Heart Rate monitors and swimming

IronMikeIronMike Northern VirginiaCharter Member
edited November 2012 in General Discussion
Anyone out there use a heart rate monitor while swimming? More questions:

What model do you use?
How do you design your training around the HR monitor?
Do you wear it while doing group workouts, like with a masters group?
Do you wear it in open water?
How did you find your (swim) max heart rate?

I remember reading somewhere about a pro triathlete whose coach designs his training week by week solely based on his heart rate during the previous week's training. And apparently this triathlete does really well in races.

We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams

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Comments

  • SuirThingSuirThing Carrick-on-Suir, IrelandMember
    I tried it with a cheap one but couldn't get it to stay on .... resistance from the water kept causing it to roll back, especially when pushing off the wall

    triathlete wearing a wetsuit wouldn't have this problem

    I tried to convince myself, but, orange flavour electrolyte, mixed with hot chocolate,
    tastes nothing like Terry's Chocolate Orange ....

  • WaterGirlWaterGirl Scottsdale, AZCharter Member
    I have a Polar heart rate monitor. Sometimes it works in the water, sometimes not. My best guess is that it works when the water temp is at or below 82F.

    I've heard that the Finis hrm is the only one that works reliably in the water. (Hard to imagine a reliable Finis electronic product, but there you have it.) That one doesn't save any data, it just audibly tells you your heart rate however often you tell it to.

    I thought the information I got from wearing the hrm was interesting. For example, on days when I'm swimming badly (slowly), my heart rate isn't any lower.

    You'd have to be really consistent technique-wise to be able to use it the same way runners and cyclists use it.
  • Ramous62Ramous62 londonMember

    I use the polar A300, it works well but you have to swim with a rash vest to hold it in place, a tight one as well. Otherwise, it will be moved by the water as you swim. Simply...a strap is never going to hold it in place.

    It has been consistent with it recording and as far as I know, the only option that works in the water. There may be newer watches out now that have the equivalent tech, I haven't had the need to keep up with those advancements.

    Whats great about heart rate training is you can see exactly how hard you're working. No mind games where you think you are pushing it but the monitor says no your not. This can help battle those days when you're mind and body aren't being honest with each other. :)

  • BogdanZBogdanZ Bucharest, RomaniaSenior Member

    I use a swim HR monitor from Garmin, but the feedback comes post-training, not during the practice itself, in water; when the watch will search for HR save data and display it with the other statistical data.

    Sara_Wolf
  • sean80304sean80304 Boulder, CONew Member

    Anyone out there use an Apple watch? thinking of picking up a Apple 5. I am looking to do a 21 km swim summer 2020 and want to track my training as well as the event. Can't seem to find out from Apple if this can be used for a long swim. Any other suggestions for trackers?

  • BogdanZBogdanZ Bucharest, RomaniaSenior Member

    @sean80304 said:
    Anyone out there use an Apple watch? thinking of picking up a Apple 5. I am looking to do a 21 km swim summer 2020 and want to track my training as well as the event. Can't seem to find out from Apple if this can be used for a long swim. Any other suggestions for trackers?

    Hi. Make sure to read the rules of the event. There are events were watches are not allowed for swimmers. You may give it to your kayaker/ boat for almost accurate data.

    SaraMcSwim
  • GoBlueGoBlue MichiganNew Member
    edited November 2019

    @sean80304 said:
    Anyone out there use an Apple watch? thinking of picking up a Apple 5. I am looking to do a 21 km swim summer 2020 and want to track my training as well as the event. Can't seem to find out from Apple if this can be used for a long swim. Any other suggestions for trackers?

    I know Apple and Garmin both work really well with a swim training phone app called MySwimPro. You may want to check it out at www.myswimpro.com
    I'm an ambassador for them so let me know if you are interested in exploring a subscription.
    The app creates a great community of swimmers (we also have a closed Facebook group you can join) and the training is top notch. The watch keeps track of all sorts of metrics. Interval times are personalized for you and transfer instantly from the app to your watch, which will run you through you workout. Let me know if you need help or have questions.

  • ColmBreathnachColmBreathnach Charter Member

    FYI, Garmin have a new watch out, the Swim2, which has optical heart rate monitoring (no chest strap needed). Logic would indicate that it may not be the most accurate, given the environment. There's a review here

    You could always take your pulse for six seconds and add a zero......

    PasqualeLakeBagger
  • My Garmin forerunner 945 works well enough....it’s wrist based as well. But, as others have said, its a store now read later path to the data. Not real-time.

  • IronMikeIronMike Northern VirginiaCharter Member

    My old Garmin 310xt works just fine tracking my swim. Don't wear it during official events though; I have the boat/kayak push the buttons. I'm sure it does HR but I've never tried.

