Way too low heart rate tracking for working out.

[Boshop]

I just got finished lifting weights for about 50 minutes. My surge told me then my average heart rate was about 85. Normally I wear a Polar heart rate monitor on my average is usually between 115 and 125. Any thoughts on why the reading is so off?

[MariamV]

Thanks for joining us @Boshop! Keep in mind that your Surge's HR algorithms were designed for a whole day tracking and the Polar strap is for specific workouts and periods of time. You might want to restart your Surge by doing the following:

1. Press and hold the Home and Select buttons (left and bottom right) on your Fitbit Surge for 10 to 15 seconds, until you see the screen flash or start to dim.
2. Let go of the buttons.
3. After your screen turns completely off, wait 10 seconds and press the Home button to turn your Surge back on.

After doing that keep an eye to your HR behavior. Also, I've found a way of testing your HR. Click here for more info about it (even if this has been posted in a Charge HR thread it's applicable to the Surge as both trackers have an HR monitor).

Another thing to consider is making sure you are wearing your tracker correctly. Try with placing your Surge higher on your wrist; because blood flow in your arm increases the farther up you go, moving the tracker up a couple inches can be helpful. Also, make sure you're not wearing your tracker too tightly; a tight band restricts blood flow, potentially affecting the heart rate signal. After a short wait, you should see your correct heart rate again. If this reading persists, try changing your Heart Rate setting from "Auto," which means the heart rate tracker is usually active when you're moving, to "On," which means the heart rate tracker is always active. Then, 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.

Let me know how it goes, I'll be around!