Devices that monitor our heart rate based on a measurement on the wrist are quite widespread these days, including Fitbit, Garmin watches and Apple Watches. There are also devices that promise more demanding results such as the variability of the heart rate of Whoop. These devices then tell us revealing things about our recent training sessions or our activities all day long how long we should recover before our next hard training and even how well we sleep.
The problem is that the accuracy of the data on which all this information is based is suspicious. I noticed that again for the first time when I had a fitbit. It was often read higher than I suspected that it was correct, based on how difficult I felt. The same applies to my Garmin clock. I can only warm up and it will tell me that my heart rate in the 130s is what I know, cannot be true because I really sniff and puffing. I recently put it on a test. I also have a polar H10 heart frequency belt. And a separate device (my Garmin bike computer). On the same journey I made sure that my watch was not paired on the belt and only provided wrist data for the heart rate. My bicycle computer was paired with the strap so that it was a measurement based on chest. In such a comparison, we expect breast measurement more precisely, but I was blown away how much the two differed. The two diagrams from a three -hour drive are shown below. The maximum heart rate of the wrist measurement was 41 punches two and suspended suspiciously when I was warming up. There are various other places in the diagrams where the wrist results are simply not correct.
I had read optimal training techniques based on the heart rate, all of which sound very scientific. But now I know that the data I supported it were not trustworthy (I usually only use wrist base because it is an additional step to take the strap). In the future I will make sure that I use the belt if I really want to check the heart rate. I will also trust more how my training feels (perceived level of effort).
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I am a mechanical engineer who was born in 1953, Ph. D, Stanford, 1980. I have been active in Cae field in Mechanical for decades. I also have a lifelong interest in activities and outdoor fitness. I replaced both hips and replaced a heart valve replacement due to a genetic state. This blog records my adventures to stay active on the street despite these bumps.
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