Does anyone else here who uses a Garmin Forerunner watch to track their RHR find it just gives quite random results? My sleeping heart fluctuates like crazy from one night to the next (but is consistent throughout the night) and I’m starting to think that the watch just isn’t working as it should. Eg for the last few nights it was 61, 59, 64, 74 and this is a very usual pattern. None of the usual things that are known to influence RHR seem to correlate in a meaningful way (eg when I drink alcohol before bed, or when I had my covid booster). Is it the watch or does my heart do random things?
2 Likes
Mine is generally really stable, but on occasion it will freeze on a certain rate for hours on end, or rarely it will work sporadically. Try resetting it and recharging it if necessary
the only outlier there is 74. Everything else is normal fluctuation. I’m also on a Garmin watch and my RHR fluctuates between 38 and 45 normally. If I had a huge meal not much long before going to bed or did a very long (4h+) intensive ride on that I can also observe RHR in the low 50’s.
3 Likes
Yes, but this is illustrative of the fluctuations I’ve observed for months. It’s not like it’s normally in the low 60s with the occasional high number, but it randomly goes up and down. So before that, I had 62, 69, 56, 63, 69 and so on
From what I’ve read online, people are generally happy with how their watch works. I’ve done a factory reset occasionally, but I could certainly try it again. It’s out of warranty by now, so I think that’s as much as I can do.
My watch seems to reflect my sleeping pattern and health, with a little fluctuation, for a bit then it throws a curve ball. (I’ll be feeling good and rested and those metrics will say other wise or I feel crap and tired yet the watch is saying I had a good nights sleep etc
1 Like
Mine has been fine. I am normally around 40, but I will see it trend up with more hard work, and trend back down as I get more rest.
1 Like
Thanks, that’s helpful. I think I’ll just ignore the fluctuations and go by how I feel generally. Though my most recent RHR spike last night has now coincided with the local covid app notifying me that I made a contact a few days ago, so who knows… Better get a test to check!
1 Like
Mine seems consistent too. Ranging around 54-57 and it certainly seems to track well against illness, fatigue and alcohol effects too 
1 Like
well I got suspicious when I drank more than I’m used to and my RHR dropped… that did not seem right
I don’t use a Forerunner, but I have a Vivosmart activity tracker. I’ve noticed that my reported RHR is different on the tracker vs the Garmin Connect app, and then the RHR changes later in the day. So my RHR on the tracker might be 47 when I wake up, but about 15 min later when I sync to my phone, it could report as 49, or 50, or something else. Rarely do they match. And then, maybe around 4 I might look at the tracker again, and it will report RHR to be something like 42, and synced it might report 46. I find it really strange.
My husband uses the Forerunner, and he finds his RHR upon awakening bounces around, but I don’t think its range is that unusual. His doesn’t seem to change later in the day, though. He hasn’t mentioned a difference between the reported RHR on the watch vs that in GC, but I’m not sure how often he syncs to GC.
1 Like
i used various Garmin watches and found them unreliable, at times irritating and confusing with all these data like RHR, body battery, stress etc. Maybe it is just me but the wrist HR just does not work on a consistent basis.
And I hate wearing watches at night, so I threw all of that over board and try to listen to my body instead.
1 Like
Just to add another voice here: My FR245 is very useful in this regard, RHR is especially consistent, I can read in my RHR: If I did train late in the day before, had alcohol, a late meal, or have an incredible low RHR if none of the above.
What I would add to unreliable wrist measurements is: make sure to wear the watch reasonably tight.
4 Likes
probably that is the problem - i hate too tight watches on the arm, and would nit want that feeling 24/7, day and at night as well.
Echo this. My RHR is very consistent using Fenix 5 with various straps (can compare to Fitbit previously too). I typically wear silicone straps unless I’m travelling to work or going out when I switch to leather. With the leather strap, it’s not as tight, and I sometimes get blocks of time over the night where it didn’t get a reading. With the silicone strap this never happens. I wear it with play, not tight, but I can’t rotate the watch around my wrist, if that helps gauge - I can squeeze little finger between strap and underside of wrist.
My RHR is very consistent. Like others have said, training stress, food and alcohol influence it. I do like wine, so mine will always be a few beats higher if I have a couple of glasses. If I indulge with a big meal and a bottle of wine it’ll be 7-10bpm higher. If I hit the kid’s chocolate, it flies up! If I really hit the drink it flies up. I rarely train late at night, as it always compromises my sleep, and when I do I also see HR elevated.
One thing I will say is wrist hair and sweat have an impact. For example, when I train I wear a strap, and I see my watch consistently read lower on the bike and way higher when I run.
Maybe my heart rate really is all over the place! If you all think it works well for you, perhaps the readings I get are actually accurate, but accurately up and down.
1 Like
Which was negative, luckily
Know it’s an old thread but didn’t want to start a new one…venu2 user, it’s between 38 & 40 every night for 1yr+ then this, and Friday I got a bug! Know it’s a sample size of 1, but now have a predictors of pending bugs!
2 Likes
Nice! My RHR only tells me when I’m on vacation, and I know that already. 
1 Like
My Fenix 6X was great and my current Tactix 7 Pro is on point and even better as the tactical nylon strap fits perfectly. To be honest though even before I have always had good results.
Been with garmin since the FR305 days and have a lot of garmin connect history.
1 Like