HR too high, super too high >200bpm

Since many month, i'm experiencing some too high HR measurements with the embedded HR sensor, and only with Run activity. I've never seen this in cycle, that i'm more use to practice.
This morning it was far more too high for a smooth early morning run with more than 200bpm and my 45 years old :p
Such values are impossible and if you look at the HR curve attached, it's increasing almost constantly when i've kept the same easy pace of ~5'10"/km.

Anybody experiencing the same too high phenomenon HR with Run activity ? I've probably to ask for a Garmin change as my watch has no more than one year and is experiencing as well the cable connection issue. Thanks for your opinion/advise.
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0 sis651 over 7 years ago

Optic HR sensor is not really reliable. If you need reliable heart rate reading use a chest strap. Just after that you can be sure your heart rate is really not above 200. :D

It showed about 5 bpm higher than my chest strap while running. But haven't seen so high with optic sensor, even when it should display so high. :D

0 mcalista over 7 years ago

The Optical Heart Rate sensor in the watch works by measuring the light reflected back to the sensor with the changes in blood flow with each heart beat. But if external light enters the sensor, it messes with the measurement.

The most common cause of OHR measurement problems is poor positioning and placement of the watch. To ensure a good "seal" against external light, the watch band should be snug, and the watch placed on the fleshy part of the wrist, away from the wrist bone (this is higher than most people typically wear a watch).

With running in particular, the arm movement and a loose watch can result in the watch moving and external light entering the sensor in a rythymic way, causing the watch to pick up your cadence as well as your heart rate - typically this shows up as very high heart rates. Personally, I find I need to have the band one notch tighter when running than I do during the rest of the day, and with the band tight, my heart rate is within a couple of beats of a chest strap measurement.

0 Former Member over 7 years ago

Optic HR sensor is not really reliable. But if you don;t like chest strap, use the Scosche Rhythm+ and wear is around your upper arm.

0 MStewart40 over 7 years ago

Personally, I have totally given up on the HR feature with these watches. They replaced my first one when it took on average 45 mins to get a somewhat of a close hr reading,I have my second watch now, it's worse than the first one after 1 hour of hard mountain biking it topped out at 116 bpm where with the chest strap I'm running upwards of 170's. To top it off the replacement watch loses connection with the connect app at least twice a day requiring rebooting of the watch to get it to connect again. I had the Vivoactive HR before and I really have to say it was better than the Fenix 5X. Totally agree with Stephen the Scosche Rhythm is a great little device that is very accurate when tested against a chest strap.

0 bglover11 over 7 years ago

Personally, I have totally given up on the HR feature with these watched.

The built in HR on the 3HR as well as 5 series is pretty much just a novelty feature... If you need factual HR data you're forced to use a strap in my experience

Additionally in my experience the GPS is almost useless for pacing as well without a paired footpod or speed sensor on a bike. Good stuff

0 samyterje over 7 years ago

Thx all for your responses and especially details from Mcalista ! This is probably the right root cause as i never experience such bad result when cycling.
To be honest, I don't care a lot about exact BPM but i like to understand and know how to use my sport toy :p
If one day i'll train seriously with HR, i'll buy a chest Garmin strap or this interesting Scosche Rhythm+ ... But Garmin has more data sets for runners !

0 Former Member over 5 years ago

I experienced the same problem. While running at a ridiculous low pace the watch gives me a 160 bpm HR. Measuring with another device my HR was 20 bpm lower. So HR on the fenix 5 is definitely not accurate!

0 Skssh over 4 years ago

I've experienced the same thing and the colder it is, the worse it is. The main purpose I bought the watch was for the wrist based heart rate feature. If I bought a car and had to let it "warm up" (as recommended by Garmin, this is hidden in the Support Center, not in the instructions that came with the watch) for 20 minutes (minimum for my watch, 30 if its cold out) before it was usable, it would be classified as LEMON under the Lemon Laws of Illinois for automobiles. Garmin should be upfront and ethical with the consumer about the watches capabilities. We wouldn't accept this from a car, house, TV, computer but its acceptable here? Apple watch, here I come!