Originally Posted by
sweeks
I also have an Apple watch, and have worn it on rides with a Polar HRM for comparison. It surprised me how close the two devices were (2-3 BPM difference). Perhaps the Apple watch is too loose on your wrist. At any rate, unless you're racing or (god forbid) dealing with cardiovascular disease, the watch is probably good enough.
Yes, those are my conclusions for myself. I'm seeing if tightening the strap before a ride makes a difference. No conclusions yet. Accurate enough, I'm sure if it could just keep measuring and not quit. I'm 65, and I see my cardiologist three times a year. He has no serious concerns for me but wants to check often. I have a congenital mitral valve prolapse, and I can't for the life of me understand what risk that poses, and I think I understand that for now, it's not a problem. So I look at the heart rate graph on my rides and see if they make sense, and they do. That old "220 minus age" idea as a maximum seems to hold true. I haven't recently ridden so hard that I have trouble catching my breath, so I'll do that soon to see where my heart rate goes. In theory it should go up to 155, and I think that's about what it does.
I am planning to regain or build some strength, so it might help me a bit there. It will tell me the times when I'm not working as hard as I think and the times when I'm working harder than I know.