31 replies to this topic

[blair]

I have noticed that on every run I have done over the past couple of weeks my Garmin has recorded a heart rate spike up to almost 100% in the first couple of minutes of the run before it returns to what I would expect for the level of effort. When this first started happening I suspected that the Garmin was at fault. However, I turn the Garmin on while I'm getting ready and stretching and the HR readings at this time are exactly what I would expect. The spike doesn't occur until I start running.

Does anyone have any idea what this could mean? I do have another el cheapo HRM from Kathmandu which I might try to see if it does the same thing.

[lavenderlilly]

Hi balri,
I don't have Garmin, but I get realy puffed up in the first 0.5k.
I believe, it is because I'm not warmed up as yet and as I keep running, it gets easier and I feel good again.
Perhaps it's the same with you.
LL

[Daedal]

Balri, my polar does this occasionally as well, yet any time I've done a VO2 max test or a treadmill stress test for a physical my heart rate is as expected.

[maryclaire]

my polar also does this on runs in the 1st 5 mins - it's all over the place before settling down to a steady rate. Interestingly, it doesn't seem to happen when the exersice is non-running. There is oxygen debt in the 1st few minutes of exercise which may be the reason, and possibly avoided if you slowly warm up. but I just get out there and go straight away.

[nando]

It normally does this for me too. I find a bit of saliva on the monitor assists with the connection and gives a more accurate reading. Either that or warm up first.

[kathmandu]

mine does it too sometimes but its usually coz my bra gets caught under the hr strap. Im guessin' thats not your problem balri.....actually now im wondering why im bothering with this post at all.

back to work, chicken.

[MrsMetronome]

nando, on Jun 18 2008, 02:30 PM, said:

It normally does this for me too. I find a bit of saliva on the monitor assists with the connection and gives a more accurate reading. Either that or warm up first.

Hi,

My Garmin HR readings seem to always have a fit at the start of each run eventhough I too apply saliva to the conection areas. I hope it is the heart rate montor! I do hate the warm up phase. I feel puffed for the first 1 - 2 km's. It can fluctuate for up to 3k's before the strap works properly and suddenly goes down to about 140bpm. . My husband does not seem to have the same problem even though we use the exact same garmin strap.

[chilliman]

I do seem to remember Izzy also having this issue last year, can't remember the outcome but think she was getting the ticker checked out to be on the safe side.

[mgi11a]

I get a similar thing Balri, at night when I do most of my runs if I put moisture on the sensors it doesn't seem to be a problem.

If I forget I get this sort of thing.



But I have found that if i run in the morning that i'll get a similar thing even if I wet the sensor, I beleive it has something to do with your blood being a bit thicker and your heart has to work a bit harder to get it flowing. (I can't quote the source of that comment and it may be a crock but it it sounds good enough for me to believe)

Cheers

mgi11a

Attached Files

•  Running_Redland_Bay_10_06_2008__Heart_rate___Distance.png   62.07K   24 downloads

Edited by mgi11a, 18 June 2008 - 06:10 PM.

[ChookLegsMonkeyBoy]

Balri,
Have you noticed whether the heart rate your Garmin is recording happens to be similar (or the same) as the number of paces you are taking per minute?
I ask this, since the Garmin may be "hunting" around for a regular electrical signal to record, ie the regular impact of your feet on the ground is recognised as your heart rate. This occurs until you sweat enough to create a good contact between the skin and the chest strap.
A similar thing used to happen to me when I wore a Polar HR monitor, until I began putting on my chest strap some time prior to actually commencing the run (often allowing 15 minutes), by which time I had warmed up sufficiently and was sweating enough to make good electrical contact and over-ride the effect of my running.
Hope this helps.
Cheers.

[funrunner63]

Yeah, same thing happens with mine Balri, but not every time. Normally only a problem in the first 2ks of running. I always salivate the monitor electrodes before I strap up- doesn't seem to affect whether the problem occurs or not. I like looking at the heart rate whilst I'm running but have found this that much of a distraction, I'll be leaving it turned off whilst I run Gold Coast

[blair]

As this has only been happening for the past couple of weeks could it be related to the colder weather?

[funrunner63]

balri, on Jun 18 2008, 12:57 AM, said:

As this has only been happening for the past couple of weeks could it be related to the colder weather?

possibly less sweat

[DrJH]

Funrunner63 has hit the nail on the head. If you don't wet the belt enough you'll get dodgy readings until you've built up enough sweat to get good electrical contact.

[sook54]

Happens to me too, I reckon the reason it's worse when you start running compared to warming up is the extra jouncing up and down interferes with the contacts, until you get a good sweat going.

[Bellthorpe]

I don't see this problem with my Polar HRM. I use electrode gel rather than water or saliva.

[funrunner63]

Bellthorpe, on Jun 18 2008, 01:34 AM, said:

I don't see this problem with my Polar HRM. I use electrode gel rather than water or saliva.

Is that the same as ultrasound gel Bellthorpe?? If not where do you get it??

[Bellthorpe]

That's the stuff. About once a year I take an empty jam jar to the nearest pharmacy. He fills it up for me, charges $5.

[Sunset]

I was having problems with my Polar last winter - getting crazy sorts of readings (200 bpm for example). Took me ages to figure out that there wasn't anything wrong with it - just that I was sweating less and it took longer for the sensors to get wet enough from sweat!
So now before I leave the house I give the sensors a quick splash of water.

Edit: wouldn't electrode gel just be water-based lube (aka: KY jelly)?

