How to Set (or Turn Off) Apple Watch Heart Rate Zone Alerts During a Workout

Did you know your Apple Watch can buzz you when you leave a heart rate zone during a workout? I use it on almost every run to stay in zone 2. And if the "Below Zone" and "Above Zone" taps are driving you crazy, you can turn them off in a few taps. Here's how to do both.

Quick answers

• Set a heart rate zone alert: Workout app > More (three dots) on your workout > Preferences (or the Edit pencil) > Alerts > Heart Rate > pick a zone.
• Turn heart rate zone alerts off: same path, then set Heart Rate to Off.
• What "Below Zone" means: your heart rate dropped under the bottom of the zone you picked. "Above Zone" means you went over the top.
• Change your zone ranges: watch Settings > Workout > Heart Rate Zones > Manual (or on iPhone: Watch app > My Watch > Workout > Heart Rate Zones).

*Here's a quick follow-along video!*

How to set a heart rate zone alert on Apple Watch

I use this all the time when training for races from a 50k to a 100 miler. Here's how to set it up on your Apple Watch.

1. Open the Workout app on your watch.

2. Find your workout and tap the More button. Scroll to the workout you're about to do (mine is "Outdoor Run") and tap the three little dots in its corner.

3. Open Preferences. Scroll to the bottom of the list and tap Preferences. On some watchOS versions you'll tap the Edit (pencil) button on a workout goal instead.

4. Tap Alerts, then Heart Rate.

5. Pick your zone. Choose any of the 5 zones, or set a custom range. I always pick zone 2 (aerobic pace). For a tempo run you might pick zone 4.

6. Start your workout. Go back and start the workout you just set up. The alert stays saved for that workout type until you change it.

What "In Zone", "Below Zone", and "Above Zone" mean

Once you start moving, your watch taps your wrist and shows a message whenever you cross the edge of the zone you picked:

• In Zone: your heart rate is inside the range you set.
• Below Zone: your heart rate dropped under the bottom of that range. On an easy zone 2 run this usually means you can pick up the pace a little.
• Above Zone: your heart rate went over the top of the range. Slow down, walk the hill, and let it come back.

How to turn off heart rate zone alerts on Apple Watch

If the buzzing is too much (hello, every hill on a trail run), turn it off:

1. Open the Workout app.
2. Tap the More button (three dots) on your workout.
3. Tap Preferences (or the Edit pencil button).
4. Tap Alerts, then Heart Rate.
5. Choose Off.

This only turns off the alert for that workout type, so repeat it for any others (like Outdoor Walk or Hiking). You'll still see your heart rate and zone on the Heart Rate Zones workout view, just turn the Digital Crown during your workout to find it.

Heart rate zone alerts vs. High Heart Rate Notifications

These are two different things, and a lot of people mix them up:

• Workout heart rate alerts are the ones in this guide. They only happen during a workout you started in the Workout app.
• High Heart Rate Notifications (sometimes searched as a "tachycardia notification") come from the Heart settings. According to Apple, they only check your heart rate after you've been inactive for at least 10 minutes, so they're not meant to go off mid run.

If you're getting buzzed while running, it's almost always the workout alert above. To change the High Heart Rate Notification threshold instead, open Settings on your watch, tap Heart, then High Heart Rate Notifications. If you get these while resting and don't know why, check in with your doctor.

How to change heart rate zones on Apple Watch

By default, Apple sets your zones automatically from your health data (you need your date of birth in the Health app for this to work). I set mine manually from my own heart rate data on Strava.

On your watch: open Settings > Workout > Heart Rate Zones, tap Manual, then tap zone 2, 3, or 4 and enter the lower and upper limits.

On your iPhone:

1. Open the Watch app and tap My Watch.

2. Scroll down and tap Workout.

3. Scroll to Heart Rate Zones and tap it.

4. Tap Manual and enter your ranges for zones 2, 3, and 4. Zone 1 and zone 5 follow from those.

How to work out your own heart rate zones

A simple way is to use a percentage of your max heart rate (MHR). My max is 190, so:

1. Zone 1 (50-60% MHR): very light, for warmups and cooldowns. 190 x 0.5 = 95 and 190 x 0.6 = 114, so my zone 1 is 95-114 bpm.
2. Zone 2 (60-70% MHR): aerobic, easy pace. Where most ultra training miles should live.
3. Zone 3 (70-80% MHR): tempo, starting to push your cardio fitness.
4. Zone 4 (80-90% MHR): threshold, hard efforts and intervals.
5. Zone 5 (90-100% MHR): all out, short sprints.

Once your zones are in, the zone alerts on your watch use your new ranges.

I hope this helps you train smarter with your Apple Watch. If you have questions, leave them in the comments on the YouTube video and I'll answer them there!