Surge Heart rate monitor incorrect

[Nature_Eleven]

Hi, i have been using my Surge for three weeks now or so but the heart rate monitor seems very inaccurate. I compared it to a chestband of a cheap brand and fitbit always seemed to be a about 10% lower than the band at the same time, about an hour after my HIIT workout. These are HIIT sessions for 45 minutes in which im really pushing my limits. However, i cant recognize this in my monitoring: i have been in Cardio ratings for about 22 minutes in total in the past 14 days or so! What do i do to get an accurate reading? Heart rate is set to "On" at all times. I would expect to see lot more minutes spent in Cardio and Peak-zone.

Please advice what to do.

What i did to proof that there is something wrong: just keep on jumping for 10 seconds. On the monitor for my chestbelt i see the heart rating rise straight to around the 110 BPM while the surge sticks on 65 bpm max.... 😕

*EDIT* Changed the zones

*EDIT 2*

[shipo]

@Nature_Eleven, keep in mind it has been widly reported wrist based heart rate monitors, regardless of brand, are not terribly accurate when it comes to HIIT.

FWIW, I use my Surge for running and initially compared it to my old Garmin/Polar chest strap; the differences were within two or three beats per minute, either way.  Armed with that data I ditched my old setup in favor of my much more convenient Surge.

[Nature_Eleven]

Thanks for your advice, i understand that it is harder to measure heartrates for certain workouts like mine. I would like an opinion from fitbit self: there are all sorts of excercises (like workouts and weights) and for these apparently it is possible to do proper measurements right? And apart from that, i still need a rest every few excercises during HIIT training, it does seem right to me that i can expect from the heart rate monitor to at least give a proper update on my rate and not just stick around at 85 bpm while im literally gasping for air 😉

[shipo]

@Nature_Eleven, how do you wear your Surge?  I ask because when I first got mine I had some issues with inconsistent readings; I found by tightening the band down a notch or two to make sure the base of the tracker was snug to my wrist, the fluctuations were almost completely eliminated.  Now my heart rate tracking is so accurate it shows when I slow to a jog to say "Hi" to someone along my route; see image below from today's run where I slowed twice to have a brief chat:

Note #1: The first chat was a bit longer than the second, hence a greater drop in my heart rate.

Note #2: The other fluctuations were due to hills and wind.

[Nature_Eleven]

I wear it as suggesties, 2 or 3 vingers above the wristbone. I also tighten it one notch to prevent it from sliding down during exercises. I will give it a shot and try to rest my wrist for 10 seconds between exercises to see if the measurements keep up. Does anyone know if after this short break the measurements will be more accurate too or is just the measurement for these 10 resting seconds counted correctly?

[MariamV]

@Nature_Eleven welcome to the forums! Wow, high-intensity interval training is amazing and so beneficial for the health. Way to go!  

Just like @shipo said, 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. Also, the heart rate measurement shown is a five-minute average. For a minute-by-minute display for a particular workout, click that workout on your dashboard's Recent Exercise tile.

A restart is worth the try, follow these steps to restart your tracker:

1. Plug your charging cable into the USB port on your computer or any UL-certified USB wall charger.
2. Insert the other end into the port on the back of your Fitbit Charge or Fitbit Charge HR. Your tracker will begin charging.
3. Press and hold the button for 10 to 12 seconds until you see the Fitbit icon and a version number (e.g. "V122").
4. Let go of the button.
5. Unplug your tracker from the charging cable.

Keep me posted!