Edited by Sunset, 19 June 2008 - 08:35 AM.

[funrunner63]

Bellthorpe, on Jun 18 2008, 04:41 PM, said:

That's the stuff. About once a year I take an empty jam jar to the nearest pharmacy. He fills it up for me, charges $5.

Thanks Bellthorpe; I'm a vet and buy the stuff by the 20 litre container........don't ask why unless you're ready for the answer......

[Chelli]

I reckon wetting helps the cause to get a better reading sometimes adjusting it does the trick also.

I always notice when I start running even at a slow 4:30- 5 minute kilometre pace it goes around the 220-240 mark which is totally incorrect as I am not even bearly breathing hard. Then after about 5-10 minutes when the belt sticks to your skin better due to the sweat the electrodes pick up your heart better and your heart rate will drop back down to 110-130bpm as is the true result.

I find this a problem when you try and track you maximum heart rate as you get too higher readings early on to get a correct maximum heart rate from the heart rate monitor.

[Bellthorpe]

Sunset, on Jun 19 2008, 08:35 AM, said:

Edit: wouldn't electrode gel just be water-based lube (aka: KY jelly)?

I dare say. But I'm sure not going into the chemist with my big jam jar and saying "fill 'er up with KY"!

funrunner63, on Jun 19 2008, 11:27 AM, said:

Thanks Bellthorpe; I'm a vet and buy the stuff by the 20 litre container........don't ask why unless you're ready for the answer......

S'OK. I've been there ...

[knassy]

lube provides a good connection. thats what i use if i want accurate readings right from my first step.

Edited by knassy, 19 June 2008 - 06:55 PM.

[blair]

Chelli, on Jun 19 2008, 12:16 PM, said:

I find this a problem when you try and track you maximum heart rate as you get too higher readings early on to get a correct maximum heart rate from the heart rate monitor.

Can't you just disregard the earlier high readings?

[Wheretonow]

would vaseline work?

[TheHulk]

I have a similar problem . It used to be only for the first 20 minutes that erratic , usually super-humanly high heart rate reading for first 20 minutes were displayed on the Garmnin 305. OK , the spike for the first 20 min could be due to lack of sweat & poor electrical contact with the skin - so the HRM is picking up something other than herart rate .

If I wet the electrodes before putting on - great . It measures my 39 bpm resting heart rate without a blip when I'm doing nothing. But , the spikes can now happen at any time during a run . In order to get the readings back to normal , all I need to do is stop running or moving . Within 15- seconds stopping, the reading can drop from 220 bpm to 130 bpm . As soon as I start up again, reading rockets up to 180...190...200, when I know that it is probably only 135 .


I have put it down to a couple of things :

1) Swinging of arms in my case must allow the electrodes to loose good contact with the skin, leading to the HRM picking up some other kind of rythm. Well, can stop that easily - would end up looking like a "river dancer"
2) The strap has beome stretched over time and does not fit so tightly anymore - fix with safety pins maybe ?
3) I have shed a little fat in recent months , and the contact area is more boney on the ribs --> not so great contact . Might have to try a different position on the torso .

The electrode gel sounds good. I might make my own with some KY jelly (water based gel) and some table salt thrown in as well for extra conductivity. Vaseline has a high viscosity (ie, thick & paste like) so would stay in place longer , but unfortunately is not particularly conductive .

[tomh]

I'd say the strap is way too loose. I find I need to tighten it up every couple of weeks. Also give it a really sloppy lick on both sensors before putting it on.

[walker1st]

this is often discussed and complained about on many forums, and teh latest answer is that the leaking-saliva is not good enough but a bit of liquid soap does the trick.

I have to say, that I did use the trick with soap but it did not work and I was getting silly reading for nearly 10 minutes than it become good.

However I was not warmed up for this race had teh plan to start very easy so did not bother.

I gues if proper warm up is done it will fix itself up anyway.

If in training simply run slower first 10 minutes and than zero the HRM and start from scratch.

[Hulbs]

I never have this problem with my Polar RS200 wearlink HRM. However, I always wet the electrodes with tap water prior to every run and make sure the strap is nice and snug.

I also always warm up nice and slowly initially


Hulbs

[TheHulk]

Success - for the first time since owning the forerunner (14 months) I have what I beleive to be accurate measurements for an entire run - even from the first minute . The remedy :

- a smear of home made conductive gel on the electrodes ( 45 % KY , 45 % sorbolene , 10 % table salt mixed into a paste)
- moved the electodes such that the centre (transmitter) is offset to my left a little - gives flatter contact on the skin for the electrodes
- stabilised the electrodes with a strip of medical tape over each minimise stop movement.

No need for warm up etc - it read true immediately with the above procedure. Attached is a plot from sports tracks - nothing on it that looks wrong - spikes can generally be accounted for by grade & or pace.
Ok , I should have changed only one variable at a time , and I don't know if all of the changes add to the accuracy of the reading , and there has only been one observation made so the data isn't statistically robust.....

[water bag]

When using an older version of the Polar I found that I had high readings at the start of events. I believe this was due to picking up signals from other Polar HRM's. Most probably this would not be the case nowadays.

Cheers
WB

[Hulbs]

water bag, on Dec 16 2008, 09:33 AM, said:

When using an older version of the Polar I found that I had high readings at the start of events. I believe this was due to picking up signals from other Polar HRM's. Most probably this would not be the case nowadays.

Cheers
WB

WB,

Apart from the Polar F1 (cheapest model) all the other Polar HRMs have their 'own code' nowdays.


Jase