Loosing HR during workout

Gabriela Ziemba

Hi,

I struggle with my S9 and hearth rate. I have been running with HR-zones (and without) and watch is constantly dropping HR. It can go from 175 to 90 (hr when I sit) and then go back to 160 within few seconds.

I wear watch properly and always wait few minutes before workout to let it “sink in”. Is it software or should I return it and get new one? My boyfriend is using Spartan model and never experienced such a thing.

I also tried soft reset and software is the newest one.

sartoric

OHR can act very strangely for some people.

Out of curiosity have you ever tried to switch the watch with your bf ?

freeheeler

@sartoric
same here… I can only use HR strap for reliable values.
I’m thinking about givin an OH1 to my wife as she refuses to use the HR strap as it is uncomfortable with the sports bra and she has an A3R without OHR

Gabriela Ziemba

Thanks for reply guys. We have never tried to switch watches, but I will give it a try. Is it common issue? Should I get HR strap to get serious results than? I started to use my S9 at gym and results were pretty good. Lately gym closed and I started to run and got that problem 🥴

Anything else I should know or try out?

@Gabriela-Ziemba do you wear standard wrist band? I have very thin arms and some bands could work better. Other bands surround my wrist better. The VECRO strap is designed for good hr results on Suunto HP.

The switch to your boyfriends watch could be interesting for some of us also to know.

freeheeler

@Gabriela-Ziemba
is it a baro or non baro S9?
if non baro you can try to tighten the strap more to reduce wobbling of the watch. the point is, if any light comes between your skin and the sensors the results become crap.
if you have a baro version you don’t want to tighten it too much as you forearms could block the sensor holes, seal them and mess up the alti recordings.
this issue is quite rare for most of the athletes as the typical athlete has skinny arms that don’t block the holes
I am not a typical athlete, I block sensor holes frequently and hence know this issue well

Gabriela Ziemba

I have S9 non Baro.
So we have tested a little bit and here are some results. We did jumping rope for 5 min.

Me + mine S9 + no belt

= HR biggest drop 114 to 142 in one second.
Me + mine S9 + HR strap

= HR much more stable, biggest drop 164 - 147 in one second
Me + his spartan + no belt

= HR very stable, no drastic drops at all
He + my S9 + no belt

= while jumping he noticed drop 180 - 112 in 10 seconds, and HR was still low even when he was breathing hardly.

It looks like his spartan is much better for measurement, even without belt? We have an old belt, I could change battery and make it fit better. But I still think that mine S9+no belt vs his spartan+no belt is huge difference

What do you think guys?

freeheeler

@Gabriela-Ziemba
#2 looks like small downspikes caused maybe by tesla from a sport shirt?

personally I would recommend to use an external HR, either belt or OH1

@Gabriela-Ziemba intressting. Would try a more surrounding wrist band. And keep shirt away from wrist-watch-contact

sartoric

@Gabriela-Ziemba
Which Spartan model is it?
Check if there are visible differences when you wear it.
I mean contact surface on the wrist etc. Also when you move you arm.

You can also try to wear it on the other arm.

For sure the belt is a viable solution.

Gabriela Ziemba

@TELE-HO I wear almost only quick dry t-shirts so it could definitely be the reason, I read about it now, would never ever think about it, I’m new into HR belts. Thanks!

Gabriela Ziemba

@mountainChris do you have any suggestions that would be good for S9 non Baro? Thanks!

Gabriela Ziemba

@sartoric
That’s his watch. His watch strap feels definitely much more comfortable than mine, it feels like there is no space bwetwen skin and watch. Mine feels not the same way.

Brad_Olwin

@Gabriela-Ziemba For me the OHR on the Spartan and S9 is problematic. It works in the gym, sitting, hiking but is poor for running and trail running. The only solution that works for me is to actually wear the watch almost on my forearm. Most of the time I wear the Suunto smartsensor belt.

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.