Training & Nutrition - Polar 720i MaxHR Calculation – Fitness Test

Do any of you know if the Polar 720i uses Age to calculate HRMax (Max HR)? If the answer is yes, what is the point of going thru the few minutes Fitness Test?

I think it calculates a too low MaxHR for my fitness level.

I don't have an answer to your question...exactly. I do have a response however. I have the Polar S510 and I found that the Fitness Test sets my max heart rate to 187 (I'm 29 and in decent shape). I've had my heart rate up beyond 187 and to 192 or so. So, it's possible that the max heart rate as determined by the Fitness Test is a bit low.

Also, was this your first Fitness Test? I believe the manual says that you should do several tests in the first couple of weeks and then every other week or once a month thereafter.

I don't have an answer to your question...exactly. I do have a response however. I have the Polar S510 and I found that the Fitness Test sets my max heart rate to 187 (I'm 29 and in decent shape). I've had my heart rate up beyond 187 and to 192 or so. So, it's possible that the max heart rate as determined by the Fitness Test is a bit low.

Also, was this your first Fitness Test? I believe the manual says that you should do several tests in the first couple of weeks and then every other week or once a month thereafter.


I had my first experience with a HRM (Polar s210) this morning and had the same question. I am 57 years old and the Fitness Test pegged my max at 169 but I did 173 during several hill climbs this morning. It appears that Polar uses an age-based formula explained in the attached:
http://www.cptips.com/maxhrsc.htm

I have had the s710 a few years now. It does calc by the age method. Try the own index as an indicator. It is better to be tested to get your actual max. Think about this from the other side of the coin where everyone sues people. You would make the number conservative due to liabilities issues. sparky mine is 174 whereas my know max is 182. For reference my doc just told me no more than 175 and try to hold peak to 155 - 160 till I lose more weight. But I do have hypertension and do take meds for this. try the own index as a level, weird but tends to be close to your fitness level. Polar a few years ago had a lot of tech and medical info on thier site that is gone now. :(

According to the manual that comes with the S-710i:

"HRmax-p is based on resting heart rate, heart rate variability at rest, age, gender, height, body weight, and maximal oxygen uptake, VOmax (measured or predicted)."

So, age is a factor, but the HRM does not use one of the various simple formulas based solely on age. Polar does not divulge the exact formula used.

It should be noted that the manual also states that the value calculated is a predicted value and that the most accurate value requires a clinical measurement. Certainly, if you are achieving higher HRmax than the HRM is predicting, then you should update the HRmax parameter accordingly. The same goes for VOmax which, if anything, is more important than HRmax since that determines your anarobic threshold. A clinical measurement is going to be more accurate than the Polar Fitness Test.

The OwnIndex is also based on activity level. You should set your activity level to the appropriate ones as you are currently participating at, which has not changed for the past 6 months. There is Low, Medium, High and Top.

From High and Top, it varies a lot, whereas the Low, Medium and High does not vary too much for me. Polar might have a certain formula, but it's formula is dependent on the R-R variability or something. It measures the interval between each heart beat, where the greater, the better the physical state you are in.

I am not exactly sure as to what is really means, is it the interval between each heartbeat or the variability of the interval between each heart beat, which would be like 1.0, 0.8, 1.3, 0.7, 1.2 for a 60bpm resting heart rate. Can someone clarify?

Oxologig, that is what I remember reading years ago. My Vantage Xl does the R-R test, but I no longer have the manual for that HRM. I remember reading a paper on the subject by one of the Phd/MD at polar on how it was calculated, but that was in 98

http://www.fitmed.com/polar_fitness_test.htm

Found this on the net, I did see something like this before, but it was not totally the same if I am correct. The other article I saw was more detailed. I guess it was pulled off the net. Lots of discussion of the max hr and ownindex results. For me, the max hr is quite accurate, which is 205, where my actual max was 206. The test results did show 206 at times though, so for me, so far so good. As for my ownindex, which went as high as 69, I'm not sure because I never got myself tested with the VO2max device.