    We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams

  • ColmBreathnachColmBreathnach Charter Member

    As an update to last post, I got a Garmin swim2 (From Santa), and it gives realtime heart monitoring. It seems pretty accurate, when compared to my 6 second add a zero method.

    IronMike
  • Webstem67Webstem67 Rapperswil, Switzerland Member

    Tech Geek Question - I have been experimenting with a Garmin Fenix 6s recently. Real time heart rate monitoring. Never measured before. My old 3HR didn't measure real time. Interesting thing is that when I swim a steady 4-5km in 18-19 degC my heart is racing...so the watch would have me believe. Up to 160 bpm. Although I do not feel it! I have been running and cycling a lot in lockdown recently and have been really pushing it and never get much above 150 bpm.....flat out (I'm an old guy!) Certainly my perceived swim effort is far from my perceived run or cycle effort. Not sure how accurate this is? Or maybe I'm really ready for a heart attack and i don't know about it! Anyone experimenting with the new Garmin watches?

    BogdanZ
  • My Garmin forerunner 945 works well enough....it’s wrist based as well. But, as others have said, its a store now read later path to the data. Not real-time.

  • iainhwiainhw SE EnglandMember

    @Webstem67 I don't have an answer to your question but I have had similar readings on my Garmin Swim 2. Yesterday I did a 4 hr swim, 1.5 hr with the tide and with rough av heart rate of 130ish which seemed pretty accurate, after turning and swimming against the tide for next 2.5 hrs av HR was around 168. Based on the old adage that max HR is roughly 220 minus your age, it means I was almost swimming at my max HR?!? I've had similar readings on other swims. Sadly my pace didn't reflect the high HR. Like you say other activities like cycling, the watch readings seem pretty accurate. I'd also be interested to hear if anyone has similar readings or can explain these readings.
    As an aside, I have recently and coincidentally had a full heart health check ecg, ct scan and imaging and all is good with my heart.

  • LakeBaggerLakeBagger Central OregonSenior Member
    edited July 2020

    @iainhw said:
    @Webstem67 Based on the old adage that max HR is roughly 220 minus your age, it means I was almost swimming at my max HR?!?

    I’ve heard that old adage as well, but if you exercise a lot, you can just consider your max HR to be the maximum you can get your HR up to. You can swim all out for a 75 or 100 a few times with 20-30 sec rest between each one, and take your HR (preferably using the old school fingers on the neck and counting for 10 sec)—voila, there’s your max. You can see if the HR monitor gets the same number as when measuring manually.

  • MoCoMoCo Worcester, MASenior Member

    My favorite bit about max HR came from a story about some trail runner in Alaska who ran around a trail corner and basically into a bear. He managed to avoid injury but basically ended up on the ground with the bear jumping over him. He said that his "favorite" part of the story was that he was clearly very wrong about what his "max" HR actually was.

    KatieBunSara_Wolfwendyv34JSwimSoloIronMikeCopelj26Webstem67
  • PasqualePasquale Trento, ItalyMember
    edited January 2021

    Hi
    I have just got FORM goggles with hr sensor. I love them as a training tool. Especially being able to see my HR, real time and for the first time in my life while swimming, feels really powerful. Currently I am just doing 1h to 1,5h swims in the pool. First thing I notice is that I was not doing a proper warmup going immediately at medium/high intensity, So I started to force myself to swim really slow to get my HR down in zone 2 . I was shocked to see how difficult is for me to swim in recovery zone. It feels like I am losing buoyancy and coordination and that makes me probably waste a lot of energy... I feel it goes well when I do the 100s and 200s rep at threshold pace, my hr is in line with my pace and feeling, but when I try to slow down it gets very difficult to find my pace.
    I feel that can be a problem if I want to extend the distance and time of my swimming. I would need to learn to swim "slow" so I can sustain the effort for a long time and maybe leave something in the tank for a strong finish. Until now I was probably starting too fast, but I only did up to 3 hour swim max, so it was more or less ok . I have to admit I was never able to get that feeling of a constant "forever" pace for more then 1 hour. Do you have ever measured the HR in a long swim? Are you able or aim to swim in zone2 (or even 1) for marathons swim? And do you often train swimming at constant slow pace in a pool?

    SoloBogdanZ
  • LakeBaggerLakeBagger Central OregonSenior Member

    I recommend floating, face down, arms up and out like Superman. See if you can get your body to float like a boat. It may be difficult at first, but you will improve. Once you’re good at floating, then do a drill where you start floating, then take a single stroke. Try to float one arm up, one arm down. If you can get good at that, it doesn’t take too much energy to swim slowly at a “zone 2” level.

