Portable fitness monitoring systems with displays, and applications thereof, are disclosed. In an embodiment, a portable fitness monitoring device for monitoring an individual during a physical activity may include an article for wearing adapted to releasably fix the portable fitness monitoring device to the individual's body, a sensor adapted to sense performance parameter information, a display adapted to present visual output to the individual, and a memory operatively coupled to a processor. The memory may store computer readable instruction that, when executed by the processor, cause the portable fitness monitoring device to generate a first visual output for the display that includes an indication of the intensity level that the individual should be performing at, and generate a second visual output for the display that includes an indication of the intensity level that the individual is currently performing at.