MinnMan

I've had two recent experiences, quite similar to one another, with very high HR reading on my Garmin (Premium softstrap HRM, paired with an Edge 500) that I suspect are glitches, but.....

Both have occurred very early in my ride - in the first mile - with minimal exertion. In both cases, I looked down to see the HRM recording above my MHR (180 BPM). Today it was reading 182, the other time a couple of weeks ago, 189. Based on my perceived effort, I would have expected 110-130 BPM.

In both cases, I stopped as soon as practicable and took my pulse with my wristwatch and wrist pulse. These recorded something like 110 BPM (it's hard to be accurate in this way), but by the time I was able to do this, the Garmin too was reading low, reasonable values.

In both cases, I felt absolutely fine - no racing heart, no symptoms of exertion, nothing. Had I not been wearing my HRM, I would have had no inkling of a problem. But I have read that tachycardia can be otherwise asymptomatic.

In both cases, with cooler weather, I suspect that the HRM could have been malfunctioning (static electricity from my jersey? imperfect connection because I wasn't yet perspiring?

In one case, once I started up again, the HR climbed within less than a minute to about 160 BPM, which made little sense based on exertion. I stopped, the HR went down, my manual pulse seemed normal, and the rest of the ride I had normal reading. In the second case, I had normal readings the rest of the ride without the second coda.

But the readings weren't randomly wacky - again in both cases, when the HRM first coupled to the Edge, the HRs were normal, but as I pedaled they just went up really fast. And then when I stopped, they went down again, quite quickly. If it was just a HRM malfunction, would it behave in that particular way (e.g., mimicking my exertion, but with greatly exaggerated values)? And why were the spurious readings coincidentally be just above my normal actual MHR? The anecdotes I've heard about spurious HR readings have tended to be of the sort where the monitor went to 250 BPM for somebody who had a normal MHR (160, 180, etc.)

Anybody out there with similar experience with their HRMs (or with actual experience with tachycardia)?

fthomas

Maybe it is time to see a Cardiologist. At least eliminate all potential causes of the unusual readings.

gregf83 

Very common. I get it every ride these days commuting as the weather is dry and I'm wearing wool which isn't very tight. Worst case is when you're going fast down a hill near the start of your ride. Mine settles down after the first decent sized hill.

Next time it happens try riding with one hand and hold the other arm tight against your HR strap. If the HR drops after 10-20 seconds it's just static. Helps to wear a tight fitting jersey and some electrical contact gel if it bothers you. I record my HR but don't really look at it unless I'm going hard or after the ride.

edit: Typical Ride below. Note the high HR at the start until the hill.

TGT1

I had an HRM fail the same way.
It seemed to happen at first on low humidity days with a synthetic shirt, so it is probably caused by static electricity buildup.

When it died permanently I got a Wahoo. No problems with it so far,

I'd bet a dollar to a doughnut that almost all of the HRM manufacturers use the same chip set so it's probably a function of strap design.

If it was Tachycardia you should have felt something.

Shimagnolo

In the past I've frequently seen a Garmin Edge give wacky HR readings about a mile into the ride. I never found a reason for it, but it was always the same location near the city govt buildings, so I was thinking maybe there was a fire/police radio transmitter triggering it. My current 705 with latest firmware is not doing it.

Shimagnolo

Not necessarily. In my EMT class a year ago, one of the students discovered he had tachycardia only when his training partner was getting a crazy high pulse on him, and the instructor tried to show her what she was doing wrong. The instructor discovered that really was his pulse, and sent him to the doctor.

GravelMN

When I had a bout of a-fib with a ventricular response (HR) over 160 at rest, all I felt was a mild "not well" feeling, as if I might be coming down with a cold. So not having symptoms does not rule out short runs of tachycardia.

That said, I have a Mio Alpha HRM and occasionally get wacky low or high readings for short periods. I was asymptomatic and when I checked my pulse it was within the expected range, so I learned to ignore brief aberrant readings.

MinnMan

Yeah, that looks similar- the HR goes up and down where it should, but by way too much.

Guessing that that speed is kph. Either that or you're a Cat1/Pro.

gregf83 

Yes kph. After the hill my HR is normal. I was riding fairly hard so it was higher than a normal commute.

Shimagnolo

This is from today. I don't know what happened, but the data looked normal when I loaded it into Strava. I'm pretty proud of this.

MinnMan

Give that man a professional contract! And a PED test.

hobkirk

My Garmin HRM is often completely wrong for the start of rides. I've seen readings around 250 and had an AHR of 170 for as long as 6 miles. I am trying polarized training, so almost all my rides are in easy rides (AHR under 128). During intervals my max HR is 155, so there's no way my AHR is ever 170!

Does this apply to you? I have no idea. I've been riding for 5 years, average about 4K per year, just turned 70, and I've paid attention to my HR since I started.

lphilpot

I discovered I was getting interference from my phone (on a handlebar mount). That caused strangeness across the board. I moved the meter to the top tube and it's accurate now. Do you carry a phone?

Slash5

I've found similar early in a ride, especially when I have just put the strap on. Also see it a lot when I go down a long hill early in a ride.

StanSeven

You've got it exactly right. It's from static electricity from the jersey, the strap not making contact, insufficient moisture from your body which is easy in cool dry weather, or the step not be I got tight e nough. It's nothing to worry about.

qcpmsame 

There was a pretty detailed thread, last spring, I believe, that discussed the glitches with the straps for HRMs. Do a search for that one, there were some links to a mfgr. web page addressing this problem. I seem to remember that there was a source for better straps, and for some home brewed fixes.

Bill

ColaJacket

I think I read that thread. IIRC, the cheap garmin strap had the fewest glitches.

GH

jimincalif

Get the Polar HRM strap and snap your Garmin HRM to it, throw the Garmin strap away.

My Garmin strap would more often than not show zero, or it would read 1/2, 1/3 or 2x my heart rate, it was all over the place, never consistent, and no amount of repositioning, it, washing it, or sweating with it on would fix it. It showed me with 47 bpm climbing a 6% hill for 7 miles, it showed me at 185 pedaling along comfortably on flat ground.

Since I got the Polar strap I've had rock solid readings.

https://www.amazon.com/Polar-Soft-Str...t+rate+monitor