Heart Monitor Accuracy

chuckb24c
chuckb24c Posts: 30 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I am looking for a device (Fitbit,Garmon, watch) that detects heart rate and is accurate. Don’t mind spending as long as the heart part is dependable. All the other bells and whistles are nice too but heart is priority. Any suggestions or experiences (good or bad) Thanks!
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Replies

  • DoubleUbea
    DoubleUbea Posts: 1,115 Member
    If you are looking for just a heart rate monitor have you considered an oximeter? Some models will keep a log of your heart rate and O levels.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    chuckb24c wrote: »
    I am looking for a device (Fitbit,Garmon, watch) that detects heart rate and is accurate. Don’t mind spending as long as the heart part is dependable. All the other bells and whistles are nice too but heart is priority. Any suggestions or experiences (good or bad) Thanks!

    none are going to be 100% accurate they are all going to estimate the numbers to a degree. now a chest strap one will be a bit more accurate than say a wrist strap/watch. They can be off by a bit. I have a chest strap (polar) and a fitbit and for heart rate they can be off by 5-10 BPM(compared to doing it manually) but there are times its right on with taking it manually and if you have a heart issue,such as a heart rhythm disorder,etc then its definitely going to be off at times. what are you wanting/needing one for?

    just know that which ever one you get it can vary at times so also learn how to take it manually if you dont already and then you will know by how much it is off. I know with my fitbit charge 2 there are times it reads no heart rate and I joke with hubby that Im a zombie because there is no heart rate.I would look up the ones you are interested in and compare them against one another and look at the reviews on different sites and see which ones have better reviews.
  • Jadesfire93
    Jadesfire93 Posts: 92 Member
    I've got the Garmin chest strap HR, and it's been pretty accurate (compared to manual as well as the BP machine at work that also gives HR readings). It did seem to take a week to ten days to find my "zones" and give me what appeared to be more believable calorie burns compared to what I was being given without wearing it. It pairs well with the Vivoactive 3, that I really like- very user friendly for someone that doesn't particularly like being dependent on technology.
    Now, someone had a thread that I saw last night that linked:
    https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/p/621802/pn/010-02064-00#specs.
    I don't have one myself, but this does look like a viable option for when/if I want to replace what I've got now.
  • chuckb24c
    chuckb24c Posts: 30 Member
    Thank you all for your feedback!
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    Why you want or need an accurate heart rate monitor?

    All day tracking or exercise specific?
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
    chuckb24c wrote: »
    I am looking for a device (Fitbit,Garmon, watch) that detects heart rate and is accurate. Don’t mind spending as long as the heart part is dependable. All the other bells and whistles are nice too but heart is priority. Any suggestions or experiences (good or bad) Thanks!

    What sort of user are you talking about, and what's your reason for looking for a heart rate monitor?
  • chuckb24c
    chuckb24c Posts: 30 Member
    I go to Orangtheory and I have a heartrate monitor that I wear. Some days it appears to be accurate while other days it reading very low. I am older so I am cautious not to over do things like I did when I was younger. If my rate gets to 85% of max I usually back off a bit. I don't want to be in a zone and not know that I am there...I hope this makes sense. I do not have heart issues that I am aware of. Don't want to create any either. I am not that worried about how many steps I take or what my calorie burn is...I control calories with nutrition. Thanks to all!
  • OldAssDude
    OldAssDude Posts: 1,436 Member
    chuckb24c wrote: »
    I go to Orangtheory and I have a heartrate monitor that I wear. Some days it appears to be accurate while other days it reading very low. I am older so I am cautious not to over do things like I did when I was younger. If my rate gets to 85% of max I usually back off a bit. I don't want to be in a zone and not know that I am there...I hope this makes sense. I do not have heart issues that I am aware of. Don't want to create any either. I am not that worried about how many steps I take or what my calorie burn is...I control calories with nutrition. Thanks to all!

    I have found Garmin devices to be pretty accurate for power walking, running, and intervals.

    Why are you concerned about not going over 85% of your MHR?

