Fitness Heart Rate Monitor

[northernsoul1]

I know there has been some discussion on this but does anyone know of a brand of monitor that will accurately monitor my heart rate during exercise even though I'm in persistent AF?

[BobD Volunteer]

Not accurately and to be honest pushing yourself whilst in AF is not healthy. You should always listen to your body rather than work to numbers.

[northernsoul1 in reply to BobD]

I suppose it's the definition of pushing oneself which is subjective. I used to do lots of high intensity exercise but virtually none since my AF diagnosis over seven years ago. Trying to find the balance between too little and too much.

[BobD Volunteer in reply to northernsoul1]

It was suggested to me that being able to carry on a normal conversation whilst exercising was the right balance.

[john-boy-92]

I used a Polar HRM with a Polar chest strap through years of AF and cardio exercise. Many HRMs give incorrect readouts during AF. I used a Polar RS400 with a T31 coded chest strap during my really active years. I then switched to a Polar M200 with an H10 chest strap. Thanks to Polar UK and Amazon Vine, I'm now trialling free of charge a Polar Vantage V in place of the M200. I find that arrhythmia causes an error during Orthostatic testing on the Polar Vantage V, and also on the ithlete. My body no longer tolerates running in AF, but symptoms are absent during non-weight bearing exercise.

[TamlaMotown]

Can't help with your question but just wanted to ask if you're into Northern Soul music like me 👌

Keep The Faith

[northernsoul1 in reply to TamlaMotown]

Haha yes.

[Hidden]

Following john-boy-92 ‘s previous useful advice, I now use a Polar H10 chest strap with my LifeCycle R9i static bike. I have permanent AF and find the R9i’s readings a little unstable which is to be expected I suppose, and typically 10 bpm faster than when counted at the wrist. I have yet to use it with the Concept2 rower with PM5 sensor, or the Matrix cardio equipment, also at the gym.

My understanding is that wrist monitors using optical sensors are inaccurate. Combining the H10 chest strap with a bluetooth connection to a state of the art wrist monitor like the Polar Vantage V may give the most accurate results, but I will wait to hear what john-boy-92 reports on that before buying this expensive piece of kit.

[chrisfellrunner]

I'm also (historically!) a sports endurance enthusiast who has is also now suffering from AF and on the 12-month waiting list for an ablation. I'd also back-up the recommendation for a Polar watch & chest-strap. I have the new Polar Vantage watch and great as it is it never is 100% accurate like the H10 chest-strap is...... only issue is when I had a Atrial flutter it went off the scale it was so good at picking up the electric signals. If you really want to monitor your heart rate accurately, especially when you are active, you will need both a watch and chest strap. I have to keep my heart rate below 105bpm and it's invaluable in making sure I do this otherwise it's easy to get carried away, motre so when yo are used to exercising to the max.

[Dmackie57 in reply to chrisfellrunner]

12 month waiting period? Wow why so long?

[chrisfellrunner in reply to Dmackie57]

I have no idea..... I'm told that's the current NHS waiting time at Blackpool cardiac centre.

[Dmackie57 in reply to Dmackie57]

I am in US in North Carolina. Only waited a month and that was my choice.

[Gowers in reply to chrisfellrunner]

That seems like a long wait (are you in the uk) In Birmingham area they tell me it is 3-4months

[john-boy-92]

Back in the day I found that the Polar RS400 and T31 chest strap made a pretty good job of measuring my heart rate during exercise induced AF: if anything it under-read my heart rate. I was measured in a hospital several years ago in AF induced fibrillation / flutter during a Bruce Protocol test on a treadmill. The treadmill incrementally increases speed and gradient whilst I had electrodes displaying to a wide screen display, and this was monitored by two specialist nurses. My heart rate reached 235 bpm. My RS400 had a maximum measurement of 220 bpm, whilst the Vantage V can now measure to 240 bpm. Back then I used a modified Karvonen formula to calculate from heart rate reserve, but now I use 5 zones with a maximum set to 200 bpm. Incidentally, the H10 stores a workout that can be downloaded later and, I believe that it can transmit in real time to the Polar Beat app, that way you wouldn't need an HRM if you are exercising in the gym or at home: check that with Polar UK. Polar do a cheaper version of the Vantage V called the Vantage M that appears to use the same hardware and firmware but without nice to haves like a touch screen. If you exercise outside, I've walked in steep sided wooded valleys and the GPS didn't drop out. I couldn't afford to buy a Vantage V, and I would probably think twice about buying the Vantage M that my wife has. My role is to relay back to Amazon, Polar (and Concept 2) how the Vantage V and M perform in use. I use the Vantage V everyday. By the way, answers on technical issues from Polar UK Support tend to be a cut and paste from the User Manual; they could learn a lot from the Concept 2 Support team.

[Fazerboy]

I do quite a bit of cycling and use a garmin cycle computer linked to a garmin chest strap. This measures my heart rate quite well. I also have a fitbit blaze that uses an optical sensor, this is useless at recording my high hr when I go into SVT. The fitbit can record 70 when the chest strap monitor reads 130 (as a pulse check confirms). In short, chest straps are better than optical sensor monitors for picking up SVT type symptoms.

[Billiam54]

Go for the Polar chest strap every time. When in AF I tried numerous wrist based HRM's from various manufacturers and they were all inaccurate, particularly when exercising on the Concept 2. I am now back in NSR following a DCCV last July and now when training I use the recording function on the H10 and upload the session to the Polar Beat App on my phone on completion of training. I simultaneously connect the H10 to my Polar FT2 watch in order to monitor my heart rate during the session. The H10 also connects via Bluetooth to Techno Gym cardio equipment but unfortunately it does not connect to the Concept 2 rowing machine PMS 2 or 3, not sure about the later models. Hope this helps. Cheers

[KMRobbo]

I have an old Garmin 305 with heart rate strap. This is the way I got diagnosed with afib. Was Checked 3 times versus hospital/paramedic ecg a d proved accurate. Some later Garmin don't measure electical signals. Tbey meaure blood flow in the wrist, i suspect that these like fitbit are less accurate but cannot say conclusively. My batteries screwed up on my first one as I used it so much. I bought a second hand one on eBay for 30 quid 12 months ago . If you go down his route ask about battery life before bidding, anythi g less than 4 or 5 hours means the battery is on the way out.

[john-boy-92]

I've just tried the Polar H10 with the Polar Beat on a Samsung Tab S tablet. Just sitting it immediately showed my heart rate in real time with a graphical display and, I could save all of the data as a session. One downside was that I could not find a way to enlarge the real time digital display on the app so that would be an issue for a rowing machine in the gym, but Concept 2 sell a support and cable connection for Android phones so that the phone can sit on top of the Performance Monitor.

There has just been an update to the H10 that also provides connectivity for ANT+. I haven't tried it with my Garmin kit.

The H10 with the update connects to Bluetooth LE (two devices simultaneously), Gymlink (for Polar enabled gym equipment), and ANT+. I've used the H10 with Concept 2 PM3 and PM5 Performance Monitors. Both the PM3 and the PM5 will connect to an H10 - PM3 with Gymlink and PM5 with Bluetooth LE - however, my rapidly changing heart rate and the fast data output from the H10 is seen by the PM3 as bad data, and it drops out for 5 seconds and reinitialises whether in the gym or at home. I retro-fitted the PM5 to the home rower and it works without a problem, but the PM5 buffers the incoming heart rate data to smooth it so the PM5 display will be a few seconds behind the real time value. I watch the real time value on the HRM as AF can cause a sudden jump of 15 bpm.