    Some people may find floating an elementary skill for total beginners. This couldn’t be further from the truth. On my college swim team (Texas A&M), we would sometimes do this and I still practice it today. I don’t think any other single skill has been as valuable in managing my energy expenditure during marathon swims as this one.

    PasqualeSolo
  • LakeBaggerLakeBagger Central OregonSenior Member

    P.s. if you’re practicing floating at a pool, tell the lifeguard what you’re doing first :)

    Pasquale
  • PasqualePasquale Trento, ItalyMember
    edited January 2021

    @LakeBagger said:
    I recommend floating, face down, arms up and out like Superman. See if you can get your body to float like a boat. It may be difficult at first, but you will improve.

    Yes,.good tip.. even If I think my body position is quite good when I go at a normal pace zone3 or above.. when I slow down I feel I loose the momentum.. actually in the last 3 days I am focusing more on being efficient when I swim slow. I think is paying already off.. being able to see your HR real time is a game changer

    Some people may find floating an elementary skill for total beginners. This couldn’t be further from the truth. On my college swim team (Texas A&M), we would sometimes do this and I still practice it today. I don’t think any other single skill has been as valuable in managing my energy expenditure during marathon swims as this one.

    Agree.. never do the mistake to stop practicing basic skills.

    LakeBagger
  • brunobruno Barcelona (Spain)Senior Member

    @Pasquale said:
    I started to force myself to swim really slow to get my HR down in zone 2 . (...) Are you able or aim to swim in zone2 (or even 1) for marathons swim? And do you often train swimming at constant slow pace in a pool?

    I'm not at all an expert in training zones. But I do know that, for serious training, HR assumptions and therefore aerobic zones are useless, unless you have done a lab test to assess your specific Max HR. I'll explain my case to make my point.

    In 2016 I was 43. My MHR according to standard formula (220-age) gave 177 bpm, therefore my A2 zone was between 140 and 150 bpm (80-85%). (Other formulas gave similar results, even higher.)

    At the end of that year I did a lab test (on a bike, no tradmill). The result: a MHR of 154 bpm! This is a huge difference (13% less). My A2 zone is actually [123 to 131] bpm.

    If I'm training at my "theoretical" A2 (even the lower limit, 140 bpm), I'm actually at 91% of MHR, right in my A3!

    And as far as I'm aware, MHR should be updated every 2 years with a new lab test.

    LakeBagger
  • PasqualePasquale Trento, ItalyMember
    edited January 2021

    @bruno I think your case is a bit extreme indeed. But to have a good estimation you don't need a lab. I have been using HR sensor for other sports expecially cycling since a while and I never use the formula but just do a couple of hill sprints to find my max. So I am confident I have a good estimation, maybe lower then the real max but not higher like in your case. And for me the formula is quite precise I am almost 40 and my max is 182, even if I hit 186 once I keep 182 to be on the safe side. For the zone 2 I also use another formula. I just find it difficult to stay in what I consider to be my endurance zone (about 130bpm) while swimming while it is very easy to slow down as much as you want on the bike or running, in the water is a bit more complicated.

    @bruno one more thing. If you are not training hard on the bike it can be difficult to find your max HR.. that's because you use less muscles and you need to train these specific muscles well to push your max on the bike. Also it depends on the gears. You can read on line that for the bike the assumption is to take 10 BPM lower compared to running. It took me some time of training specific on the race bike after I stop running to be able to reach same HR limits. So I would also argue a bit about a lab test made on the bike.

    SoloLakeBagger
  • IronMikeIronMike Northern VirginiaCharter Member

    @LakeBagger said:
    Some people may find floating an elementary skill for total beginners. This couldn’t be further from the truth. On my college swim team (Texas A&M), we would sometimes do this and I still practice it today. I don’t think any other single skill has been as valuable in managing my energy expenditure during marathon swims as this one.

    You're an Aggie! Gig 'em!

    LakeBagger

    We're all just carbon, water, starlight, oxygen and dreams

  • PasqualePasquale Trento, ItalyMember

    After 1 week, working on stroke efficiency while keeping hr in zone 2 is paying off. I feel now more in control of my effort at easy pace and I got a better feeling of my gears. This is also allowing me to push harder when I do interval sets. It sounds as simple as it is and probably I could have done the same just listening to my body, but having the real-time feedback of HR helps a lot. Especially now, with limited swimming time (booking 1h slots) the tendency is to rush to put as many miles as possible. This is also making my indoor training more interesting.

    SoloIronMikeLakeBagger
  • iainhwiainhw SE EnglandMember

    @Webstem67 and other folks who have experienced seemingly unusually high HR readings. Following on from my above post last year, I was diagnosed with atrial fibrillation back in June of this year. I now strongly suspect that the afib was the reason for my sometimes high swimming HR readings.

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