    When I do intervals, I try to hit my MHR on the run interval. It's a good way to improve your anaerobic fitness and raise your VO2max as well as lactate threshold.

    I'm 61 years old.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    chuckb24c wrote: »
    I go to Orangtheory and I have a heartrate monitor that I wear. Some days it appears to be accurate while other days it reading very low. I am older so I am cautious not to over do things like I did when I was younger. If my rate gets to 85% of max I usually back off a bit. I don't want to be in a zone and not know that I am there...I hope this makes sense. I do not have heart issues that I am aware of. Don't want to create any either. I am not that worried about how many steps I take or what my calorie burn is...I control calories with nutrition. Thanks to all!

    heart rate zones mean nothing unless you are training for something. if you are not having issues with dizzyness,nausea,chest pain and other symptoms from heart rate being higher then you should be fine. if you dont have a heart issue then its really irrelevant and so are the zones. I know for me I never get about a certain heart rate no matter how hard I work,so I dont worry too much and I have a heart valve issue but had all kinds of testing recently and everything is fine so. but only do what you feel comfortable doing
  • Fflpnari
    Fflpnari Posts: 975 Member
    I have a Fitbit charge 2. I find its pretty accurate. If its off I notice it when my heart rate is higher. I think this is more that it loses contact with my skin during my workouts.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    Unless you have had your max HR tested then your 85% could just be 85% of the wrong number.

    "I don't want to be in a zone and not know that I am there...I hope this makes sense. I do not have heart issues that I am aware of. Don't want to create any either."
    IMHO these are not valid concerns.

    TBH your body will tell you loud and clear if you are over-doing things. Using perceived exertion is free!! :)

    If you really want (as opposed to need) to know your HR then like @OldAssDude I've found a Garmin chest strap to be pretty reliable, conversely I've found various Polar chest straps/devices to be pretty unreliable.
  • LioTrn
    LioTrn Posts: 16 Member
    edited October 2018
    Personally I have the Withings Steel HR Sport and the data are pretty accurate. The app is fantastic and you can connect it to MFP. It even looks like a normal watch which is why I choose that one.
  • IronGiant0
    IronGiant0 Posts: 48 Member
    I have a Garmin Vivoactive 3. I was in the cardiologists office and we compared it to the chest strap he was using.
    4 readings. My Garmin was within ONE bpm. Every time.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    edited October 2018
    OldAssDude wrote: »
    CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »
    chuckb24c wrote: »
    I go to Orangtheory and I have a heartrate monitor that I wear. Some days it appears to be accurate while other days it reading very low. I am older so I am cautious not to over do things like I did when I was younger. If my rate gets to 85% of max I usually back off a bit. I don't want to be in a zone and not know that I am there...I hope this makes sense. I do not have heart issues that I am aware of. Don't want to create any either. I am not that worried about how many steps I take or what my calorie burn is...I control calories with nutrition. Thanks to all!

    heart rate zones mean nothing unless you are training for something. if you are not having issues with dizzyness,nausea,chest pain and other symptoms from heart rate being higher then you should be fine. if you dont have a heart issue then its really irrelevant and so are the zones. I know for me I never get about a certain heart rate no matter how hard I work,so I dont worry too much and I have a heart valve issue but had all kinds of testing recently and everything is fine so. but only do what you feel comfortable doing

    Heart rate zones are important several reasons, from improving base aerobic fitness levels, to improving VO2max and lactate threshold.

    Many runners and ultra runners use modified zones and target them for training.

    How can you say it means nothing?

    I specifically said that unless you ARE training for something. if you arent training it means nothing. I dont even bother most of the time to look at my heart rate. I know without looking at it how hard I am working just by how I feel. not to mention that many variables can throw off your max HR as well. things such as stress,your level of fitness (or lack of), heat,cold,etc. many people think going over your max HR is dangerous,for some it may be for others not so much.

