Heart rate accuracy and app

[Marksc]

Hello. I've gone from polar heart rate monitor and phone app to buying the surge Fitbit and app. The two big things for me is that the Fitbit heart rate is a lot lower reading compared to my polar. 

When I sprint on the treadmill my polar app says my heart rate is 170bpm and Fitbit 144bpm. Why is the Fitbit wrong. Monitoring heart rate is important to me so disappointed with Fitbit at the moment. 

Alao so the polar app shows current heart rate and calories burning during workout which is a live reading. Does the Fitbit do this because it only shows the summary information not live data. 

Thanks. 

[YojanaFitbit]

A warm welcome to the Fitbit Community @Marksc! Why don't you check this tips that will improve the readings on your Fitbit:

For all-day wear when you’re not exercising, your tracker should usually rest a finger’s width below your wrist bone and lay flat, just as you would wear a watch. Fitbit’s PurePulse heart rate tracking system is designed to be most accurate when the tracker is worn on the top of your wrist. 

For improved heart rate accuracy keep these tips in mind:

1. Experiment with wearing the tracker higher on your wrist during exercise. Because blood flow in your arm increases the farther up you go, moving the tracker up a couple inches can improve the heart rate signal. Also, many exercises such as push-ups cause you to bend your wrist frequently, which is more likely to interfere with the heart rate signal if the tracker is lower on your wrist.
   
2. Do not wear your tracker too tight; a tight band restricts blood flow, potentially affecting the heart rate signal. That being said, the tracker should also be slightly tighter (snug but not constricting) during exercise than during all-day wear.
3. With high-intensity interval training, P90X, boxing, or other activities where your wrist is moving vigorously and non-rhythmically, the movement may prevent the sensor from finding an accurate heart rate. Similarly, with exercises such as weight lifting or rowing, your wrist muscles may flex in such a way that the band tightens and loosens during exercise. Try relaxing your wrist and staying still briefly (about 10 seconds), after which you should see an accurate heart rate reading. Note that your tracker will still provide accurate calorie burn readings during these types of exercise by analyzing your heart rate trends over the course of the workout.

Note that if you remove your tracker but it keeps moving, for example if you put it in a pocket or backpack, the tracker may display an erroneous heart rate reading. To prevent this by turning off heart rate tracking when the tracker is not in use, log into your dashboard and go to Settings > Devices to turn your Heart Rate Tracking to "Off." 

I'll be around in case that you have questions about it! 

[GrahamRW]

OK, I have done all of the above with trying different band pressures and locations on my wrist to get an accurate reading, with no success - over a 12-month period. Accordingly I have gone back to my polar chest strap and watch. Maintaing the Surge at 3 fingers above your wrist at the right pressure is almost impossible when you are training hard and sweating. It simply keeps sliding down the wrist and becoming loose again. Even in the most appropriate spot for reading heartrate it still gives widely varying readings. The Surge is not suited for serious trainners/athletes. The innaccurate readings then go on to adversely affect the calories count so very little can be depended on. The only useful function I enjoy is the mapping of the run which I download onto the computer/phone when I return. However I cant depend on the heartrate readings when they are graphed.

[YojanaFitbit]

A warm welcome to the Fitbit Community @GrahamRW! Heart rate reading varies depending on several factors like movement, temperature, humidity, stress level, physical body position, caffeine intake, and medication. Try to wear your tracker tie enough to help it stay in the right place.  

Since your heart rate monitor seems broken or inaccurate to you after taking those recommendations into account, please reply with answers to the following questions so we can investigate further:

What were you doing when you noticed the problem? If you were exercising, specifically which types of exercise?

Were you wearing the tracker particularly tight or loose?

Please share any other information you think will be helpful.

I'll be looking forward to your new comments! 

[GrahamRW]

Hi Yojana

The heart rate monitor doesn¹t Œseem to be broken or inaccurate¹ to me. It
appears more that it is more suited to people who are not reliant on more
exact readings under a lot of pressure in their activity. I use it running
cross country and on hills and on countless occasions have tried wearing it
tighter or looser or in different positions. As discussed, if you put it say
at 3 fingers above the wrist and put it on tight enough not to move it
affects the reading. If you loosen it a bit to perhaps get a better reading
it then tends to slide back to the bottom of the wrist, particularly with
sweating and more active arm movements. The sweating itself also affects the
readings, i.e. The more sweat the less it picks up readings accurately even
if the watch doesn¹t move. The outcome of all this is that I don¹t really
know exactly when it is reading accurately on the various occasions.

I don¹t want to make an issue of it. I am simply stating that I don¹t find
the tracker suitable for me and several of my running friends have also
discontinued their use of the Surge tracker for the same reasons. I don¹t
know if new versions have improved this facility?

Kind regards

Graham

Moderator edit: Removed personal information.

[YojanaFitbit]

Good morning @GrahamRW! Nice to see you around. I really appreciate you're taking the time to clarify your point and for the details that you've sent, this is a really good feedback. Fitbit is always trying to provide excellent experience for all users, so sending this information is really helpful. 

Surge is water resistance so sweat shoudn't be an issue for you to have an accurate HR reading. I'll pass along this information but I suggest to contact Support so they can have this information as well. 

Keep up the super stepping! 

[Crossfitter1122]

I just got a charge 2 and have the same problem wirh accuracy during peak. I will have a 145 reading and 30 secs later it dropped to 100. Also the app doesnt pick up the peak. I wonder how often the rate gets stored in database. The main thing i was after was a good heart rate and a graph. The graph on the app gives no ability to zoom in to see more detail. 

[YojanaFitbit]

A warm welcome to the Fitbit Community @Crossfitter1122!  Thanks for posting your inquiry here. 

Please check the information above to make sure that you're wearing your Fitbit in a correct way. Also restart your Surge in case of a hardware issue. HR data is stored in your Fitbit Account during each synchronization. I'd like to know what type of activity you're performing when getting your Peak Zone?

You can see more details about your HR in the Fitbit.com Dashboard too.

Hope this helps!

[Chicagobears]

I just got my Charge 2. I wore it hiking(in Arizona) & I was getting inconsistent readings. I was sweating quite a bit, but that shouldn’t throw off a Fitbit. Any thoughts? Thanks 

[YojanaFitbit]

Glad to see you on board @Chicagobears! Congrats on your new Charge 2.

Thanks a million for sharing your feedback. If you're using your Fitbit for outdoor exercising or for workouts where your arms sweat you might want to take a look of these tips to maintain your Fitbit working as it should. We have to take in count the wearing tips too.  You can give it a try and then let me know if you're still having issues with your HR readings.

I'll be around. 

[jerund]

Hi,

I generally get very accurate readings except when I am in exercise mode.  For example, on my elliptical the watch auto recognizes the activity, and I monitor my heart rate both with a chest strap and with the FitBit (Ionic.)  On a stationary bike the Fitbit doesn't recognize that I'm working out, so I use  the Treadmill exercise mode.  I did that today and my heart rate went from about 85 to 66, lower than when I'm sleeping, which the bike's grips recorded 130-140.  Finally after several minutes it kicked up to 135, andstayed around there when I switched to another machine.  At other times it will start in a normal range and drop to about 70.  On the second machine today (Nustep, a sitting stepper with arm swings) my hands are higher compared to leaning down on the bike, so maybe that's a factor.  On a real bike, come to think of it, I don't get these drastic and sudden fall-offs using the bike mode.