monitor with all the features you described and I'm satisfied with the Watch in most respects. It's not perfect and definitely has room for improvement and hopefully Apple will add features and improve existing ones in future updates.

 

[Aspasia]

Could be because there's a different maximum heart rate formula for men and women. At least if one is seeking accuracy. Here's an article about it: https://www.verywellfit.com/womens-heart-rate-response-exercise-3976885

When I'm doing intervals on my Concept2, I'll just rely on my AW5 but if I'm doing steady state rowing I'll use my Garmin HRM chest strap as it transmits my HR to the PM5 monitor. That allows me to stay within my aerobic zone. Unfortunately the AW does not communicate with the PM5.