Kettlebell Heart rate monitor

[Robert Noftz]

Hi Jcorn, interesting post. I started using H10 chest strap relatively short time ago and use this in conjunction with Poar Beat app.Previously, used the FITBIT charge 2 however, quickly ditched this and will never use again.I have had some success with Polar H10 and definitely improvement on FITBIT.My only reservation working with H10 concerns HIIT workouts and sepcifically its unreliability of giving accurate heart rate readings above 150.

Usually, all HIIT sessions follow the same pattern, heart rate climbs to 150 and then in a blink of an eye jumps to 190 and then 220 bpm. This is disappointing at a such a crucial stage of my training for a half marathon.I have decided to dispense with H10 for HIIT seesions and rely on more traditional methods of heart rate monitoring.H10 is fine for steady state training

There appears to be a lack of feedback about this specific matter or perhaps I am just looking in the wrong place.

I have been using the H10 with my training for several months. I have not noticed that kind of problem.
Occasionally it looks like it loses track of my heart rate and then picks it up again or perhaps with an intense interval it seems to lag a little occasionally but that is it. I think it is a great tool. I can't really be sure if the lag is because of the H10 or because the blue tooth connection between my phone and the H10 is the problem.
Using the 220 minus your age formula my max heart rate should be about 170 bpm. I have had my heart rate up to 171 occasionally according to the H10. That happened with HIIT training on a Schwinn Airdyne and when doing intense sessions of swings and get ups. For example I did 10 sets of one handed swings with each arm every minute on the minute and then without a break did get ups every minute on the minute. Occasionally it looked like my heart rate didn't start to record in the beat app until my heart rate had already started to slow down a little. Those intense peaks with intervals and explosive exercises cause a sharp rise.
Maybe you should contact Polar to see if there is something wrong with yours. Perhaps the H10 is working but something else is wrong. There probably isn't anyway for anyone on this forum to tell you what is wrong.

So far I think the h10 has been a great tool for me to use. I could be wrong but I get the impression they were designed more with steady state training in mind, not for HIIT. However, the H10 has been a great tool that I have used both for aerobic and HIIT training. Also I kept track of my heart rate when doing repeat training with the kettlebell.

 

[vegpedlr]

@redculver
Interesting. That sounds like a technical glitch, either hardware or software. In my extensive experience with non BT HRMs, there are a few occasions they get wonky. The most common in cold weather, before I’ve really warmed up, if there is not enough moisture on my skin to make a good connection. Sometimes, randomly, some kind of EMF interference can freak it out. There used to be this one intersection, where if had to stop at a red light, I could watch my HR peg at 250, while calmly breathing through my nose. Contact Polar for help.

But a HRM might not be necessary anyway for your workouts. They are most useful for MAF training to keep you from going too hard, and for tempo or LT work, to keep you from easing up as fatigue sets in. Due to how HR responds to exercise intensity, the shorter and harder the intervals, the less useful. A lot of coaches prefer RPE in that case, as the HRM just gets in the way.