Spark poor heart rate measurement

EdwinSport

Hi,

Measuring my heart rate at my wrist used to work fine both in rest and during workouts, but since a while it is rubbish for both cycling and swimming (I don't run, so no idea if that still works properly). Letting it adjust/calibrate for 10 minutes, tightening the strap, loosening the strap, none of this seems to help. It usually doesn't go over 105 even when I'm an intense exercise, so it is off by some 20 to 50 heartbeats, it gives all kinds of readings (usually fluctuations are quite limited) but the measurements are consequently too low and I see no link between my heartrate and the measured rate. Although it does seem to measure my rest heartrate (roughly 60) correclty. I'm currently using software version 1.7.62

Any ideas how I can improve the quality of the heartrate measurements?

Thanks!

tfarabaugh

What activities are you using it for? It will not work for anything with forearm tension like weightlifting or rowing, as those activities compress the blood vessels in the wrist, reducing your pulse. This is the same reason cycling does not work well (swimming is due to the interference of the water). I also find that any activities with a lot of rapid movement or impact like kickboxing are not optimal as the constant jarring moves the watch around too much, so it constantly loses signal. am not aware of the latest updates causing any issues with HR, but you never know. It could also be the sensor failing, in which case am call to Customer Support would be in order.

I hope this helped answer your question. If so, please mark it as a solution so others can look for it if they have the same question.

EdwinSport

I use it mostly for cycling, sometimes for swimming. But it used to work fine for both, now it doesn't anymore. So in my case some update causing issues seems more likely than "tension in the forearm" issues.

tfarabaugh

In that case it may be the sensor is failing. At this point I would suggest calling Customer Support to see what they can do. They are able to more deeply investigate and diagnose problems than we can here on the user forum. To get the number for Customer Support, choose Contact US at the bottom of this page, select the service required and the product name and click Contact Customer Care and then Phone Us. It will give you the phone number for the country your account is registered under (this can be changed by clicking the flag icon in the bottom right corner of the screen).

I hope this helped answer your question. If so, please mark it as a solution so others can look for it if they have the same question.