Garmin or fitbit.

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joolspen3942
joolspen3942 Posts: 71 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I've had a fitbit, I now use garmin when I programme the cardio workout my Hr only says is 93bpm however my fitbit shows 159bpm. I did this as an experiment anyone else have same issues?

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  • Lietchi
    Lietchi Posts: 6,141 Member
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    My Garmin seems pretty accurate. You might experiment a little with the tightness of the band. But it will also depend on the type of exercise and if it involves a lot of arm/wrist movement perhaps?
    Have you manually counted your heart rate to see which one is correct?

    Aside from hiking, I always use a chest band for my heart rate (connected to my Garmin).

  • joolspen3942
    joolspen3942 Posts: 71 Member
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    Yea I have actually you mention it. We were trained to calculate our bpm training when training to be a pt i may get a chest band .
  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
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    Lietchi wrote: »
    Aside from hiking, I always use a chest band for my heart rate (connected to my Garmin).

    Same here, when I upgraded to the Fenix with the wrist HRM I was getting insanely unreliable number running. Switched back to using my chest strap and problem solved.
  • SunflowerQueen36
    SunflowerQueen36 Posts: 1,272 Member
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    I use Fitbit
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,521 Member
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    The chest strap can be more accurate as @joolspen3942 and @BrianSharpe point out. You do need to moisten the electrodes sometimes (until you sweat a little). I have it , but the whole point of getting the watch was to simplify things, so I don't use it that much. (It's a great feature of Garmin watches that they will connect to a wide range of sensors, even not made by Garmin!)

    I get pretty reasonable numbers from my Garmin Vivoactive 3m if I tighten it before a run. I also cinch it up my arm slightly. You can always test it by manually counting your HR and seeing if it matches. If it is way off, send it back for replacement!
  • joolspen3942
    joolspen3942 Posts: 71 Member
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    Yeah I thought same as you . Whole point in watch was to simplify things plus it cost me over £200 not spending out on chest strap. Just so weird you can set it at running or elliptical or even bike picks up hr no problem but the cardio it doesn't . I train really hard so know it not accurate thankyou for ur feedback . May send it back like you say.
  • watts6151
    watts6151 Posts: 890 Member
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    My garmin is generally 2-3bpm less than my
    Dr’s ambulance and hospital testing equipment so it’s accurate enough
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,970 Member
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    I use a chest strap for anything where knowing my HR matters.
  • RockingWithLJ
    RockingWithLJ Posts: 243 Member
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    Yes.. Well Fitbit never worked (bought them twice years a part and sent them back).
    As for the Garmin watch I noticed if I don't wear it an inch from my wrist bone it won't read me accurately. One of my friends suggested marking the notch you're most comfortable at during everyday wear and then tightening It Up by 1 when working out. See if that doesn't change the way it reads you
  • joolspen3942
    joolspen3942 Posts: 71 Member
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    Thanks
    RockingWithLJ wrote: »
    Yes.. Well Fitbit never worked (bought them twice years a part and sent them back).
    As for the Garmin watch I noticed if I don't wear it an inch from my wrist bone it won't read me accurately. One of my friends suggested marking the notch you're most comfortable at during everyday wear and then tightening It Up by 1 when working out. See if that doesn't change the way it reads you

    Thanks love I'll certainly give it ago. I do alot of farlek training really would like to get a proper reading so today it seemed to have picked up hr. So that's a good sign.

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