    I had an issue a few months ago where my heart rate spiked to the 170s just walking at a slow pace. my fitbit and manually checking my pulse showed it was this high. I was not going all out, I was walking maybe 2.5-3 mph not very fast ,very little exertion had palpitations from time to time also.

    I had that happen for a week or so then it went back to normal(still had the palpitations off and on). saw a cardiologist,had all kinds of testing and everything is normal. have not had an issue with heart rate and the palpitation have been gone for weeks now. I have changed nothing at all.so that just proves that a heart rate zone means squat when exercising. I can do a true hiit routine and not get over 150 most of the time when I do it, and thats going all out. that number really means nothing to me though especially after the above happened.
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
    chuckb24c wrote: »
    I go to Orangtheory and I have a heartrate monitor that I wear. Some days it appears to be accurate while other days it reading very low. I am older so I am cautious not to over do things like I did when I was younger. If my rate gets to 85% of max I usually back off a bit. I don't want to be in a zone and not know that I am there...I hope this makes sense. I do not have heart issues that I am aware of. Don't want to create any either. I am not that worried about how many steps I take or what my calorie burn is...I control calories with nutrition. Thanks to all!

    Heart Rate Monitoring at OTF is nothing more than a marketing gimmick. From what you say, you've got nothing to worry about.

    @sijomial has articulated things pretty well.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »
    OldAssDude wrote: »
    CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »
    chuckb24c wrote: »
    I go to Orangtheory and I have a heartrate monitor that I wear. Some days it appears to be accurate while other days it reading very low. I am older so I am cautious not to over do things like I did when I was younger. If my rate gets to 85% of max I usually back off a bit. I don't want to be in a zone and not know that I am there...I hope this makes sense. I do not have heart issues that I am aware of. Don't want to create any either. I am not that worried about how many steps I take or what my calorie burn is...I control calories with nutrition. Thanks to all!

    heart rate zones mean nothing unless you are training for something. if you are not having issues with dizzyness,nausea,chest pain and other symptoms from heart rate being higher then you should be fine. if you dont have a heart issue then its really irrelevant and so are the zones. I know for me I never get about a certain heart rate no matter how hard I work,so I dont worry too much and I have a heart valve issue but had all kinds of testing recently and everything is fine so. but only do what you feel comfortable doing

    Heart rate zones are important several reasons, from improving base aerobic fitness levels, to improving VO2max and lactate threshold.

    Many runners and ultra runners use modified zones and target them for training.

    How can you say it means nothing?

    I specifically said that unless you ARE training for something. if you arent training it means nothing. I dont even bother most of the time to look at my heart rate. I know without looking at it how hard I am working just by how I feel. not to mention that many variables can throw off your max HR as well. things such as stress,your level of fitness (or lack of), heat,cold,etc. many people think going over your max HR is dangerous,for some it may be for others not so much.

    I had an issue a few months ago where my heart rate spiked to the 170s just walking at a slow pace. my fitbit and manually checking my pulse showed it was this high. I was not going all out, I was walking maybe 2.5-3 mph not very fast ,very little exertion had palpitations from time to time also.

    I had that happen for a week or so then it went back to normal(still had the palpitations off and on). saw a cardiologist,had all kinds of testing and everything is normal. have not had an issue with heart rate and the palpitation have been gone for weeks now. I have changed nothing at all.so that just proves that a heart rate zone means squat when exercising. I can do a true hiit routine and not get over 150 most of the time when I do it, and thats going all out. that number really means nothing to me though especially after the above happened.

    A long time ago, humans relied on walking for days, and running for long amounts of time, for food. Also running to avoid being food. We evolved a sense of perceived exertion to help us stay alive. When your heart rate is high, you can feel it in several ways, you perceived a racing in your chest, you're gulping air down, your legs burn (or arms or whatever depending what you're doing). We have this because it works.

    The hardest workout I do lately is a 20 minute power test. I don't look at my heart rate when I do it, like you. I do watch my power output though, instantaneous plus 3 second and lap averages.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    Sorry, missed something. To your point about it not being dangerous for healthy people to go over what they think is their max heart rate. That just means they found a closer estimate of what their true max really is.

