MinnMan

You know, I was wondering about that smell....

RChung

That's interesting. I don't really look at respiration rate but since you mentioned it, I went into Garmin Connect and looked at a ride. I get two different graphics for respiration rate, one from Garmin itself and another from an app I use (AlphaHRV). I've copied a screenshot from Garmin Connect below: the top graphic is respiration rate from Garmin, the bottom graphic is the respiration rate from AlphaHRV. I've chosen a point where they're different. Garmin gives a brpm of 31 at a moment when AlphaHRV says 39.

As an aside, your respiration data seem to have a lot of drop-outs. Do you also see drop-outs in HR, or is this only for the respiration data?

terrymorse 

No, the heart rate graph doesn't show any drop outs:



The corresponding breathing rate graph:

I suspect Garmin's algorithm for respiration rate may be a bit "hokey" (technical term).

RChung

My eyeball calculator makes me think that HR is smoothed but that resp rate may be less smoothed. Places where there are resp rate drop-outs seem very roughly correlated with transitory drops in HR. What's happening to power at the places where HR dips?

terrymorse 

It looks like power drops off at places where HR dips (and respiration drops out, sometimes).

Here's a higher resolution section:

spelger

does the respiration rate make it into a .fit file? curious to know how respiration is monitored via the amr and how accurate it is.

edit: never mind. i just need to read the thread more. you need the raw data to make a good comparison of dropouts when the grapsh are applying any sort of filtering.

Steamer

For the tightwads in the group, I have been using this cheap chest strap with my Garmin for about a year now, and it's been flawless for basic HR data. It's not compatible with any HRV apps, though.

https://www.amazon.com/GEOID-Monitor...ustomerReviews

RChung

I'm not sure HRV metrics are currently reliable enough to use as an indicator of any kind of threshold (which was the promise or goal of several HRV apps). I paid top dollar for a Polar H10 chest strap because of the prospects for HRV but if I knew then what I know now, I probably would go tightwad.

ZHVelo

Polar H10, in use since April 2020 and still going strong. Only weak point is the battery, it has to be replaced a couple times a year. Though that also depends on the quality of the battery.

mxtek5

I use both my Garmin Fenix 7 and also the regular Garmin chest strap. I’d say the chest strap is better overall if you are looking for the best accuracy but the Fenix is just more convenient as it’s already always on the wrist.

zacster

I just tried riding Zwift with my Wahoo Tickr and it wouldn't read properly for the first half of the ride, then was OK. I've had that same problem doing outdoor rides except those are usually much longer so I'm only missing a small portion of the ride. I tried licking it, applying some sort of gel, moving it around, rubbing it against my skin and nothing worked, until suddenly it just did. I had a Garmin one that did the exact same thing that the Wahoo was to replace. I've had enough of that so I've ordered a Polar OH1 that was on sale directly from them for $48. It's a different reading process and on the arm. I've never really liked the chest strap.

zacster

I tried the Polar OH1 I just bought and it read correctly as soon as I turned it on. When I went up to the trainer to do a ride though the battery died as it didn't have any charge on it so I put on the Wahoo again and again the same problem. I had to skip today on the trainer so I'll get to check it out tomorrow.

I thought about buying an Apple watch but couldn't see the need for it. I'd never use it otherwise.

Turnin_Wrenches

I switched to the TICKR Fit armband / optical heart monitor after growing tired of the fiddly battery doors of the regular TICKR and Garmin HRM-Dual and the frustration of always having to wet the sensors before starting my ride.

The TICKR Fit is rechargeable (no need to replace batteries) and it has an on/off switch, so it solved both problems. The only "downside" with the TICKR Fit (and it's a small one) is the approximate 20-25hr. battery life before needing to recharge it. As someone who does ultra-endurance events longer than 25hrs. the TICKR Fit doesn't get the job done. For these longer events I use a regular TICKR or a Garmin HRM-Dual.

kcjc

My CooSpo lasted just over 696 hours before it died. I'm currently using a Magene H303 with over 549 hours. I switched to a Magene because CooSpo wasn't available at the time.

zacster

I got on the bike and the Polar performed as expected, but the laptop running Zwift didn't. It too needed a good charge. Even plugged in that laptop throttles itself when the battery is low. I put music on and it ground to a halt. 1984 - Van Halen.

spelger

when my strap died i bought something like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Heart-Rate-Mo...s%2C293&sr=8-3

what i like about it is that it unhooks, not unsnaps like the wahoo strap. pretty sure that is what killed it. so far it has outlasted teh wahoo version by 2x.

AE86Trueno

I noticed this as well myself, in my case it was resolved with just wetting the sensor pad behind the strap (not the sensor itself). I usually get my hand wet and just pat both side of the sensor, i noticed after i do this the sensor will blink red and blue straight away.

ZmanKC

As have I.

Carbonfiberboy 

I figure my breathing is either below VT1, between VT1 and VT2, or over VT2. I can tell those breakpoints pretty accurately and don't think I need to know more than that.

Before I got a pacemaker, I took my morning resting and standing resting HR as well as my HRV both lying and standing for many years. I don't think the HRV told me anything more than did my HRs. However my standing HF power was something I watched closely. "Lower HF power is correlated with stress, panic, anxiety, or worry." https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5624990/ Also correlates with Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR) as I discovered.

MinnMan

Oh crap. I just got back from a business trip and I left my TICKR in the hotel room. Hotel hasn't seen it, though maybe they will find it and ship it back to me. So now I probably need a new one. Given issues I ahd with the TICKR (mostly posted about it in that other thread, I think), I might try a POLAR....

zacster

I've been using my Polar OH1 for 2 months now without a single issue. It tracks perfectly right from the start without the frustration of getting a chest strap to pick up.

terrymorse 

Same for me, except I've been using a Polar OH1 since 2019. Zero problems.

PeteHski

Same for me. Had my OH1 since 2020 and it’s still going strong. There is a newer version with longer battery life - now renamed Polar Verity Sense.

Carbonfiberboy 

I've been using an H10 with the Elite HRV app for many years. I needed quite a bit of data, a couple months, before patterns became clear to me, indicating training and stress levels as well as eventually warning me twice about PMR which needed a doctor fix. OTOH, my wife's HRV numbers are so steady that they only serve the function of telling her that everything is fine. The other thing I've used my Elite app for is detecting PVCs while on my rollers. That helped my doc figure some things out.

My practice, ever since my morning resting HR stopped being a good indicator of training stress (age did that), has been taking my morning resting and standing-resting HRs and HRV with both my Polar V800 and the Elite HRV app. It takes me about 20 minutes do both tests with both devices, but I found it helpful, especially the standing HRV. I keep the data in a spreadsheet.

I assume by threshold you mean ventilatory or lactate, etc. AFAIK HRV won't help with that.

RChung

Yup. There are a few papers that suggest that HRV could be used to identify thresholds (like, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7845545/) but I think they may be oversold.