Sense 2 heart rate readings.

[Holidaymart]

Hi all, I’ve upgraded from a Versa lite to sense 2. I now seem unable to reach peak when exercising when I’d be there for 30/40% of the time on the versa. Most of what I do now reads as fat burn, hardly any cardio and virtually no peak. I’m 67, thought I was ok fitness wise, do personal trainer and three exercise classes a week but my readings have fallen through the floor, was my Versa wrong or is this sense 2 not reading correctly, any ideas please?

[Guy_ · Accepted solution]

Hi @Holidaymart  - this is a known issue, the Versa Lite was probably correct.

See elsewhere in the forums, such as Sense 2 HR accuracy 

[LZeeW]

@Holidaymart   I have some more information for you to consider.  The Versa Lite awarded active minutes when it was released.  A firmware update in 2020 or so changed it to active zone minutes.  Did you get this firmware update?  The Sense 2 awards active zone minutes.  The heart rate thresholds for active minutes and active zone minutes are different.  Your peak heart rate threshold can differ by 10 bpm or more using the two different methods.  This difference alone will explain your experience -- if you didn't update to active zone minutes.

If your Versa Lite updated to active zone minutes, then there is a good chance that it was overestimating your heart rate.  My background is physiology.  Your self description is ok, fitness wise, but being able to exercise with 30-40% of the time above peak is consistent with an elite athlete.  For example, marathon runners are known to run at 80% of their max heart rate.

The only way to be sure is to monitor your heart rate with a chest strap.  It uses your ECG, not an optical heart rate monitor.

[Holidaymart]

Many thanks LZeeW, my Versa did update to zones, my zone minutes per day were equally high, beyond what I was doing for sure, see below as an example of my Versa readings, now, with the sense, I’m unable to attain peak, cardio is minimum and I appear to just coast in fat burn, but the workout intensity hasn’t changed. I’m pretty sure the Versa was over estimating but the sense seems unable to recognise when I’m putting the work in, I think I’ll return the sense as it can’t do an ecg during exercise anyway, which is what I’d hoped I’d be getting, thanks for the info.

immf

[Triletics]

@Holidaymart no watch can do ECG during exercise. You'd need to get a watch that can pair with chest straps (which also solves any issues with accuracy).

[Holidaymart]

I’m learning all the time it seems, thanks for that information, also for taking the time to respond,