Zone 2 Base1. Turn on heart rate broadcast
On most Garmin watches: scroll to the Heart Rate widget, hold UP (Menu), choose Heart Rate Options → Broadcast Heart Rate and press START. The watch shows a broadcasting screen with your heart rate.
Menu names vary slightly between models. If you can't find it, search your watch's manual for "Broadcast Heart Rate".
2. Pair it in Zone 2 Base
Open Train → Heart rate from → Pair a device and tap your watch. Zone 2 Base remembers it and reconnects on its own next time. It ignores other watches and straps nearby, so a busy gym is fine.
3. Start the workout on your phone
Press Start in Zone 2 Base. You don't need to start anything on the watch: it just sends your heart rate, and the app does the live coaching (colour, haptics and voice) and saves the workout to Apple Health. When you're done, press STOP on the watch to end the broadcast and save battery.
Want the watch to record too?
Use Broadcast During Activity instead (same menu). Then start an activity on the watch as usual; it records it and sends heart rate in the background. Start Zone 2 Base on your phone at the same time for live coaching. If Garmin Connect shares workouts with Apple Health, the session still counts once in your weekly ring.
Already started on the watch?
Starting an activity on the Garmin doesn't start Zone 2 Base, because the watch only shares heart rate, not that a workout began. Tap "Already started on your watch? Join it" under the Start button, pick roughly when you started, and the timer will match. Zone minutes count from the moment you join; the full workout arrives later through Garmin Connect and Apple Health.
Which watches work
Watches that broadcast heart rate over Bluetooth work with iPhone. Many recent Forerunner, Fenix, Epix, Venu, Vivoactive and Instinct models do. Some older models broadcast over ANT+ only, which iPhones can't receive. If your watch never shows up in Pair a device, that's the most likely reason; a Bluetooth chest strap or an Apple Watch works instead.
Tips
- Not showing up? Make sure the broadcasting screen is open on the watch, and that the watch isn't already connected to another app (Zwift, Peloton) at the same time.
- Battery: broadcasting uses more battery, so stop it when you finish.
- Accuracy: wrist heart rate is good for steady Zone 2 work. For intervals, a chest strap reacts faster.
Still stuck? See support or email us.
Garmin, Forerunner, Fenix, Epix, Venu, Vivoactive and Instinct are trademarks of Garmin Ltd. Zone 2 Base isn't affiliated with or endorsed by Garmin.