UKC

Hi.

Looking for recommendations for a watch or other wearable for monitoring heart rate. Don't need step or calorie burn numbers etc. Just heart rate. While I know manufacturers love to load up devices with all kinds of crap, so unavoidabke, the less the better.

Any good recommendations? Ideally ones with tested accuracy.

Thanks

In reply to Flinticus:

If you want accuracy you’re better off with a chest monitor 

In reply to Flinticus:

You may want to consider a chest strap heart rate sensor. Those are as accurate as it gets, have very long battery life and usually zero other features. The measurements can be viewed or recorded by your phone which you likely already have. I don't think there are significant differences between such devices, so just get the one which is the cheapest. Polar H9 or H10 might be a good choice.

Upd. Didn't see the comment by JimR when started to type mine, we posted concurrently

In reply to Flinticus:

I have a Fitbit…very easy and straightforward.  it’s very good for showing trends in your resting heart beat over time.

In reply to Flinticus:

Thanks all. Everything appreciated. Perhaps both in time. But cannot wear a chest one yet (surgery).

In reply to Flinticus:

I was bought a Garmin Forerunner.  Works very well, my Dr wife confirms Garmin HR accuracy is good for me.

In reply to Flinticus: Garmin Forerunner 55 - not too expensive, not too much crap 'though steps can be interesting, battery is ok (week between charges if not much activity), app is ok for looking at data

In reply to Flinticus:

https://www.argos.co.uk/product/8887012

£25.00

Watch unit with a chest strap sender. Job done

Edit: I've never tried it but noted comments above and wondering if you can get away with wearing the chest strap as a gut strap and if that'd work?

In reply to CantClimbTom:

I don't think so. If i don't position my chest strap correctly it won’t pick up my pulse

In reply to Flinticus:

I use a whoop, which I'm not recommending for you (probably too many bells and whistles for you), but I've compared its heart rate output to what I get from my garmin chest strap and they are almost identical, I wouldn't worry too much about a wrist-placed sensor being inaccurate, the data will be plenty useful

In reply to Flinticus:

How accurate do you need it to be? My view is that my Fitbit may or may not be 3% out….but as long as it’s always 3% out it’s good for me to see how I’m personally doing.

https://edition.cnn.com/2017/04/10/health/fitness-tracker-fitbit-mio-accura...

In reply to Flinticus:

I use a Wahoo Heart Rate Monitor. It is worn on a wristband. I mostly use it for cycling paired with my Wahoo cycle computer. Look at DC Rainmakers site to see how accurate it is compared to other monitors. It uses a standard bluetooth connection, so should work with other items. For example, it pairs with my Garmin watch. 

IMHO chest monitors are crap. They rely on having a moist layer between your monitor and your chest. In my experience no matter how much tens gel you apply unless you sweat all the time you are wearing the monitor it will disconnect.

In reply to wilkesley:

Interesting. I just give my Garmin chest straps a quick lick and don't have any issues with connection regardless of how sweaty or not I am; it seems to need pretty minimal moisture. The only time I find the connection dropping is when the battery is running low. 

In reply to Flinticus:

Depends if you have an Apple phone, but the Apple watch is good, if a little expensive. It tracks (Well the software does) trends as well, which has helped one of my friends spot a thyroid problem - sudden increase in resting heart rate.

In reply to Flinticus:

Wahoo and Coros both do arm-worn monitors which, apparently, are more reliable than wrist-worn ones.

In reply to JimR:

I bought a chest strap from Garmin to use with my Garmin watch. I did this as I wasn't 100% sure if my watch was giving me the correct results, and received lots of advice similar to yours.

After testing the two I concluded the following:

- Garmin Fenix 7X heart rate monitor gives the same rates as a chest strap.

- Keep your watch strap tight.

- Know that the watch rates work on a fairly long moving average so it wont respond as quick as a chest strap and averages the numbers out a bit. Not so much that it matters in my view.

