Polar verity HRM

Not yet

by quikjraw - 2021-06-13 13:06:50

I'd be really interested to see how you get on with them. I've heard they are quite reliable.

Since my pacemaker my Garmin electrical chest band no longer works so I could be looking at upgrading my watch to a light sensor or could go for what you've bought.

HRM

by AgentX86 - 2021-06-13 15:01:46

PulseOx types of monitors are notoriously inaccurate. If perfectly placed they can work  up move a mm and all bets are off. Constant monitoring, for whatever sick reason you'd want to do that my be a problem.

They're not going to work if you have any arrhythmia.

First time

by Quietman - 2021-06-15 00:17:40

Got ti today, taught my first karate class after having the heart attack and PM installed.

Currently limiting my heart rate to about 100BPM as I stil have to see the EP and voltage is still cranked until that day.

man is it difficult to follow the post surgery restrictions but was able to do so.

Pules rate was spot on while kicking and doing stance work. had my phone sitting where i could check it and do a manual pulse check since a workout timer was running.

Taking 15 second pulse rates (x4), it was within +/- 2 beats from 72 to 100 bpm.

Real test will happen when I get freed up and can use more arm movement.

Although it may look weird, it can be worn on the temple with a strap, but didn't need to do that today.

And no, I don't have arrhythmia. And geez AgentX86 you jump to a lot of conclusions. For starters this as an HRM- NOT a PulseOx meter.

Constant monitoring when working out right now is because I'm limiting my heart rate and will gradually increase the limit. Can't go to cardiac rehab until July, and my tendency is to push hard. My cardiologist doesn't want me pushing to what I can do right now as he said, with my background, what I should do is probably less than what I can do, so he'd like me monitoring my pulse rate.

Blood ox at rest is not a problem as it's been between 98 and 100 both whe I was in the hospital and when I went to the doctor last Friday. A by product of the training and breathing exercises.

Plans are to get back to being able to go to altitude for hunting and fishing her in Colorado, so will also be looking for na SpO2 device, preferably one that will pair with the Verity if it turns out it works well.

Sounds promising

by quikjraw - 2021-06-17 08:08:07

Hi Quietman

Sounds really promising. I know the Polar and Garmin stuff is pretty good but obviously more tricky to get it working in people with pacemakers it would seem but the optical sensors do not care if you have a pacemaker fitted. I have read that the watch mounted optical sensor very much depend on things like fit and hairiness of your wrist.

I saw the strap you have bought a few weeks back and thought that would perform much better as it is less likely to move about. 

I hope you can get back to the things you love soon!

Cheers

John

Usage info and discoveries so far

by Quietman - 2021-07-01 09:50:00

Well here's the report so far.
I understand why people say the LED HRM's can be undependable or inaccurate. What I've discovered is that it appears the issues aren't due to the technology, but rather to grossly inadequate instructions.

My whole work life has been spent troubleshooting technology and systems. I have a very good knowledge of anatomy, having been through a holistic health Practitioner program a number of years ago, and was in the acupunture program when I moved. So I'm putting that to use.

So the instructions on the Verity tell you to put it on the upper or lower arm, or on the temple with a seperate headband. The information this leaves out (after some experiments) is astonishing.

Highlights of what I've learned.
Placement directly on a muscle bundle causes erratic readings when moving. My thoughts are the fact that since the contractions of the muscles can cause blood flow, it affects the reading.

Tried the monitor on the inside of the upper arm as a test. Did not work worth a darn. Tried it directly over a vein- erratic readings.

Where it's fairly stable. 
On your lower arm. Make a fist and find a low spot in between the muscle fiber bundles. Much more stable and accurate.
On the upper arm, the most stable place I've found is at the point made by the bottom of the deltoid. This puts it in between the deltoid, tricep, and bicep.

In these positions, activity may cause it to vary by 2-3 heartbeats on me, which is very acceptable. I will stop and immediately take a pulse to verify the pulse rate. So far it's been +/- 2 beats. But then, since I'm taking a 15 second pulse and mutiplying by 4, that  error can be caused by the HRM or the shorter time taking a pulse. Longer won't work as it allows the heart to slow down to much.

I have a feeling the amount of subcutaneous fat you have may also affect the reading, but I will discuss this with Polar after I'm done testing this more. 

So far, the monitoing as been happening without a lot of arm movement due to the post surgery restrictions. Now that i'm cleared, I can test it while punching and blocking in karate and while doing things like pushups and kettlebell exercises.

Will have more info later. If it keeps being reliable in certain areas, I'm going to make a video on this and hopefully have some feeedback from polar I can include.

So there's the report so far.