Garmin

214 watchers

Big_G Nov 2022 10:11am, 15 Nov 2022 2,153 posts	0 Big_G Rosehip, some of the text on mine doesn’t make sense sometimes either. I can sometimes get the training widget saying ‘Overtrained’ with the HRV one indicating that my training is balanced (I can’t remember the wording but it’s something like that). I have to say though, when I’ve been unwell, the HRV and Stress indicators do seem to track well with how I’m feeling. I had a bad chest infection and it tracked well through the infection when I was feeling particularly grotty, and also in the few days afterwards as I started to feel better.
Rosehip Nov 2022 10:34am, 15 Nov 2022 27,136 posts	0 Rosehip Just synced Garmin and laughed at the ‘stress’ graph - the steroid injection I had in my hand this morning is very obvious
Dave A Nov 2022 10:55am, 15 Nov 2022 23,641 posts	0 Dave A Question. As I can’t be bothered to do my own research or search elsewhere. I have a Fenix 6 pro solar. I have recently started trying heart rate training. How accurate have people found the wrist based monitor to be? Would there be any benefit in getting a compatible chest strap (more accurate)?
chunkywizard Nov 2022 10:56am, 15 Nov 2022 15,154 posts	0 chunkywizard Dave, Garmin OHR works differently for different people. For me, with a tight wrist strap, it's about as good as a chest strap. YMMV
K5 Gus Nov 2022 11:00am, 15 Nov 2022 5,491 posts	0 K5 Gus I think most people find it pretty accurate at rest. Things that can make it more inaccuarte include - hairy skin, tattoos, skin pigmentation. When exercising it varies, for some it's still pretty accurate, for others can be wildly inaccurate. I'm in the latter camp - main reasons probably size or shape of wrist ( ie if it's not got a good seal, then even when tight, when moving about light getting in and disrupting things ).
SPR Nov 2022 11:12am, 15 Nov 2022 38,909 posts	0 SPR Wrist HR doesn't work well for me, you just have to try and see. Maybe with some side by side testing. Big G - That indicates they are working differently. Probably worth googling to see how it's working. My understanding is sleeping tracking on Garmin still needs work. I don't know if there's a gold standard sleep tracker. I know mine has me asleep when I'm awake sometimes (usually when I wake up during the night or in the morning before I actually want to get up). It does generally get falling asleep right.
flanker Nov 2022 11:18am, 15 Nov 2022 20,752 posts	0 flanker I wrist-based OHR is OK for daily monitoring, but less accurate when exercising, especially when working hard. Unless you want the running dynamics from the chest strap I'd recommend an arm-based optical strap as they are much more comfortable and IMO more accurate. We've both got the Wahoo Tickr fit as it does 24hrs+ which is handy for ultras and it's got a silly name
Dave A Nov 2022 11:19am, 15 Nov 2022 23,642 posts	0 Dave A Thanks for the replies. Best chest strap? Garmin or a different, but compatible make?
tipsku Nov 2022 11:33am, 15 Nov 2022 877 posts	0 tipsku I have a Forerunner 745 with an optical wrist HRM and while I find that quite accurate at rest or during low intensity activities such as yoga, pilates and walking, it can be as much as 30 bpm out when running. Once during an easy run , i.e. HR around 130-135 bpm as measured by the chest strap, the battery of that strap failed and Garmin switched to wrist HRM. Suddenly, my HR was up around 160 bpm even though I was still running the same pace, nice and easy. When I stopped and counted my HR for 15 seconds and multiplied by 4, I got 4x33=132 so 160 was definitely wrong. During intervals or in races, it tends to be closer to the actual HR but then underestimates HR more often than overestimates it, e.g. giving me 165 when it should be 175+. My friend with a FR 245 has the opposite problem. When she runs hard, her OHR only gives her walking HR around 100 when she should have 160. She's racing an all-out 5k and has an average of 103 or so. I agree with SPR, sleep tracking still needs work. It sometimes thinks that I'm falling asleep while I'm watching TV. Okay, I'm not moving, I'm just sitting around and my HR goes down to 50ish but that doesn't mean I'm actually asleep. I would also like to have more than 1 sleep per day, the normal sleep at night and then a nap during the day. Garmin counts just one of the two. So when I'm napping in the afternoon, it sometimes overrides the sleep at night if I didn't have a good night of sleep, I was tossing and turning at lot. The breathing rate is another feature that needs work. Sometimes, I get 15 breaths per minute during yoga, when I know that I'm slowly breathing in an out and shouldn't have more than 8 or 9.
tipsku Nov 2022 11:36am, 15 Nov 2022 878 posts	0 tipsku Dave A, if you want all the running dynamics, I'd recommend getting the Garmin Run HRM. If you don't care about those, you could just go for a compatible model. Garmin is quite open to pairing watches with HRMs of other brands. My dad uses his Polar HRM with Garmin. A friend of mine uses a Wahoo Tickr and that works, too.