    Obviously this doesn't apply to people who've been told otherwise by their doctor.
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    NorthCascades wrote: »
    CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »
    OldAssDude wrote: »
    CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »
    chuckb24c wrote: »
    I go to Orangtheory and I have a heartrate monitor that I wear. Some days it appears to be accurate while other days it reading very low. I am older so I am cautious not to over do things like I did when I was younger. If my rate gets to 85% of max I usually back off a bit. I don't want to be in a zone and not know that I am there...I hope this makes sense. I do not have heart issues that I am aware of. Don't want to create any either. I am not that worried about how many steps I take or what my calorie burn is...I control calories with nutrition. Thanks to all!

    heart rate zones mean nothing unless you are training for something. if you are not having issues with dizzyness,nausea,chest pain and other symptoms from heart rate being higher then you should be fine. if you dont have a heart issue then its really irrelevant and so are the zones. I know for me I never get about a certain heart rate no matter how hard I work,so I dont worry too much and I have a heart valve issue but had all kinds of testing recently and everything is fine so. but only do what you feel comfortable doing

    Heart rate zones are important several reasons, from improving base aerobic fitness levels, to improving VO2max and lactate threshold.

    Many runners and ultra runners use modified zones and target them for training.

    How can you say it means nothing?

    I specifically said that unless you ARE training for something. if you arent training it means nothing. I dont even bother most of the time to look at my heart rate. I know without looking at it how hard I am working just by how I feel. not to mention that many variables can throw off your max HR as well. things such as stress,your level of fitness (or lack of), heat,cold,etc. many people think going over your max HR is dangerous,for some it may be for others not so much.

    I had an issue a few months ago where my heart rate spiked to the 170s just walking at a slow pace. my fitbit and manually checking my pulse showed it was this high. I was not going all out, I was walking maybe 2.5-3 mph not very fast ,very little exertion had palpitations from time to time also.

    I had that happen for a week or so then it went back to normal(still had the palpitations off and on). saw a cardiologist,had all kinds of testing and everything is normal. have not had an issue with heart rate and the palpitation have been gone for weeks now. I have changed nothing at all.so that just proves that a heart rate zone means squat when exercising. I can do a true hiit routine and not get over 150 most of the time when I do it, and thats going all out. that number really means nothing to me though especially after the above happened.

    A long time ago, humans relied on walking for days, and running for long amounts of time, for food. Also running to avoid being food. We evolved a sense of perceived exertion to help us stay alive. When your heart rate is high, you can feel it in several ways, you perceived a racing in your chest, you're gulping air down, your legs burn (or arms or whatever depending what you're doing). We have this because it works.

    The hardest workout I do lately is a 20 minute power test. I don't look at my heart rate when I do it, like you. I do watch my power output though, instantaneous plus 3 second and lap averages.

    no I didnt have a racing in my chest(I assume you meant me?) I was having palpitations which can come with my heart issue which is mitral valve prolapse/regurgitation. when my heart rate is high I dont feel like my heart is racing but I know its high from how I am breathing. I also dont have to gulp down air which may or may not be odd I dont know. een at 150 or higher I can carry on a convo with very little issue. I was walking and should not have had the heart rate I did . I had no symptoms that made me think it was that high(I did make another post about this) I just happened to glance at my fitbit and then take it manually because I was like theres no way its that high. it was .
  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
    NorthCascades wrote: »
    Sorry, missed something. To your point about it not being dangerous for healthy people to go over what they think is their max heart rate. That just means they found a closer estimate of what their true max really is.

    Obviously this doesn't apply to people who've been told otherwise by their doctor.

    of course not if a dr says not to go over a certain point then you dont try to go over that. my nephew also has a heart issue and his dr has told him not to get his heart rate over a certain point. hes 17 and it could put him into cardiac arrest if he does.he has the type of cardiomyopathy the kind you hear about when someone is playing sports and just drops dead
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,225 Member
    OldAssDude wrote: »
    sijomial wrote: »
    Unless you have had your max HR tested then your 85% could just be 85% of the wrong number.

