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Resting Heart Rate is estimated automatically sporadically and widely inaccurately

2520991
over 2 years ago

I am using Garmin's Edge 1040 cycling computer with a chest heart rate monitor. Over the last week, Garmin estimated resting heart rate based on a cycling activity, for two out of several such activities. The estimate was approximately equal to the lowest heart rate during cycling, and so completely inaccurate. It screwed up InsideTracker connected to Garmin Connect and Fitness Age calculations within Garmin (and maybe more). Can I delete resting heart rate estimates from Garmin Connect, without deleting the corresponding cycling activities? Can I stop Garmin making automatic resting heart rate estimates? Garmin also automatically estimated sleep length, even though I have not used the heart rate monitor during sleep. Can I disable Garmin's sleep estimates, too? The Garmin Connect web app and the Garmin Connect iPhone app seem to show the same data. Manually editing the resting heart rate in heart rate user settings on Edge 1040 does not help Garmin's Fitness Age calculations and does nothing to Garmin's automatic resting heart rate estimates.

Thank you, Andrej

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    You need to wear a Garmin device with a HRM 24/24 and 7/7 to get the right 7 day avg. Resting HR value. If not possible wearing the HRM during the night, you need to wear a HRM at least during the resting periods.

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to trux

    yes, i can see that this may be required for an accurate resting heart rate estimate. but i can't do that (i don't have a Garmin watch, and i don't want to wear a chest HRM all the time). so i don't want Garmin to estimate my resting heart rate incorrectly, as a result invalidating its own Fitness Age calculations. In addition, it gets distributed to other apps (like InsideTracker) that then get confused by Garmin's incorrect estimate, too. This is a new behavior, and it is sporadic. It did it for only two of several activities over the last week; and the code does not seem to have a sanity check in it either (my estimated resting heart rate was 131!!!!). Is there really no way for Garmin to simply rely on the manual estimated entered on the biking computer in the user heart rate settings (where heart rate zones are handled)?

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to 2520991

    I am having the exact same issue. Have you had any luck adjusting your inaccurate resting heart rate data?

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to 5210216

    no, but i have not tried anything other than posting here.

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to 2520991

    Thanks for the reply.

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    I am experiencing the exact same issue. I am using the Edge 830 and 1040 for cycling. So I just record those cycling activities. Since last week garmin connect now calculates a resting heart rate based on those activities. I don’t use a garmin watch. Don’t want to either. Other calculated values like fitness age are also off now and estimated way to high because garmin connect thinks the resting heart rate is to high. You can set your resting heart rate in the heart rate zone page but garmin doesn’t use that for those calculations. I am using an Apple Watch that calculates my heart rate during the day but it’s a one way data transmission between garmin connect and Apple health but not the other way around so garmin can not use the heart rate values recorded by the Apple Watch.

    seems garmin introduced this functionality recently in an update of the connect app because I did not experience this before.

    is garmin responding to this topic?

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    Identical issue, garmin any workaround please?!

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to 8567547526a24d0d81521c1293e6b382

    I am having the same problem too except I am a new user (3 weeks) so always had my data wrong from the get go. Very disappointed at Garmin’s integration with iOS. I essentially had to disable it completely as it kept writing wrong/incomplete data to Apple Health. Now I realize it inputs wrong estimates even on its own ecosystem.

    Very frustrating as this would be so easy to fix: instead of calculating the lower heart rate at any given 30 minutes as it does today, just account any heart rate as resting heart rate  whenever the speed is near zero. Or do it based on cadence when available. The current formula is simply a disaster so it would be hard to do anything worse for this data point.


    Could Garmin please follow up on this with an official statement? I also raised a support ticket regarding my problems with iOS and got no response at all. Seems like the company regularly ignores user feedback from what I can tell so far. What a shame.

  • 0 over 2 years ago

    +1  ... I know they want to sell fitness trackers and watches, but there should at least be an option to set your RHR.

    It measures mine from my structured workouts in ERG mode, but I'm never "resting" so it's inaccurate and skews all the other metrics as the OP said. 

  • 0 over 2 years ago in reply to ti-buron

    You could start the activity a few minutes before the start of the physical workout, while you stay still and just relax.