So it probably doesn’t have anything to do with skin perfusion/positioning of the watch, but some kind of hardware/software issue. The times I did get it to read was a slow increase in my pace. Signing and U.S. shipping included. I had this same problem. Hello! My sedentary heart rate is generally about mid-50s, so a sleeping rate in the 40s with the occasional drop below 40 doesn’t worry me. Why it only seems to affect heart rate readings during running is a mystery. However, because of my hairy wrists, I actually got more consistent heart rate readings putting it on the underside of my wrists when I run. At the lower sample frequency it cannot differentiate between harmonic frequencies (70bpm vs 140bpm) as it’s not achieving what is called the nyquist frequency . Leo Laporte and Megan Morrone talk about how the Apple Watch might be able to save your life. However, I was skeptical that any of them would work, because I’d seen a slow degeneration in the reliability of my watch to read my heartbeat while using my watch for the same workout over the same route for months. If you get a reading after a few moments, it means the problem is most likely tied to how you use or wear your Watch. My watch is getting close to a year old and the heart rate tracking seems to be degrading too. Thanks for your good article, I faced with the same issue with my 5! Your email address will not be published. Well, that’s interesting! I wedged a piece of foam under latching part of the watch band which snugged up the back of the watch to my wrist. I raised my Apple Watch again and swiped up to view the heart rate glance. A year ago I ran with a 12 lead holder heat monitor and it agreed with the fit bit. However it sounds like fast changes in heart rate cause the watch to stop recording. in addition make sure the watch is about one inch from your wrist. It seems the Nike Run Club app stops it from working somehow. It’s interesting to hear that your Series 6 is having the same problem, as I have been wondering if this was a defect with the Series 3 I own. I have lost count of the number of tickets with Apple and I have provided diagnostics. I only use that while running. The Sports Band, Sports Loop, Nike Sports Band, and Nike Sports Loop are all designed to be comfortable when worn tightly during exercise. This could help you and your patients identify situations which may warrant further evaluation. Depending on your age and sex, your cardio fitness will fall into one of four ranges: Low, Below Average, Above Average, or High. Here is what I’m wondering after a gotcha moment today. And Figure 4 compares typical charts from the old and new watch. Many people have reported that the heart rate sensors on an Apple Watch have become unreliable. According to Mayo Cliniadults’, normal resting heart rates range from 60 to 100 beats per minute. Heart rate notifications. Unfortunately it seems that the watch heart rate sensors can degrade over time, and the various “fixes” suggested online might not always be successful. I use a Nike sport band and he uses a braided loop. Get a graph of your heart rate. I switched to the Apple Fitness app and started recording my run there. The Apple Watch’s accuracy level can be different from person to person. This has been frustrating, since the sole purpose of this watch for me is for fitness. However, you can change this threshold if it is too low for you (e.g., if you're not a professional athlete). It can barely keep a measurement even when I start the HR App first. This is clearly an easy fix which they won’t do. The rest of my run had a consistent and accurate read. "Apple Watch … A superbly documented summary ! Do you think your actual pace changes are tracked better by the Watch than the Fitbit? I don’t know what Apple would charge for an out-of-warranty fix or replacement. Receive low cardio fitness notifications Apple Watch (with watchOS 7.2 or later) can estimate your cardio fitness level by looking at your heart rate while you walk or run outdoors, and notify you if it’s low. I have a Milanese loop band which can be precisely adjusted, but I still have the problem. I suspect, as other commenters has mentioned, it’s related to the precise positioning of the watch on the wrist and the tightness of the strap. When you’re not running the Activity app, an Apple Watch only reads your heartbeat every ten minutes. If after trying all the above suggestions, your Watch still fails to accurately detect your heart rate, the next step is to try resetting it. During that period, if a person's Apple Watch (only Series 1, 2, and 3 were studied) detected an abnormal heart rate or rhythm, it sent out medical-grade electrocardiogram (ECG) patches to determine if the Apple Watch accurately identified an issue. I took it in to our local Apple Premium Service Provider. Sometimes the heart rate monitor stopped working to such an extent that I couldn’t even get a few readings during a 25-minute run (see Figure 2). The Apple