    "I don't want to be in a zone and not know that I am there...I hope this makes sense. I do not have heart issues that I am aware of. Don't want to create any either."
    IMHO these are not valid concerns.

    TBH your body will tell you loud and clear if you are over-doing things. Using perceived exertion is free!! :)

    If you really want (as opposed to need) to know your HR then like @OldAssDude I've found a Garmin chest strap to be pretty reliable, conversely I've found various Polar chest straps/devices to be pretty unreliable.

    I was talking about the Garmin's with the built in optical heart rate monitors. I have compared them to chest strap monitors many many times and have found them to be within a few BPM for most cardio type workouts if worn properly.

    Also, perceived exertion is not bad, but people perceive things differently, and as your body adjusts to the workout the perception changes. For example when I first start running, I perceive more exertion. After my body adjusts to running, I perceive less. I would not realize that if I didn't know what my heart rate was and what zone I was in. I'm not saying perceived exertion won't work, just that it is a variable that changes. Knowing your heart rate at a glance gives a much better picture of how we perceive exertion.

    If a person wants to improve their cardio fitness, the basic rule of thumb is to keep your heart in the cardio zone for a minimum of 20 to 30 minutes non-stop, and a minimum of 3 times per week, to get a minimum training effect. If you want a better training effect you should increase the time, and/or intensity (higher zone), and/or number of sessions per week.

    I will also add that in order to do effective heart rate training, you need to know your true max heart rate (or as close as you can get to it), because that will determine what your zones are.

    There's a formal RPE (rate of perceived exertion) scale that has physiologically-related experiential/behavioral benchmarks to it. It can be a quite useful guide for training, and may be better than zones derived from age-estimated HRmax (especially for people who have a higher max).

    I'm a data geek, and know my HRmax (about 22 bpm above age estimated), but RPE would be better than age-estimated ranges for me, training-wise. Age-estimated ranges would result in severe undertraining. Not everyone knows their actual max, nor has a safe way to estimate it.

    In this regard, I agree 100% (as usual ;) ) with @sijomial.

    OP, I've found my Polar chest belt and Garmin chest belt to give me very similar HR estimates. My Garmin (Vivoactive 3) wrist-based HRM does OK in daily life, but can go wonky in exercise that includes vigorous arm movement (like on-water rowing). I suspect the wrist-based monitor intermittently loses solid contact.

    Knowing your HR is fun, and it helps me keep pushing myself. The lowest-cost entry point is probably a chest belt with a bit of data storage, that links to a smartphone app as a longer-term storage repository. I know Polar sells such a thing; probably others do as well.
  • aokoye
    aokoye Posts: 3,495 Member
    CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »
    NorthCascades wrote: »
    CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »
    OldAssDude wrote: »
    CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »
    chuckb24c wrote: »
    I go to Orangtheory and I have a heartrate monitor that I wear. Some days it appears to be accurate while other days it reading very low. I am older so I am cautious not to over do things like I did when I was younger. If my rate gets to 85% of max I usually back off a bit. I don't want to be in a zone and not know that I am there...I hope this makes sense. I do not have heart issues that I am aware of. Don't want to create any either. I am not that worried about how many steps I take or what my calorie burn is...I control calories with nutrition. Thanks to all!

    heart rate zones mean nothing unless you are training for something. if you are not having issues with dizzyness,nausea,chest pain and other symptoms from heart rate being higher then you should be fine. if you dont have a heart issue then its really irrelevant and so are the zones. I know for me I never get about a certain heart rate no matter how hard I work,so I dont worry too much and I have a heart valve issue but had all kinds of testing recently and everything is fine so. but only do what you feel comfortable doing

    Heart rate zones are important several reasons, from improving base aerobic fitness levels, to improving VO2max and lactate threshold.

    Many runners and ultra runners use modified zones and target them for training.

    How can you say it means nothing?

