Use HR strap data (instead of optical) during activities?

The issue I'm trying to solve is that, in the Connect app (either on the web or my phone) my daily heart rate information is from the optical sensor only. This becomes a problem when I'm doing Zwift workouts because the optical sensor is pretty terrible during activities like this. Garmin will list the activity and its associated heart rate information but then also show the optical data from the same time and they're often 40 or 50 bpm different.

What I'd like to do is use any available external HR data as the default/override data during activities that have HR data so all of my stats on Connect are accurate; HR, Intensity minutes, etc.

0 hhasert 2 months ago

You can use other Bluetooth or ANT+ heartrate devices that will override the optical sensor when they (auto) connect to the watch. I use a Fitcent hearttrate sensor (chest strap) which is not that costly to add and works perfectly. See:

www8.garmin.com/.../GUID-1E3CECCF-0343-431C-95F0-5716E0341C75.html

0 Thatnateguy 2 months ago in reply to hhasert

I have an HRM-Fit strap that works great - it's what I use to send HR data to Zwift during workouts. The issue is that my daily HR trends, intensity minutes, etc. ignore that data and instead use the optical data that's not very good/accurate during these activities.

0 hhasert 2 months ago in reply to Thatnateguy

Let me try to understand, since I use the watch and the MyHomeFit App (connected to my X-Trainer) to record data. I use the ANT+ connection of the strap to my watch and the BT connection to the MyHomeFit app on my Android device (i can use ANT+ on both of course). Both use the same source for heartrate and that works fine. Are you using such a setup ? Both sync with Garmin Connect (the watch directly, MyHomeFit through a web sync with the Garmin site).

The strap can only be used during activities, since Garmin only connects when an activity is started. You should start an activity during the exercise and use the strap to record the heartrate.

I checked the specs for the HRM-Fit, it supports ANT+ and should be able to connect to multiple devices. The specs say 3 on Bluetooth and unlimited for ANT+.