Heart Analyzer App Gains New HR Metrics and Exportable Monthly Reports

Great for heart patients.

I just tried the app out. It has some very nice metrics and charts, but I had to laugh at the Maximum HR information page. It shows a Formula Maximum HR of 171 for me (220 - age) as a dotted line with multiple red bars exceeding the dotted line. The text underneath says that "Your data indicates that you have exceeded the recommended maximum heart rate for your level. This can be dangerous and should be avoided."

That text indicates a complicate misunderstanding of what a maximum HR is. Max HR is not a recommendation; it is an individual physical limit. If you can exceed it, it's not your max HR.

It also ignores the almost complete uselessness of the maximum HR formula. (The app uses the most common formula: 220 - age.) The standard deviation in the population is too high for any of the formulas to be of much use, and there's some evidence that the age-related decline in max HR is far less in endurance athletes than in the general population. (I don't see any evidence that my max HR of ~190 has changed from my mid-30's to age 49.)

It would be more useful if the app let one enter a max HR number or adopt the highest-recorded HR as your max.

Edited: I did eventually find a Max HR Override setting in the app. I can't tell yet what it changes in the app, but the idea is there.