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Indoor Rowing + optical hr

Former Member over 6 years ago

Hi!

Today i compared the Heart Rate Reading on my indoor Rowing machine with a Chester Straps and the optical Heart Rate Reading delivered by my fr645...

i am realy dissapointed about the optical Hr, Reading are about 20bpm lower than with Chester strap.

what is your experience?

0 SAHO over 6 years ago

Welcome to the club.
Optical HR is basically useless for such activities.
Yes, there are some individual differences, but at the end of the day your only option is to use a chest strap if you rely on accurate hr during exercise.

0 ares952 over 6 years ago

Optical HR is reliable for running or biking or some kind of cardio for a longer time. This is my experience. It is reliable if you are resting too. For strength, hiking you can not rely on it. E.g. during strength training, it shows me e.g. 60bpm even during squats, push ups, pull ups etc. No sense.

0 jamesxp over 5 years ago

Might be an issue with the 645 but I've had the same issues with all HR watches and rowing. I posted on this thread;

https://forums.garmin.com/outdoor-recreation/outdoor-recreation/f/fenix-5-series/145484/indoor-rowing---heart-rate-tracking-locks-in

0 tess over 5 years ago in reply to jamesxp

jamesxp said:
Might be an issue with the 645 but I've had the same issues with all HR watches and rowing.

It's not an issue with the 645 per se. From Garmin's support website:

Certain Types of Activities Can Affect Heart Rate Performance

Activities that cause flexing of the wrist (ex. rowing, weight lifting, or gripping a tennis racket) may create an effect similar to wearing the watch too tightly and restrict blood flow. When this occurs the watch may have a difficult time detecting an accurate heart rate.