Heart rate accuracy on Inspire 2 depending of exercise type

[savagerider]

In have an Inspire 2 now, but this also happened with my Inspire HR. If I choose my exercise label as "Circuit Training" or "Workout" I can get into the Cardio or Peak Zone with not much effort. If I choose any other exercise labels I struggle to get into the lower cardio zone, or maintain a fat burn zone, without strenuous activity. Why does my heart rate register differently depending on the exercise label I choose? If it was just a matter of heart rate being off in general, I might try all the restart information listed. There is just a type of exercise differential, exertion being the same, that gives me a different heart rate, and I would like to know why.

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[YojanaFitbit]

Hi there, @savagerider. Welcome to the Community Forums. Thanks for sharing the details about the issue with your Inspire 2. 

Differences between heart-rate readings from different workouts might be due to wrist or hand position. Make sure the back of your device is in contact with your wrist and that your band is snug. Take note that depending on the exercise that you're performing you can get your heart rate higher or lower rates, overall doing a more strenuous exercise generally raises a person's heart rate faster compared to doing an exercise that is only moderately intense.

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:

• Wear your Fitbit device on top of your wrist, and make sure the back of the device is in contact with your skin.
• When you’re not exercising, wear your device a finger’s width above your wrist bone.

• During exercise, wear your device a bit tighter and higher for an improved fit. The band should be snug but not constricting (a tight band restricts blood flow, potentially affecting the heart-rate signal). 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. 

[savagerider]

Let me make it clear. If I wake up in the morning and the first thing I do is choose “Circuit” for my exercise type, and walk inside my house for 10 minutes at a leisurely stroll pace, I can get 18 minutes of Cardio/Peak Active Zone minutes. If I wake up in the morning and the first thing I do is choose “Walk” for my exercise type, and walk inside my house for 10 minutes at a leisurely stroll pace, I get 0 minutes of Active Zone minutes because I never get into the “Fat Burn” Active Zone minutes. Same time of day, same starting resting heart rate, same environment, same area of my arm, with the only difference being the exercise type chosen on my tracker. I have had a tracker for three years and I know how to wear it. I don’t see anything in the reply that addresses or answers my original question.

[YojanaFitbit]

@Marg1959 I appreciate you had checked the information I sent you. Thank you for the clarification of what is happening with your Inspire 2.

At this moment, I’ve reached the limits of what I can do for you here on the public community forums. The best way to get help for this problem is to chat with us online or give us a call. Click here to get connected.

We hope your issue is solved soon. 

[Diatoday]

Hi, Savage Rider,

Did you get an answer after you called or chatted? Just curious. 

[savagerider]

Only got a stupid form reply which seemed to ignore the information I posted about my issue.

Sent from my iPad

[Diatoday]

Grrrrr. Tech Support can clearly be improved. 😟