Are heart rate monitors on treadmills accurate?

stevenscott5582

Hey,

I was wondering if any of you knew how accurate the heart rate monitors on treadmills are? I'm a regular treadmill user at the gym and my readings are putting me at upwards of 90% of my maximum heart rate.

I work hard but not that hard! lol

Do you think it would be better for me to purchase an HRM watch, like Fitbit or preferably something equally good but less expensive?

Thanks!

sijomial

You can simply manually check your pulse to tell if the handrail pickups are counting your heartbeats accurately.

Are you holding on the whole time? If yes - then would say don't do that.

Second question - why do you actually want to know your heart rate at all? In what way is that actually useful information to you?

BTW - unless you have tested your maximum HR then even if the pulse given is accurate it doesn't mean you are working at 90% of YOUR maximum. (There's huge individual variations.)

rj0150684

I have a Fitbit and the machines generally match up pretty well with what the Fitbit says, usually within 4-5 bpm