Your iPhone camera captures the heart rate data you need to log aerobic fitness trends — no $400 smartwatch required. Just your phone.
VO2 max is usually framed as a smartwatch feature, but the inputs behind an estimate — resting heart rate, heart-rate response and your own activity — do not require a watch. Pulse Rate helps you track those underlying signals from your iPhone, so you can follow your cardio-fitness trend without buying an Apple Watch. Here is how to approach it.
The variation between heartbeats — your nervous system's report card.
Two metrics, one number. Why Pulse shows both — and which to watch.
Training-impulse: your weekly training load, in one chart.
Open Pulse Rate each morning and take a 60-second resting measurement. A steadily declining resting HR over weeks is a reliable indicator of improving aerobic base fitness.
After a moderate-intensity run or bike session, log your effort level and average heart rate. Pulse Rate stores each session for trend analysis.
Heart Rate Variability is closely correlated with aerobic fitness. A rising HRV trend over 4–8 weeks signals improved cardiovascular efficiency.
Import workout data from Apple Health to combine your activity history with camera-based HR readings for a fuller picture of your fitness trajectory.
The same chart that lives on your iPhone's Progress screen — rebuilt so you know what you're looking at.
Outstanding score. Your key heart metrics are above normal.
Most healthy adults fall within this range.
Not necessarily alarming — but worth monitoring.
If this persists, please consult a healthcare professional.
TRIMP = duration × intensity. A 60-minute easy run scores about 70 TRIMP. A 30-minute interval session scores 110. Pulse adds them up daily and tells you when your week is too light, just right, or about to overcook you.
You can track the signals that move with VO2 max — a falling resting heart rate and faster heart-rate recovery are classic markers of improving aerobic fitness — using daily Pulse readings, even though a phone reading is not a lab VO2 max test.
For most people, a resting heart rate that drifts downward over weeks of consistent training reflects improving cardiovascular efficiency, which is the same direction a rising VO2 max moves.
A 60-second resting measurement each morning, taken before you get out of bed, builds the cleanest trend. Consistency of timing matters more than frequency.
Yes. Resting heart rate, HRV and training load are charted together in Pulse and written into Apple Health, so your fitness picture stays in one place.
You've already got the hardware — your iPhone. Pulse does the rest.
Free to download · Core tracking always free · iOS 15+