what's up with the heart rate

[MadBeet]

Hello!

I just tried to do an elliptical session with my new Sense 2.

The elliptical machine reads heart rate; I was working hard and it read 170ish bpm while my Sense was reading 90ish bpm. I was working hard and feel the 170ish was the accurate one.

So what's up with my Sense way too low reading?

[t.parker · Accepted solution]

Answers are here and here .

[MadBeet]

Hello!

So that answered my question partially.

I did more tests. Now it's getting the correct heart rate zone.

I do two things to get a better reading; not a perfect reading, but it's good enough for me:

1) Before my exercise session, I clean up underneath the watch with my thumb.

2) And I put it back on higher on my arm; roughly 2 fingers width from my wrist bone.

Now I get appropriate Active Zone Minutes.

[t.parker]

Correct AZM doesn't indicate correct HR. Incorrect HR can still deliver correct AZM so better not to mix up two different things. The original Sense forum is full of posts from people who thought they solved the issue of bad HR 🙂 I usually get the correct AZM but the HR is wrong. The problem with AZM is that it treats two zones the same way giving an x2 multiplier. Using my own zones, my Cardio starts at 132bpm, and Peak at 168bpm. It is enough that the sensor reads 132bpm to give me AZMx2. My real HR may be much higher anywhere between 132 and whatever my current max is (now, 190bpm so it gives 58 beats range to get AZMx2 ). That reduces the level of HR accuracy needed to get correct (or almost correct) AZM hence AZM does not indicate accuracy.

It happened yesterday that I got such a result from Sense 2:

Orange - Sense 2, Blue - PolarH10

There are 3 spikes but otherwise, this is the HR quality I'd expect from the wrist sensor during steady running. It's pretty much spot on. Guess what I did differently 🙂 The answer is nothing. It just worked out of nowhere. I didn't wear the watch any special way, didn't do anything special at all. It's 1 accurate run in 18 runs since I received Sense 2. If I had a result of 9 out of 10 or even 8 out of 10 runs being accurate I'd consider Sense 2 accurate (and maybe that would indicate finding some solution to bad HR) but 1 out of 18 is just a random coincidence. Exactly like it's been with the original Sense. And I don't even discuss other activities like cycling, rowing, and weights. Also, because I bought Sense 2 during recovery week, all my runs don't include intense intervals (next week I go back to structured running workouts). So there were lot more activities up to date and only 1 that for some unknown reason (like the original Sense) just worked.

[MadBeet]

I get it; correct AZM does not equal correct heart rate.

All I'm saying is correct AZM is what I care about.

I don't need perfect HR.