Watch uses green LEDs paired with photodiodes to track the blood flow through your wrist. However, there are things that can be done to help get a more accurate heart rate reading more consistently. I’ve unpaired and paired back the watch and right now the problem looks fixed. I have tried EVERYTHING and have an ongoing open case with Apple. It can detect a heart rate range of between 30 and 210 beats per minute. I will report back here if I find any solutions for this problem, as so many seem to be having it. Required fields are marked *. That’s why your watch face may say “70 bpm, 9 min ago.” But when you open the heart rate app, it takes a fresh reading. ZM, appreciate you adding your experience. What is frustrating is that there is no one in Apple you can talk to to get a refund so I can start living my life with a chest strap. Launch Breathe app on your Apple Watch. I’m having the same issue. Apple recommends you wear your Watch faceup on the top of your wrist. Tom, thank you for providing your update. and it rarely ever had an issue with heart rates. So, by measuring how much green light is absorbed a few hundred times per second, your Apple Watch can track when your heart is beating. Samantha, I wish that your answer explained this problem for me, but at home I run the same (rural) route every day, and the times that my Series 3 stops measuring my heartbeat are inconsistent from one day to the next. Hearing that other heartbeat monitors don’t have this problem implies that Apple’s tech is, perhaps, inferior. Thank you. Feels to me like its a deliberate ‘by design’ software issue. Tomorrow I will try to restart my watch BEFORE I do a workout and see if that affects things. The feature requires any Apple Watch Series 1 model or later. It was quite helpful. My series 4 running workout record looks just like your OLD watch image. I received an instant accurate reading. To get background heart rate readings, Wrist Detection must be enabled. Yes, the issue surprised me too, and I wish I had a definite answer. How-To Geek is where you turn when you want experts to explain technology. now it’s working fine fo me! It was a little strange not wearing a watch for a week, and it was interesting to see the limited workout data provided by my iPhone compared to what I was used to from my watch. Likewise, your heart rate rhythm should remain below a certain BPM value while you appear to have been inactive for a period of 10 minutes. The killer feature for heart rate monitoring would be to watch my heart rate compared to the music. And also should have taken my watch to Apple before my Apple care expired. Thanks for all the comments about not reading heart rates during work outs. And more importantly, your Apple Watch is a silly gadget; your heart is an important part of your body. I’m getting spikes at 168, 172, and even 183. Its very frustrating. —On your iPhone, go to Settings > Privacy > Motion & Fitness and check that both Fitness Tracking and Health are On. I have found that if the watch is worn on the front of the wrist I get the heart rate reading. Swipe left when you see the heart rate chart. One possibility is that — due to unknown circumstances — during the first few minutes of your exercise, your heart rate is changing too fast for the watch to accurately measure it. When it is connected it reads heart rate. I also have switched to wearing on front of wrist last month. That may be what’s happening to me too. I am doing a 10 mile run tomorrow and hope a tighter wrist band will help. I am still seeing the problem while running, even with my new watch, but it’s so inconsistent from day to day. Recently I got a Series 6 watch, assuming that it would resolve the issue. Tom. My watch seems to have Bluetooth issues. Mike, I agree it probably has something to do with arm movement, since I, like you, never see the issue during other exercise routines where my arms don’t move as much. If you get a reading after a few moments, it means the problem is most likely tied to how you use or wear your Watch. I’ll go in before my apple care expires and get it replaced. But I think things seemed to get worse after the software update to watchOS 7 a few months ago. Heart rate was mostly 140 bpm with one spike to 177 bpm. Before sending it back, I unpaired the Watch from my iPhone (important! Enter your passcode, and follow the onscreen prompts to erase the Watch completely. Cold weather is a big one here; theoretically, so are overhead gymnastic movements or any lifting that uses compression straps on your arms. Usually need to stay still for it to work, which also means disrupting one’s run. Step #2. The watch started displaying “measuring” my heart beat for minutes (see Figure 1), especially at the beginning of a run. The majority of conference attendees voted to have a hybrid traditional/peer conference again next year. Lately, when I’m running at my slower pace, my heart rate should be in the 140/150 range. Unfortunately, nothing