    I specifically said that unless you ARE training for something. if you arent training it means nothing. I dont even bother most of the time to look at my heart rate. I know without looking at it how hard I am working just by how I feel. not to mention that many variables can throw off your max HR as well. things such as stress,your level of fitness (or lack of), heat,cold,etc. many people think going over your max HR is dangerous,for some it may be for others not so much.

    I had an issue a few months ago where my heart rate spiked to the 170s just walking at a slow pace. my fitbit and manually checking my pulse showed it was this high. I was not going all out, I was walking maybe 2.5-3 mph not very fast ,very little exertion had palpitations from time to time also.

    I had that happen for a week or so then it went back to normal(still had the palpitations off and on). saw a cardiologist,had all kinds of testing and everything is normal. have not had an issue with heart rate and the palpitation have been gone for weeks now. I have changed nothing at all.so that just proves that a heart rate zone means squat when exercising. I can do a true hiit routine and not get over 150 most of the time when I do it, and thats going all out. that number really means nothing to me though especially after the above happened.

    A long time ago, humans relied on walking for days, and running for long amounts of time, for food. Also running to avoid being food. We evolved a sense of perceived exertion to help us stay alive. When your heart rate is high, you can feel it in several ways, you perceived a racing in your chest, you're gulping air down, your legs burn (or arms or whatever depending what you're doing). We have this because it works.

    The hardest workout I do lately is a 20 minute power test. I don't look at my heart rate when I do it, like you. I do watch my power output though, instantaneous plus 3 second and lap averages.

    no I didnt have a racing in my chest(I assume you meant me?) I was having palpitations which can come with my heart issue which is mitral valve prolapse/regurgitation. when my heart rate is high I dont feel like my heart is racing but I know its high from how I am breathing. I also dont have to gulp down air which may or may not be odd I dont know. een at 150 or higher I can carry on a convo with very little issue. I was walking and should not have had the heart rate I did . I had no symptoms that made me think it was that high(I did make another post about this) I just happened to glance at my fitbit and then take it manually because I was like theres no way its that high. it was .

    I think he meant "you" as in "general you" not you specifically. I could be wrong though.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »
    NorthCascades wrote: »
    CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »
    OldAssDude wrote: »
    CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »
    chuckb24c wrote: »
    I go to Orangtheory and I have a heartrate monitor that I wear. Some days it appears to be accurate while other days it reading very low. I am older so I am cautious not to over do things like I did when I was younger. If my rate gets to 85% of max I usually back off a bit. I don't want to be in a zone and not know that I am there...I hope this makes sense. I do not have heart issues that I am aware of. Don't want to create any either. I am not that worried about how many steps I take or what my calorie burn is...I control calories with nutrition. Thanks to all!

    heart rate zones mean nothing unless you are training for something. if you are not having issues with dizzyness,nausea,chest pain and other symptoms from heart rate being higher then you should be fine. if you dont have a heart issue then its really irrelevant and so are the zones. I know for me I never get about a certain heart rate no matter how hard I work,so I dont worry too much and I have a heart valve issue but had all kinds of testing recently and everything is fine so. but only do what you feel comfortable doing

    Heart rate zones are important several reasons, from improving base aerobic fitness levels, to improving VO2max and lactate threshold.

    Many runners and ultra runners use modified zones and target them for training.

    How can you say it means nothing?

    I specifically said that unless you ARE training for something. if you arent training it means nothing. I dont even bother most of the time to look at my heart rate. I know without looking at it how hard I am working just by how I feel. not to mention that many variables can throw off your max HR as well. things such as stress,your level of fitness (or lack of), heat,cold,etc. many people think going over your max HR is dangerous,for some it may be for others not so much.

    I had an issue a few months ago where my heart rate spiked to the 170s just walking at a slow pace. my fitbit and manually checking my pulse showed it was this high. I was not going all out, I was walking maybe 2.5-3 mph not very fast ,very little exertion had palpitations from time to time also.