Based on my tests, I no longer bother with the chest strap as I have a lot of faith in my Garmin watch sensor.

The advice you gave is common. I'm not sure if it's because watch monitors have improved recently so it' no longer valid, or if people wear their watches too loose so get bad data. Or many the averaging of 10 seconds (or whatever it is) is too long for them.

In reply to Flinticus:

I've found wrist based heart rate monitors to be be less accurate than chest straps but they've been catching up fast.  The main remaining difference I've found is that wrist based (optical) sensors are slow to respond, for instance when increasing pace from a walk to a run - they lag.

So I use optical for general use but resort to a chest strap when accuracy matters (e.g. indoor cycling trainer intervals).

In reply to afx22:

After about 20 years of using chest HRM straps that all died after about a year of use due to the corrosive nature of my sweatiness I’m using an optical HRM strap that goes on your upper forearm or below the bicep. This is much better placed close to blood vessels and is very accurate. Also as it’s optical it is completely sealed, rechargeable, so should last longer. It can be paired with any watch or apps on your phone. It cost about 40 pounds. 

In reply to George Ormerod:

What make are you using?

In reply to montyjohn:

Depends how seriously you are using it. I train using hr for both cycling and running,and as I compete I want to get it as accurate as possible so chest strap for me although I’ve used and tested both. https://www.cyclingweekly.com/fitness/wrist-based-versus-chest-strap-heart-...

In reply to Flinticus:

Polar Verity or OH1+

I have the cheaper Verity. The good thing is that it won’t get scratched If you climb with it (unlike say Apple watch, which is rather spendy). And also you can use it to record your exersice and tge later load the results to you phone or computer app.

In reply to montyjohn:

Yes, watches have improved I'm sure. Mine is pretty much the same as my chest strap when running. It's just a bit slower at reflecting changes in HR. E.g. if I slow down.

However, there are a lot of people who worry about a high HR on an easy run (based on forums I frequent instead of going for a run!), when actually they've had their watch on a bit loose and it's picked up their cadence (which is conveniently similar to a high HR). It's so common I've just resorted to saying if you're going to seriously follow a HR training method, just get a chest strap, otherwise don't worry about it and run by feel.

In reply to mountainbagger:

Should add, if not running (or not bouncing up and down!) and just pottering about, the watch based HR monitor is going to be absolutely fine.

In reply to Flinticus:

POWR LABS Bluetooth Heart Rate Monitor Armband.  It cost 45 pounds.  There's a review vid here:

youtube.com/watch?v=uLBHA69Cw3c&

In reply to mountainbagger:

I have had a few runs were my chest strap went out of wack and started recording heart rates of around 180 on very gentle runs. The only way I found to prevent this is to do a thorough wash after every run. This may just be an issue with the Garmin chest strap however.

In reply to montyjohn:

Apologies, I have the 6X, not the 7X

In reply to montyjohn:

Yes, I had this with my old Garmin strap. I replaced the battery, bought that gel they use for ECGs etc. but it just wouldn't stop doing it. I'd worn it for about 2 years very heavy use, but I did keep it clean fairly religiously. In the end I gave up and used a second hand one from my brother for a few months until the same thing happened again!

I've now got the Garmin HRM Pro which seems fine so far after a year of heavy use. Maybe I shouldn't have bought another Garmin, but we'll see how this one does

In reply to Flinticus:

Another vote for the Garmin Forerunner 55. It's relatively cheap and does exactly the same as my old Forerunner 235 from a few years ago, which was 4 times the price, and eventually died. The Garmin mobile app is quite good too.

I would emphasise though that a watch HRM is not nearly as accurate as a chest strap (I understand you can't wear one of those, but just pointing it out). They particularly struggle with sudden, sharp changes in heart rate, in my experience. If I'm doing proper heart rate zone training, either when running or cycling, I would only trust a chest strap.