I used to leave my Garmin (old style) strap on for hours after rides, and after I started taking it off and letting it dry, the battery lasted incredibly longer, I was surprised how much longer the battery lasted. If it’s wet, and there is continuity between the pads, it’s using the battery even though it’s not being received by any device. I guess you could take the battery out, but that just sounds so over the top. (If you lose the battery, a kid/pet picks it up?)
That’s not something you could have said in med school and pass… A pulse is only generated if the heart contracts when the ventricle is filled, if the ventricle contracts before there will be no pulse beat therefore a watch can ever measure heart rate only pulse rate
1 Like
It’s very specifically that I want to be able to force the HRM to turn on exactly when I want it to. Countless times I’ve started a group ride or race only to find the hrm has gone to sleep or something and I’m there trying to ride and also unzip my jersey and clip and unclip the contacts / put some sweat or saliva on the strap contacts etc whilst in a bunch and it’s a bloody nause. I admit this is more of an issue with crap chest hrms like the 3 tickrs I’ve had and a myzone pos.
The verity sense has an on and an off button.
The only issue is the battery lasts about a week of riding…
Polar h10 really always stays on when both buttons are buttoned down (I always unbutton 1 because else my headwind will start blowing)
1 Like
Someone said, on a Peloton FB group, that they were using a conductive medical grease to insure their strap worked consistently. It seemed overkill for just about everyone there, but I get it. I have wet the strap, and had it dry out before needing it. Maybe in those cases a gel might work really well. I believe they are water based so it would likely be washed out by sweat that would take its place. I have had rides where the strap doesn’t start right away, and only is added when enough sweat makes the connection between the sides of the strap. shrug
I guess it’s what you think will work for you. The gel seems like a great idea to me if the strap working after a long time before a start is important (and if the gel actually works). Yeah, fumbling with your jersey and a water bottle to wet the strap and wake it up does seem cumbersome and potentially embarrassing.
Switches bring possibly needless complications to a device that is bathed in a highly corrosive and conductive liquid. (My Tickr was flooded at some point with sweat and it ate the insides eventually causing it to fail. Poor sealing…
So I asked my board certified actual medical doctor wife and she said:
“What’s the difference between heart rate and pulse. Aren’t they largely the same?”
Academically speaking, yes however you can have heart rate showing up on a monitor and if it isn’t really a true beat then you may not have it associated pulse with it. That is what we call pulseless electrical activity. PEA
Heart rate is measured electronically pulse is measured via palpation. But yes, essentially the same measurement.
Rate seems to imply the tracking of change over time. The change in the pulse, for what we are talking about. So pulse is a component of heart rate. Pulse IS heart rate. Without a pulse, you have no heart rate, nothing that will keep you alive. The distinction is without a difference.
1 Like
Running specific issue here, but optical sensors have real and very hard to overcome issues measuring heart rate reliably during running. I don’t find the optical heart rate from my fenix 6 when running useful. Resting and other activities it is likely fine for, but if I care about heart rate I will use an electrical strap.
1 Like
All the brand names right now are garbage quality compared to what they all used to be. The old Garmin hard plastic chest strap monitor was king. Lasted me 10 years.
In the past 5 years I’ve used a Peloton, Polar, a Wahoo and the Amazon special Coospo. The brand names died around 1 year of use. The Coospo has been the most durable by a mile, going on year 2 of using it 4-5 days a week. Buy the Coospo.
2 Likes
I am done with the name brands as well. I have had good luck with both a Coospo and a Magene.
This is due to wrist not the optical format. Arm bands like the verity and suunto work fine for running.
Yes. There are circumstances where the distinction is important in some situations. If you can describe in what circumstances pulse rate departs from heart rate and what to do about it, that’s great.
I mean, you can estimate VO2max from your 5 min cycling power or a 12 min run or some similar effort. Those are literally measuring different things. If you’re a fast twitcher, maybe your actual VO2max is lower than the estimate or something because of that extra anaerobic power. Or if your gross efficiency is higher than average, then your VO2max estimate will probably be higher than it really is. But yeah, for those two things the distinction matters.
1 Like
Same here, I much prefer the upper arm band location vs. a chest strap. Mine has been reliable, battery life is ok, not great but its easy to charge via usb.
1 Like
They are usually equal except for when it actually matters. Maybe I should have considered a career in internal medicine, they always seemed interested in such discussions about what usually amounts to nothing but I didn’t (I instead chose a career outside of medicine) but still it gets me every time when I see claims about the accuracy of of watches measuring heart rate. No they cannot, they can measure pulse
I got a couple of years out of my Coo Spo but shortly after I replaced the strap it died completely, Touchwood, I’ve recently replaced my current H10 strap after two years and its still going (but its only been a week) but I agree the garmin hard strap lasted best, I think I got 8 year out of mine.
When I use to train for Ironmans I would find myself running a lot in the winter (Chicago area) and what I would find is that my HRM strap either never turned on because lack of sweat or turned off because saliva wore off and I was not sweating. I would run in pretty much a long thermal shirt and that was it and I never sweated.
I started using Spectra 360 in the winter time and solemnly every had issues with capturing HR data.
Just a little note/tidbit I found when training in the cold where sweat is not going to be available. It also actually felt kind of nice when you put it on also 
3 Likes
I tried their speed and cadence sensors. Actually very very good- let us know about the HR strap!!
($100+ for a Garmin is silly)
I use the same stuff for the same reason, even inside I found that on some days starting in the cold on the trainer the signal wasn’t great from static and this would help until I peeled off the outer layer.
Because of that I use it 9 times out of 10 inside, even if I don’t need it at this point, it is just there next to all my stuff and seems better than licking
But I’m about to run out of the tube I keep by the trainer and I probably won’t replace it, if I find one of the others I’ll start again.
I have the exact opposite problem. Garmin 945 only reads reliably when an actual activity is turned on or set to transmit heart rate. I can be on the trainer with my strap reading 130+ and my 945 will say 90. This is a known/well discussed issue.
I’m sure there are issues with it over a strap or other dedicated sensor not enough that I care to wear a strap running anymore, but they are definitely less useful when not recording an activity vs during one.
I also got about 10 years out of mine, but it was awful to run in and I went through several straps in the time period too and it was basically just a dedicated trainer one for the last few years of its life, with a knot tied in the strap because I refused to spend money on yet another replacement.
The soft strap that came after that was awful I forget which one it was came with my 910 I think?, I have actual scars on my chest from it.
I now have the HRM pro and even if it died tomorrow would still prefer it over the old hard one. I bought it may of 2022 and the battery was good for over 2 years (It did sit about 9 months in 2023).
1 Like
I see claims about the accuracy of of watches measuring heart rate. No they cannot, they can measure pulse
You are still flogging that? Give it a rest dude…