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Sep 2018
11:09am, 3 Sep 2018
6,316 posts
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The_Saint
J2R. I have seen people who think that the watch should work when not actually seated on the wrist above the protruding wrist bone so no I don't trust what the average punter's claims. I have had people swear that a watch will not do basic functions that are listed in the manual until I have quoted the page number. I have seen people complain bitterly in online discussions how stupid it is to have to save an activity before starting a new one as this will lose the previous activity because it disappears somewhere.
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Oct 2018
12:04pm, 9 Oct 2018
13,324 posts
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Chrisull
Ok I recently did a run with two different Garmins, one synced with the chest strap, one synced with the optical wrist monitor. I followed the advice on where best to wear them. Thought it was worth sharing the results here.
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Oct 2018
12:06pm, 9 Oct 2018
13,325 posts
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Chrisull
So the wrist based one, is, as many have said, and also in my opinion, not as accurate as the chest one. It seems to drift in and out, for reasons I haven't yet fathomed. Also it seems to start with a higher HR then I actually have. Here's the graph for a 5 mile run I did up a few hills and a back:
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Oct 2018
12:08pm, 9 Oct 2018
13,327 posts
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Chrisull
The chest strap started with the more accurate readings, but the static attacked in the second and third segments before it settled down again. So the 167 max is a static induced outlier.
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Oct 2018
12:13pm, 9 Oct 2018
5,779 posts
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larkim
That matches my experience too. In terms of the average per mile BPM they are very similar - certainly interchangeable. And in some respects the static issue with chest straps causes me more problems than some slight inaccuracies from an optical one given that on the few occasions when I've used an optical one it has worked fine.
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Oct 2018
12:14pm, 9 Oct 2018
13,328 posts
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Chrisull
So to clarify, this is the same run, same moment in time, two Garmins.
On pic 1) I don't believe my max was 143. It was over that (as shown in the optical one). In the second my max was under 167 (as shown on the strap). My max would have been between 149 and 154 given the lack of oomph I was giving on hills, but enough to register.
Interestingly both show an average of 129, despite me noting considerably differences between the two. Also note the graphs have quite a different distribution.
So chest strap has a static blip between 0.5 and 1 mile, but starts more accurately. Optical starts too high and then seems to come down on some of the hills but trends up correctly during the middle part of the run, but then seems a bit low on the upwards last mile. It has bumps, but not the trend the strap shows.
Question is, is there significant difference between the two or do they roughly equal out? (Given the same average BPM, which at 129 sounds/feels roughly correct for the speed on that run).
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Oct 2018
12:14pm, 9 Oct 2018
65,080 posts
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Gobi
I did similar research
If I sit on the bike and just do steady riding I can Get it largely right , the same on a very easy run but as soon as effort fluctuates the optical just leaves the building so to speak.
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Oct 2018
12:21pm, 9 Oct 2018
13,329 posts
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Chrisull
Interesting Gobi, yeah I've read that skin can stretch more for some people (?) and that can account for huge variations. (they say watch movement but I can have mine tourniquet tight and it still shows variations).
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Oct 2018
12:34pm, 9 Oct 2018
65,081 posts
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Gobi
Indeed, i have attempted to cut off circulation to get it right enough to work.
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Oct 2018
12:53pm, 9 Oct 2018
1,140 posts
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Brunski
"Question is, is there significant difference between the two or do they roughly equal out? (Given the same average BPM, which at 129 sounds/feels roughly correct for the speed on that run)"
I think the fact that you can identify the errors on the HRM strap and attributed it to static means you have more trust in those figures, the fact that they came out with the same average BPM means little really IMO.
I had an optical HRM before and (like Gobi) I could trust it up to a certain point and then the readings flipped about counting cadence or half cadence even messing up all stats.
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Daniels Running Formula. The Definitive Wire.
Jul 2023