Loosing HR during workout

Gabriela Ziemba

@Brad_Olwin I understand, I will get my boyfriends old HR belt ready (change battery, check resistance in pads etc.) and hopefully write a quick note how did running on Friday go.

Hope this can help others with same struggle. Thank you all, this helped a lot!

@Brad_Olwin for me OHR works well on S9 during running trailrunning (in 95% of all cases)

Brad_Olwin

@mountainChris The trails I am on are quite technical, every downhill the watch moves enough that it locks onto cadence for HR, I cannot tighten it enough. If I wear the watch on my forearm it generally works, (a full hand above my wrist). The S7 does not have this problem…

Gabriela Ziemba

As promised, but with a delay - stats from running. It looks much better with HR belt. Simply, I get much more polite notifications when running in HR zones.

Thanks again for all replies!

tomahawk5000

Hey Gabriela, what kind of belt do you have?

Gabriela Ziemba

@tomahawk5000

Seems to be suunto smart sensor, like the one in the picture.

Brad_Olwin

@Gabriela-Ziemba Wow, was that a har run??? You spend a lot of time in zone 4 and 5. If this wasn’t a super hard run, I think your zones are off.

Egika

The only way to get somehow reliable wrist HR data from my S9 is to have it not too loose (wobbling and shaking around) and not too tight (cutting off the blood flow).
Then I wrap a buff in an 8 over and below the watch to keep it more steady.
This way it can work.
Strap still is superior…

Brad_Olwin

@Egika said in Loosing HR during workout:

The only way to get somehow reliable wrist HR data from my S9 is to have it not too loose (wobbling and shaking around) and not too tight (cutting off the blood flow).
Then I wrap a buff in an 8 over and below the watch to keep it more steady.
This way it can work.
Strap still is superior…

Agreed, the problem I have with the buff is it often covers the baro sensor and I get wildly bizarre altitude readings. I have quit using the buff and now use a long strap, preferably the velcro strap (I often wear two watches on one arm and the velcro is the only one that will keep the watch in place without slipping).

freeheeler

@Brad_Olwin said in Loosing HR during workout:

covers the baro sensor and I get wildly bizarre altitude readings

phuu… I’m glad I’m not chasing ghosts

Gabriela Ziemba

@Brad_Olwin I wanted to stay in zone 3, but I guess I lost control at some point running was always hard for me so I decided to improve

ldxmsg

Sorry to awaken an old thread but I’m getting increasingly erratic HR readings using my S9B. I’ve not changed anything, use an official Suunto silicon strap and tighten the watch so that it doesn’t wiggle when running. For the first 10 mins or so of every run my HR shoots up to 160s (my resting rate is 60-70, and a hard run is in the 170s), regardless of how fast or slow I go. It will settle but takes some time. For instance, I ran for 25 mins with my son and dog yesterday and it was extremely comfortable, not out of breath and chatting the whole way, yet my HR readings were very high, which I find hard to believe. I’m not religious about these things, and am not interested enough to warrant wearing a belt/sensor, but I’d still expect better readings. My S7 and Garmin Tactix are usually consistent, and the S9B was better but has been getting worse lately. Anyone else having problems? Screenshot of the HR readings below:

Stefan Kersting

I had some HR issues too and they were caused by the old suunto hr belt. Had to of them and they weren’t to trust on. Tried the wrist hr on my s9b and I’m actually not very satisfied with that either. If you want good and precise hr results you should use a hr belt. I bought a polar h10 that is compatible to suunto and I’m very satisfied with that setup. I have the belt since 2019 and hadn’t any problems.

ldxmsg

@stefan-kersting Thanks. I’m not religious about HR readings and don’t use them for training, so not too bothered about wearing a belt, but I’m curious to know if there’s a firmware/hardware problem with the watch or if this is usual? I note from various other forums that other people have had issues, though not that many have commented so not sure if they’re isolated examples or a trend.

Stefan Kersting

@ldxmsg it is not a suunto issue. The measurement on the wrist depends on many factors as skin color, hairs on the skin, where on your wrist the watch is placed, how tight it is etc. so the wrist hr is just a gimmick. with the belt you wont get a ECG quality but it is ok for sports.

ldxmsg

@stefan-kersting I get that. But the S7 is much better than the S9B, as is my Garmin Tactix. As others have commented elsewhere, the S9B seems less good than other watches, but I’m not clear how widespread these problems are.

Brad_Olwin

@ldxmsg The S9B OHR works much better for you than me! The only way I can get good OHR from the S9 is to wear it halfway up my forearm. That is not my preferred place for wearing a watch. Part of this may be due to cold weather and blood flow under the sensor not so great until you warm up.

enricotagliavini

Definitely not the only one with this problem

This is a recording of a mountain bike ride. As long as I climb at a steady pace, the HR works well, but when I change pace, do a technical climb or descend the watch struggles a lot.