changed, as reported by another person here. It likely lowers the sample rate in order to save battery. Apple Watch uses green LED lights to measure your heart rate during workouts and Breathe sessions, and to calculate walking average and Heart Rate Variability (HRV). I tested my blood oxygen and noticed that I was getting weird numbers or an error. Low or high heart rate: If your heart rate is higher than 100 BPM or lower than 50 BPM, the reading is deemed inconclusive. I concluded that my watch heart rate sensor was defective. It has something to do with the swinging of the arms, that throws it off and yes, the watch is snug and does not move around. I’m happy to report that the replacement watch now works perfectly during my workout. I also have the same experience as you: once the heart rate registers, the watch is usually able to keep measuring it for the remainder of a run. The new watch worked perfectly for a while, but eventually started showing the same symptoms again. Does your association’s tail wag your membership’s dog? —Clean the sensors on the back. I just replaced my series 6 for this reason (they replaced it, was under Apple Care) and guess what? For example, sometimes I can be on the StairMaster with a heart rate around 132 (according to the StairMaster heart rate sensor), but my Watch will say that I’m at 204 or something like that. I’d ask Apple for a replacement. If they’re not going to investigate and fix the problem, you might as well get a temporary improvement (if your experience is like mine). Another thing to note is my problems seemed to have started in October, which coincides with the release of watchOS 7. (Image source: Nandagopal Rajan/ Indian Express) An Apple Watch user in Britain was alerted about his low heart rate by the device, which revealed a serious heart condition that ultimately resulted in a surgery to fix the problem. Of 20 runs since then only 2 have provided heart rate for the entire run. I did not want to take another link out because then it would be too tight. I run for 1.5 hours usually–so that’s a lot of missed data. It is fine when I play tennis. Brilliant help thank you. Apparently it did not make consistent enough contact with my wrist as it flopped around a bit while running. Step #1. Good luck! After months of bad readings it is finally working worn there. Then, using the “Watch” app on your iPhone, you’ll need to set it up again. Apple Watch checks for unusually high or low heart rates in the background, which could be signs of a serious underlying condition. Thanks for posting this though, my fiance is having the same issue and I was looking for some btdt from people. Thanks for sharing your experience. Why would my heart rate reflect in yoga but not in outdoor walk / run ? Now, open Cardiogram on your phone. Though not always, in my case. Sometimes at the beginning, sometimes during it losts the HR. Running, it SUCKS! Shame because I’ve accepted a challenge from my family so I need to use NRC to record my distances. To me this implies there’s a hardware degradation of some kind over time on these watches. I am disappointed in Apple’s failure to recognize and address the issue. Several smartwatches and fitness trackers on the market have the ability to track heart rate, but the Apple Watch remains one of the most commonly purchased products with heart rate tracking. That why outdoor walking or running g is where it mostly happens. Hi there, thanks for sharing this. Now, our recent overview of the Apple Watch’s heart rate sensor provided a good starting point for enthusiasts wishing to learn more about the feature. Tap High Heart Rate, then choose a BPM. To reset a Watch, open the “Settings” app and go to General > Reset > Erase All Content and Settings. I tried my boyfriend watch (same as mine), till 26 minutes, everything was OK, but after it losts HR, minutes later it showed a higher one, after it losts again and so on. The problem with the algorithm is that it picks up twice the regular heart rate and will oscillate between the true heart rate (around 100 for me) and go to twice it’s value. Since we launched in 2006, our articles have been read more than 1 billion times. I am glad that works for you, though it’s somewhat inconvenient to switch it before running. I have all the setting turned on described above in the this chat. The Sports Loops, in particular, are easy to adjust as needed. The Apple Watch heart rate monitor may be accurate in certain cases . If you get the chance to try it out, please share your experience! There’s no way I’d be functioning normally with that kind of HR variation. This usually happens when my watch is “looking” for my heart rate and then comes back. The Fitbit was 140 bpm for first 2 miles then jumped up to 165 bpm for the rest of the run. Putting the watch on another arm doesn’t seem to make it better, so this is probably not to do with the skin being compressed for long periods of time (I wear my watch 22 hours a day).