Exercise zones incorrect

[kristielee_86]

I recorded a Pilates session today. It was dynamic so heart rate inducing however my new sense 2 tells me that I was below zones the whole time and no active minutes recorded for the whole

50 minutes. This is the first exercise I have recorded since receiving it. 

[t.parker]

The HR monitoring seems to be as bad as in original Sense.

[kristielee_86]

I’ve since logged another Pilates session and the same thing happened. I haven’t made it to spin class this week so I’d like to see how it goes then. 

what has made you come to the above conclusion may I ask? Do you have a sense? I’m wondering if I’ll end up wanting to send the sense 2 back if the HR monitor doesn’t work.

[t.parker]

All the tests I posted in this thread and many more I have done for different activities which I haven't posted. If you want good HR during activities, Sense and Sense 2 are rather poor choices.

[t.parker]

@kristielee_86 just for you, I gathered 3 recent activities I've done. 13km run (just finished) and yesterday's indoor rowing and bodyweight strength (core exercises - 3 sets of plank, leg raises and superman):

Orange - Sense 2, Blue - PolarH10

In the strength, you can clearly count sets lookong at blue (PolarH10 chest strap) and see patterns in HR due to executing the same exercises. I hope that answers your question.

[kristielee_86]

Thanks I appreciate the information.
Which tracker do you recommend for accurate HR during activities?

[t.parker]

Depends on activities. Some are easier to track than others. For steady state activities older Fitbits probably work better (before Sense/Versa 3). Exercises with lots of irregular movements are harder to track and most of trackers will struggle. For that, the only sensible solution is tracker/watch that can connect to external HR monitors which no Fitbit is capable of (and almost every brand has models that can do it).

[kristielee_86]

Great,
Thank you for answering my questions.

[LZeeW · Accepted solution]

@kristielee_86   Your post caught my eye.  I noticed that you mentioned active minutes in your first post.  I looked at your profile and saw that you also posted about the Charge 3.  If you upgraded from a Charge 3 to the Sense 2, you need to know that the Charge 3 gives active minutes and the Sense 2 gives active zone minutes.  They use different equations and active zone minutes need a higher heart rate before entering the fat burn/cardio/peak zones.  How do I track my heart rate with my Fitbit device?   Based on my age, my fat burn starts at 76 for active minutes, but 91 for active zone minutes.  If you upgraded from a Charge 3, this might explain some of what you are seeing.

I want to add that I agree with @t.parker about the heart rate accuracy.  Other independent reviewers reported similar results.  The Sense 2 looks like it has the same heart rate monitor as the original Sense.  Before you make a final decision on your Sense 2, please try your spin class and make sure you aren't confusing active minutes with active zone minutes.

[kristielee_86]

Hello.
That is very observant of you. And also very helpful. Thank you for taking
the time to clarify that for me.

The sense 2 auto-recognised a walk around my property yesterday (lots of
steep inclines) and recorded active zone minutes.

I’ll keep going with it and in the meantime gather more info about how it
works.

Thanks again.

[LZeeW]

@kristielee_86   In a nutshell, the CDC and WHO updated exercise recommendations a few years ago.  Both recommend 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise per week or some combination of the two.  The CDC also changed it's heart rate zones for moderate (fat burn) and vigorous (cardio).  Active zone minutes give you 1x the number of minutes in the fat burn zone and 2x the number of minutes in the cardio and peak zones.  This makes it easier track if you want to make sure you reach the minimum.

[HydeParkBooks]

The Charge 4 is not any better I am constantly told I had below zones after I worked out no matter how I worked out even if I sweated