Chest Strap Heart Rate Monitor Issue

Treadmillmom1st
Treadmillmom1st Posts: 579 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
Hello. I comsider myself fit, I've been actively training for 10 years and have a resting heart rate of 54.
Like most I've developed a 'lockdown' gut but am doing well losing it.
To help with accurate calories in vs calories out I have been using a Chest Strap Heart Rate Monitor.
When working out my heart rate goes up as is expected, as soon as I stop for a rest period my heart rate plummets to below my usual resting heart.
As I said I consider myself fit but I do not believe this is correct.
I've switched between 2 Chest Straps thinking one at least must be faulty but they both behave in the same way.
When I restart my cardio activity my heart rate does go back up.
At the end of a workout when I am sweating and breathing heavy my heart rate indicates I may be chilling on the sofa.
I've done the usual cleaned it, moistened it, tightened it etc
What are your thoughts?

Replies

  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    edited February 2021
    Firstly - a word of caution HRMs are not calorie counters, they are heart beat counters.
    Whether they can be used to give a reasonble calorie estimate depends on the exercise and also the person - but on the upside reasonable can be good enough for purpose.

    Secondly - No sounds like you HRM isn't working correctly but checking your pulse manually when you get one of those odd drop too far moments would confirm for sure.

    Dampened and clean, well adjusted strap, fresh battery is about the most you can do and you have already done the first part but it sounds like a problem with the unit and not the strap. I gave up on my last Garmin HRM due to signal drop outs and recording numbers that are physically impossible for me and bought a Wahoo Tickr instead which has been faultless.
  • Treadmillmom1st
    Treadmillmom1st Posts: 579 Member
    I am hearing positive things about the Wahoo, thank you.
  • Treadmillmom1st
    Treadmillmom1st Posts: 579 Member
    Bump
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 49,024 Member
    Heart rate monitors many times are inaccurate especially when YOU perceive intensity and it's not gauging that on your monitor. I just have to ask, are you counting on the monitor to gauge your actual fitness? Because there are much better ways to gauge it than from a pulse count. Distance over time is much more accurate since time is a constant. Speed over time also. And recovery as well. I run interval sprints 3 times a week and always gauge myself between distances and see how long it takes each time I run. Some days I'm faster, some I'm not. But even on the days I'm not, the intensity is still hard for that particular day. We're NEVER always going to be perfect or always get better (there's a physical limit for everyone), but if your effort is always high, that's a good way to measure.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
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  • VegasFit
    VegasFit Posts: 1,232 Member
    Treadmillmom1st wrote: »
    I am hearing positive things about the Wahoo, thank you.

    I'm on my second Wahoo. First one didn't last three months. Company was quick to replace it though.
  • westrich20940
    westrich20940 Posts: 921 Member
    I would try to replace the batteries in your chest straps to see if that helps...or it may be something is messing with the communication from your chest strap to the watch?

    Manually double check that the HRM is correct too...if you find it is not...then toss them I'd say. I use a Polar HRM w/chest strap.

    I know that many will caution that the calorie estimate from a HRM isn't accurate but it can be --- definitely good enough to use to help with weight loss. At least in my experience that's true. I do find that if I am doing lower intensity stuff the HRM seems MORE accurate. If I'm doing high intensity stuff like running --- my HRM will give a higher estimate of calorie burn compared to my running app (~100 cals higher)....so I just usually pick a number in between and log that manually in MFP. And I will say that I lost weight as expected and have maintained as expected using those estimates so they can't be THAT far off.
  • djaxon1
    djaxon1 Posts: 82 Member
    What device are you using the HRM's with ? Tablet , mobile , built-in equipment ?
    Are you moving out of range when resting ?
  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 9,985 Member
    My heartrate tends to go below my normal base value after workouts. I'm super relaxed then and my heart is just beating along very slowly. My guess is that's it's somehow orthostatic hypotension/dysautonomia-related: blood vessels are still widened from exercise, don't contract, blood pools, heart thinks: "oh well, why bother. I take a nap now" I guess normally the heart should beat faster to correct the drop in blood pressure. Mine does the opposite at times. *shrugs* Not saying you have the same. Just saying that these odd things are possible, for whatever reason.

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