A method for heart rate measurement in a photoplethysmograph (PPG) heart rate monitor device is provided that includes performing motion compensation on a PPG signal wherein a motion compensated PPG signal PPGaccX is generated with reference to an X-axis acceleration signal, a motion compensated PPG signal PPGaccY is generated with reference to a Y-axis acceleration signal, and a motion compensated PPG signal PPGaccZ is generated with reference to a Z-axis acceleration signal, combining PPGaccX, PPGaccY, and PPGaccZ to generate a final motion compensated PPG signal, wherein a first weight is applied PPGaccX, a second weight is applied to PPGaccY, and a third weight is applied to PPGaccZ, performing a single Fourier Transform (FT) on the final motion compensated PPG signal to generate a frequency domain PPG signal; and estimating a heart rate based on the frequency domain PPG signal.