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wrist heart rate without activity - linked to arm movement?

ziopaper

Hello,

I understand that the wrist heart rate is set to conserve power and so if you do not start an activity, it doesn't measure as often as if you have started an activity. We all want longer battery life. Agreed

If I go on a walk without starting an activity, after a while I see the heart rate on the face of the watch going up (120 for example instead of 65 when not walking). This is what I would expect. I do not expect the watch to react immediately to my increased heart rate (because we are saving power and I did NOT start an activity). All good here

BUT. I often do stairmasters at the gym without starting an activity. I do stairmaster hard. For 20-30 minutes. I am totally drenched, I am breathing hard. Every time the watch doesn't bulge from 75ish bpm. My real heart rate is 168-180 confirmed by myself counting on my throat (for 10sec or 30 or anything else) and by the sensors on the stairmaster itself

The question is not about discussing if I am making a mistake counting the pulses myself or if the sensor on the stairmaster is not accurate, I am 100% sure that I am well above 160bpm

Is the wrist sensor not picking up the higher heart rate because I am not moving my arms? Is that linked? A higher heart rate when walking is detected. It is not on the stairmaster. Even if the watch is not measuring as often as it does during an activity, 20-30 minutes is PLENTY of time for the watch to see the change. The moment I start an activity (indoor bike for example) it jumps up to 170ish in few seconds

, can you confirm if the wrist sensor (with no activity started) doesn't measure anything if there is no movement detected, even with an obvious difference as in the case above?

Yes, I obviously can start an activity, but that is not what the question is about. If I go running or walking without starting the activity, the HR on the face of the watch works (even if slow response and not as accurate). On the stairmasters it doesn't. 

It is a curiosity and not super critical but it is obviously wrong and it messes up also calorie counting/body battery etc etc (if you care about it) 

thank you!

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  • 0

    The algorithm in the watch will always try to find a pattern. If your real bpm is 160 but the watch thinks you are resting, it will conclude that each 2 oscillations in your blood flow equals 1 heart beat = 80 bpm. And won't activate a high power sensor mode cos it still "thinks" you are resting. Thats my guess.

  • 0

    I think Garmin also has no idea how it works Smiley

  • 0

    Enable Move IQ if you haven't already? At least for me that seems to make the watch more sensitive to movement, and power up the senor for better "daily use tracking".

  • 0 in reply to 9970217

    that's an interesting possibility. It must be something like that. I would think that after several minutes it should think "hey...maybe he is not resting". I discussed this with somebody that works for a competitor and they told me that gps and accelerometer are taken into consideration to detect an activity, but if the HR reading stays  higher, they assume it's a stationary bike or something like that. So it is recognized anyway

  • 0 in reply to oBuTTuSo

    thank you, I just double checked and it is enabled

  • 0

    Like you have already stated, it's true that the heart rate sensor will be more accurate if you start an activity on the device. It will be even more accurate if it knows which type of activity you are performing, because it knows what to expect based off of your activity profile (the algorithm will be different for cycling vs walking, etc.). Move IQ could help for walks, but it probably wouldn't pick up an activity if you are not swinging your arm on a stair master. 

    I definitely understand your concern if your heart rate is elevated for 20+ minutes and your watch is not reflecting accordingly. Are you holding onto the rails? It's possible that it could have a hard time detecting it if you are squeezing the rails and restricting blood flow. I would suggest making sure the sensor is clean, moving the watch higher up on your wrist, and test out having your arm at your side and not holding onto the rail. 

    Ultimately, as The Heart Rate Sensor on My Garmin Watch Is Not Accurate states, it is best practice to manually start activities on the watch for best accuracy. If my suggestions for the stair master did not make a difference, please reach out to Product Support for further investigation.

  • 0 in reply to Garmin-Sierra

    thank you 

    no squeezing on the rail, It is most likely completely linked to the lack of movement. I assume the same would happen on a stationary bike. 

    I'll reach out to product support. thank you

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