Incorrect heart rate while biking with Inspire 3

[PawelRski]

There must be something wrong with HR count. While doing warmups on bike at the gym, after 2 min mashine measure hr from palms at around 160. I knownit is about right, as I push myself hard. And fitbit shows under 80 at HR..! It is not only once, but very common. I tried restart, mobing acros my hand, it's quite tight. Can't trust the heart beatrate shown on device at all.. Anyone has same? Any solutions?

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi there, @PawelRski. Thanks for stopping by in the Community Forums and sharing the details about the inconvenience with your Inspire 3. I understand where your concern is coming from. 

I really appreciate the time you've taken to troubleshoot this accuracy issues with your Fitbit, since the last details you mentioned on your post are of great help.

I'd like to mention that differences between heart-rate readings on your device and on exercise equipment are likely due to wrist or hand position. Several factors can affect heart rate, including air temperature, stress level, alcohol or caffeine intake, immune response to illness, and medication use (source).

Exercising in cold weather can make it more difficult for your device to track your heart rate, as environmental conditions can affect skin perfusion (the amount of blood that flows through your skin). Spikes in your heart rate during sleep may be caused by sudden movements (for example, waking up and getting out of bed), or a weak signal due to wrist placement. 

As with all heart-rate tracking technology, accuracy is affected by personal physiology, device location on your arm, and type of movement. For a more accurate heart-rate reading:

• When you’re not exercising, wear your device a finger’s width above your wrist bone.

• Many exercises such as bike riding or weight lifting cause you to bend your wrist frequently, which could interfere with the heart-rate signal if the watch is lower on your wrist.

To resolve common issues, see our troubleshooting steps in What factors can affect my heart-rate reading on my Fitbit device?

Hope this helps. 

[PawelRski]

When training band is  tight on my wrist. On the position that is described. There is a room temperature. None of the factors mentioned are the case. I have bewn moving fitbit up and down to change location, same reading. 

In general, I would say in my case it undervalue my HR when excercise. On last gym session was better. I did restarted device before. Gym device shows about 160 hr, fitbit around 120. That's after 2 min cardio on a training bike indoor. My hands a bit hairy, can that be a case?

[YojanaFitbit]

@PawelRski Thanks for getting back to me and for performing those steps. 

As mentioned before, differences between heart-rate readings on your device and on exercise equipment are likely due to wrist or hand position. Exercise machine pulse sensors provide an estimated heart rate, designed to give you an approximation of the number but Fitbit heart rate takes your personal data to estimated your heart rate.

When your heart beats, your capillaries expand and contract based on blood volume changes. To determine your heart rate, the optical heart-rate sensor in your Fitbit device flashes its green LEDs many times per second and uses light-sensitive photodiodes to detect these volume changes in the capillaries above your wrist. Then your device calculates how many times your heart beats per minute (bpm). We use green LEDS because they maximize the signal detected from the capillaries near the surface of the skin. The optical heart-rate sensor also uses infrared light to determine when the device is on your wrist to improve the accuracy of your heart-rate data.

It should be working just fine even if you're hand is a bit hairy, and feel free to test your Inspire 3 with other exercises.

Have a great day.

[PawelRski · Accepted solution]

A wee update. After restarting the device, making sure it's tight 2" above the wrist, the hr shows same reading as gym equipment. The only thing I would say it is a bit dalay (doesn't measure by elektro impulses as other equipment). So when heart rate goes up, fitbit shows that in like 5-10 sek delay. Not a problem  for me. 

What I would adjust, that when start manually excercise, screen should be always on, and for me- hr should be always the first display. Can't be really bother by digging in to options to switch on-off the "always screen on"