    I had that happen for a week or so then it went back to normal(still had the palpitations off and on). saw a cardiologist,had all kinds of testing and everything is normal. have not had an issue with heart rate and the palpitation have been gone for weeks now. I have changed nothing at all.so that just proves that a heart rate zone means squat when exercising. I can do a true hiit routine and not get over 150 most of the time when I do it, and thats going all out. that number really means nothing to me though especially after the above happened.

    A long time ago, humans relied on walking for days, and running for long amounts of time, for food. Also running to avoid being food. We evolved a sense of perceived exertion to help us stay alive. When your heart rate is high, you can feel it in several ways, you perceived a racing in your chest, you're gulping air down, your legs burn (or arms or whatever depending what you're doing). We have this because it works.

    The hardest workout I do lately is a 20 minute power test. I don't look at my heart rate when I do it, like you. I do watch my power output though, instantaneous plus 3 second and lap averages.

    no I didnt have a racing in my chest(I assume you meant me?) I was having palpitations which can come with my heart issue which is mitral valve prolapse/regurgitation. when my heart rate is high I dont feel like my heart is racing but I know its high from how I am breathing. I also dont have to gulp down air which may or may not be odd I dont know. een at 150 or higher I can carry on a convo with very little issue. I was walking and should not have had the heart rate I did . I had no symptoms that made me think it was that high(I did make another post about this) I just happened to glance at my fitbit and then take it manually because I was like theres no way its that high. it was .

    Sorry, I didn't mean you in particular. I was agreeing with and expanding on your point about being able to exercise effectively without knowing the specific number of bpm, because you (the royal you) can ballpark your intensity level.

    On a more personal level, it sounds like your fitness is pretty good too bed able to carry on a conversation at 150 bpm. :smile: When I'm on a bike, 155 bpm means I'm suffering.
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,343 Member
    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    There's a formal RPE (rate of perceived exertion) scale that has physiologically-related experiential/behavioral benchmarks to it. It can be a quite useful guide for training, and may be better than zones derived from age-estimated HRmax (especially for people who have a higher max).

    I'm a data geek, and know my HRmax (about 22 bpm above age estimated), but RPE would be better than age-estimated ranges for me, training-wise. Age-estimated ranges would result in severe undertraining. Not everyone knows their actual max, nor has a safe way to estimate it.

    In this regard, I agree 100% (as usual ;) ) with @sijomial.
    I agree that RPE is a valuable guide. Using the Borg RPE scale (which goes from 6 to 20), I did a 5K run today that was about a 13 on the scale ("somewhat hard exercise, but feels OK to continue"). I was pushing myself a bit, but wasn't out of breath or excessively fatigued. My average HR for the run was 154, but hit a max of 171. My age-estimated HRmax is 164, so that would mean I was basically redlining throughout my run, but RPE says otherwise. I haven't had my HRmax tested, but it's obviously somewhere above age estimated. Garmin had me in Zone 5 and at average 88% HRmax for the run, but it didn't feel anything like that by RPE.


    AnnPT77 wrote: »
    OP, I've found my Polar chest belt and Garmin chest belt to give me very similar HR estimates. My Garmin (Vivoactive 3) wrist-based HRM does OK in daily life, but can go wonky in exercise that includes vigorous arm movement (like on-water rowing). I suspect the wrist-based monitor intermittently loses solid contact.
    My experience with wrist-based optical HR matches with yours and differs from OldAssDude. My FR935 does great with HR when I'm at rest/lightly active, but is wonky when running, worse when cycling, and absolutely useless in the weight room. I always pair it with a Scosche Rhythm+ band when I run or cycle, because the optical HR at the wrist is too unreliable to count on (I couldn't care less about HR when lifting weights, so I don't even bother with it in the gym). I've tried wearing it higher and lower on my wrist, looser and tighter, even on the inside of my wrist, but it's just never been reliable for me. In virtually all of DCRainmaker's reviews, he says that optical HR has different degrees of success for different people, depending upon several variables. I guess I'm one that it doesn't work for, at least during exercise.
  • GottaBurnEmAll
    GottaBurnEmAll Posts: 7,722 Member
    NorthCascades wrote: »
    CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »
    NorthCascades wrote: »
    CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »
    OldAssDude wrote: »
    CharlieBeansmomTracey wrote: »
    chuckb24c wrote: »
    I go to Orangtheory and I have a heartrate monitor that I wear. Some days it appears to be accurate while other days it reading very low. I am older so I am cautious not to over do things like I did when I was younger. If my rate gets to 85% of max I usually back off a bit. I don't want to be in a zone and not know that I am there...I hope this makes sense. I do not have heart issues that I am aware of. Don't want to create any either. I am not that worried about how many steps I take or what my calorie burn is...I control calories with nutrition. Thanks to all!

