Wrist vs Chest Strap HRM (help me with watch shopping)

Wrist is not as accurate. Strap is fine.

Luv2run wrote:

Wrist is not as accurate. Strap is fine.

Thanks, that's what I feared.

Also, I forgot to include links:

I use the optical HRM. It's good enough and laziness wins out and I don't have the HRM digging into my side. The strap will always be superior though but they can be picked up after the fact.

Fwiw dcrainmaker suggested the Vivoactive HR over the 235 since it'll support more than running but at the cost of advanced running features.

Mate chest strap HRMs are horrible, if you have it too loose when you sweat they fall down, to tight and they harm your breathing. If you can get a reliable wrist watch get it but really the only thing HRMs are good for are morning pulse. GPS watches tell so much more. NB has a HRM+GPS watch, get something like that.

Optical HRM is not very accurate.

The 230 is way more advanced than the 35: custom workouts, more data fields, ability to download apps... Read the DC Rainmaker review.

You can buy replacement HRM straps for about $5 on eBay. Chest straps come in sizes with the major brand HRMs and if you get the wrong size, they can be uncomfortable. I bought 4 of these replacement straps from China in various colors... 3 out of 4 worked great. The 4th one needed to have the pins in the connector adjusted to keep the HRM pod from popping off, but that was pretty simple to do.

I keep my watch relatively loose on my wrist, so the wrist HRM doesn't work for me. In the winter, I often wear my watch on the outside of my running top sleeve, so it definitely wouldn't work then.

With all my HRMs, I've noticed that the reading can be way too high at the beginning of a run. The solution is to thoroughly wet the strap or run until you start to sweat and then slow to a walk until the HRM resets to the accurate reading. You can then resume running and it will be accurate from that point on.

For example, I'll begin a run and notice that my HR is 150 even though it's a slow pace. I'll run for 6-8 minutes and the slow to a walk. My HR almost immediately drops from 150 to 110. I resume running and it slowly climbs to 120, about where it should be for the warm up jog part of my workout.

Oh, I forgot to say this. Over time the elastic on straps wears out. Then, you have to make it really uncomfortably tight to hold up the HRM pod. The solution is to buy the replacement strap on eBay. I bought three from seller hidream2011 and another from another seller. They were all the same.

In some ways, the replacement strap is better than the original because it is less stretchy and more stiff. I imagine that will change with use, but at $5-$8 for a strap, you can just replace it.

I have a Garmin 235 and love it, but the optical hrm has limitations. My tested max heart rate is in the 205-210 range (no, I'm not 10-15). The optical sensor is only good up to a certain effort level, for me. Hard interval repeats give me scattered readings of 120-160 bpm, but relatively easy runs will give more 'appropriate' readings. For everything but easy runs, a chest strap is necessary.

Do yourself a favor and read DC Rainmaker's reviews of these watches before buying. He also discusses the performance/accuracy differences between chest strap and optical HR.

Garmin's HRM-Run strap is kind of interesting if you are into geeking out over data.

It is not quite true to say wrist reads are inaccurate. They suffer at higher HRs and when you are rapidly changing your HR, so hills/intervals/etc.

If you run your hard workouts based on HR, then wrist read would be no good. If you use HR for your easy runs, moderate aerobic runs, and tempo runs, it will do a good job.

Go with whatever is cheaper . The HR monitor on chest is more accurate but less comfort. Plus so many things vary HR(especially outside temp) it's pointless to train based on it. Learning to run off feel is better . Don't become a slave to your watch. All garmin gps are relatively close.

Go with whatever is cheaper . The HR monitor on chest is more accurate but less comfort. Plus so many things vary HR(especially outside temp) it's pointless to train based on it. Learning to run off feel is better . Don't become a slave to your watch. All garmin gps are relatively close.

There's a chart somewhere. I think this is it.

https://www.thisisant.com/directory/forerunner-230/

That shows what straps are compatible with which watches. You should be able to pick up a used HRM for about $25 if you check eBay. I recently bought an older Timex HRM for $11 just to get the HRM strap after checking at that website for compatibility. The chest strap works fine with my newer Timex HRM.

Caution: Not all Garmin chest straps are compatible with all Garmin watches.

This is the best deal you can find

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B016VC1PZ4/ref=psdcmw_617647011_t2_B00FBYYC90?th=1&psc=1

Mexrunner wrote:

This is the best deal you can find

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B016VC1PZ4/ref=psdcmw_617647011_t2_B00FBYYC90?th=1&psc=1

Woah. Is there some kind of catch?

Mexrunner wrote:

This is the best deal you can find

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B016VC1PZ4/ref=psdcmw_617647011_t2_B00FBYYC90?th=1&psc=1

Interesting link, are there any watches with stride length, cadence, oscillation, etc for a cheaper price? Anybody know?

It’s always important to do exercise to keep your heart active, but it’s important more to collect the knowledge and information about Heart. Heart Rate Monitors are the best types of equipment which are easy to use for everyone. You need to know how to get information using Heart rate monitors. Training for the heart is basically meant to do the workout by intelligently using the heart rate monitors. And also when you are at the resting mode and you want to record the Heart rate than Heart rate Monitors will automatically record heart rate for you.

ratesdekhoblog wrote:

It’s always important to do exercise to keep your heart active, but it’s important more to collect the knowledge and information about Heart. Heart Rate Monitors are the best types of equipment which are easy to use for everyone. You need to know how to get information using Heart rate monitors. Training for the heart is basically meant to do the workout by intelligently using the heart rate monitors. And also when you are at the resting mode and you want to record the Heart rate than Heart rate Monitors will automatically record heart rate for you.

I've never heard any great runners like Bekele, Geb, Kipchoge use (or feel the need to use) the HRM.

Just listen to your body. It tells everything you need to know.

About 1.5 years in with an FR35 and I consider the wrist-based HR sensor useless for actual running. So many issues most annoyingly that it will frequently pick up my running cadence resulting in a chart that shows me at my max HR for long periods of time. Or it reads ridiculously low. I don’t even look at that data for my runs any more. The day to day HR stuff including resting HR is mildly interesting so I leave the sensor on.

For efforts where I care to see my real HR I bought a Garmin chest strap to use with it. That is very accurate assuming you use it as directed including wetting the electrodes before use and not allowing them to dry out.