Anyone else getting low resting HR with their watch?

Former Member over 7 years ago

I switched from a Vivoactive HR+ a few weeks back and in that time the watch has been giving me lower and lower resting heart rates. It seems to have settled now down around the low 30's. With my old Vivoactive I was more like low 40's which I believe. For that matter I was at the doctor's office and they read my HR at 41 with some gizmo which exactly matched my Vivoactive at the time.

I know the sensor needs to be reasonably tight and I do have it tight as I can comfortably go. I don't see any light peaking out the side and I really couldn't wear it tighter. For that matter, I also shaved a little spot on my wrist to keep hair out of the way too.

It seems like it's also reasonably accurate for workouts. If I touch the heart rate handles, I usually get something pretty close to the watch.

0 a_kuehne over 7 years ago

I definitely get more "low spikes" compared to my old Fitbit, i.e. my HR will read as 45 when I'm more at 55. Then again, those low values were never shown as my resting HR.

0 1-Ghost over 7 years ago

I noticed the same thing. I moved from a VAHR and get much lower spikes and lower RHR on the Fenix 5. Also get more dropouts (no HR detected) where as my VAHR was always on point.

0 Former Member over 7 years ago

I have the opposite issue. My RHR displayed by watch or in connect is way to high, 65-70.
But in the morning or during the day, my HR gets low as 40-45. Its not just peak but steady HR.
So not sure how F5 or connect is calculationg and displaying the RHR...

0 Former Member over 7 years ago

I'd *assume* the issue is related to the low profile OHR sensor. The way the old one dug into my arm, I'm sure it was more securely fitting with my arm. I haven't worn my metal band much but that doesn't keep it very tight either.

As it sits, my average now has dropped to 31. Not a huge deal because it seems reasonably accurate with activity. But kinda annoying. For the money, I assumed the sensor would be as accurate as my Vivoactive was.

0 LTomBerry over 7 years ago

Mine gets into the low 30s almost daily. My 235 did the same thing. A few times the 235 even dropped out while I was on the couch, presumably because it can't measure below 30. For what it's worth, I have measured 34 while wearing the strap so it's probably not that far off.
The optical sensor does not get a totally accurate R-R interval like a chest strap does, so maybe it misses a beat sometimes.
Also I'm sure some of us endurance athletes have some form of Athletic Heart Syndrome where the heartrate might actually be that low.