    heart rate zones mean nothing unless you are training for something. if you are not having issues with dizzyness,nausea,chest pain and other symptoms from heart rate being higher then you should be fine. if you dont have a heart issue then its really irrelevant and so are the zones. I know for me I never get about a certain heart rate no matter how hard I work,so I dont worry too much and I have a heart valve issue but had all kinds of testing recently and everything is fine so. but only do what you feel comfortable doing

    Heart rate zones are important several reasons, from improving base aerobic fitness levels, to improving VO2max and lactate threshold.

    Many runners and ultra runners use modified zones and target them for training.

    How can you say it means nothing?

    I specifically said that unless you ARE training for something. if you arent training it means nothing. I dont even bother most of the time to look at my heart rate. I know without looking at it how hard I am working just by how I feel. not to mention that many variables can throw off your max HR as well. things such as stress,your level of fitness (or lack of), heat,cold,etc. many people think going over your max HR is dangerous,for some it may be for others not so much.

    I had an issue a few months ago where my heart rate spiked to the 170s just walking at a slow pace. my fitbit and manually checking my pulse showed it was this high. I was not going all out, I was walking maybe 2.5-3 mph not very fast ,very little exertion had palpitations from time to time also.

    I had that happen for a week or so then it went back to normal(still had the palpitations off and on). saw a cardiologist,had all kinds of testing and everything is normal. have not had an issue with heart rate and the palpitation have been gone for weeks now. I have changed nothing at all.so that just proves that a heart rate zone means squat when exercising. I can do a true hiit routine and not get over 150 most of the time when I do it, and thats going all out. that number really means nothing to me though especially after the above happened.

    A long time ago, humans relied on walking for days, and running for long amounts of time, for food. Also running to avoid being food. We evolved a sense of perceived exertion to help us stay alive. When your heart rate is high, you can feel it in several ways, you perceived a racing in your chest, you're gulping air down, your legs burn (or arms or whatever depending what you're doing). We have this because it works.

    The hardest workout I do lately is a 20 minute power test. I don't look at my heart rate when I do it, like you. I do watch my power output though, instantaneous plus 3 second and lap averages.

    no I didnt have a racing in my chest(I assume you meant me?) I was having palpitations which can come with my heart issue which is mitral valve prolapse/regurgitation. when my heart rate is high I dont feel like my heart is racing but I know its high from how I am breathing. I also dont have to gulp down air which may or may not be odd I dont know. een at 150 or higher I can carry on a convo with very little issue. I was walking and should not have had the heart rate I did . I had no symptoms that made me think it was that high(I did make another post about this) I just happened to glance at my fitbit and then take it manually because I was like theres no way its that high. it was .

    Sorry, I didn't mean you in particular. I was agreeing with and expanding on your point about being able to exercise effectively without knowing the specific number of bpm, because you (the royal you) can ballpark your intensity level.

    On a more personal level, it sounds like your fitness is pretty good too bed able to carry on a conversation at 150 bpm. :smile: When I'm on a bike, 155 bpm means I'm suffering.

    I think the whole thing of being conversational at a certain heart rate might have bearing on where it is relative to your base resting heart rate. I'm conversational at 150 as well, and I'm far from an athlete. My resting HR is around 63.

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