do we need a heart rate monitor for sure while rowing?

[shevchenko]

ı ve purchased a concept 2.
i have Apple Watch 4. but it doesn't show my heart rate on pm5 monitor.
I think it can't connect yo pm5.downloaded an app called erg data . but it doesnt show heart rate too.

do we need to see our heart rate while rowing? I m not professional. 42 years old. and rowing for health.

if so I ll purchase a polar h10 chest strap. because I think apple watch 4 is useless.

if we need , why is it so important?
thanks

[Carl Watts]

I would get a Garmin ANT+ chest strap and connect this via ANT+ wireless to the PM5.

Personally I never row without heart rate regardless of intensity. The chest strap is very good, especially if you just starting out and looking to improve your fitness. It helps you to keep your pace at a sustainable level and train in the right HR band.

[hjs]

No needed, lots of people do use it, but others don,t, after a while you now on feel how much effort you are giving.
When racing or testing hard hf is often more disctracting than helpfull. For easier, aerobic work it could be usefull
Certainly at first, its not needed, better to first concentrate on learning good technique. Thats the base of everything you can do on the rower.

[Carl Watts]

Each to their own but even after 10 years on the rower, perceived effort doesn't work for me.

The two don't link very well, you can feel tired and have other issues and you feel your working hard but your HR tells you otherwise.

Its a great tool, you can check your resting HR before the row, time to recover at the end with a stop watch for 1 minute.

Also its very hard for a beginner to stay in the lower HR bands, it feels just to easy but their HR could easily be to high.

Sure probably 90% of people don't use one but it doesn't mean its the best way of training.

You also learn your maximum HR to stay below for training or you will pay for it the next day.

[Dangerscouse]

I do like to use it for UT2 sessions as I can't limit my pace as effectively without it, but I don't use it for any other sessions. I always find for faster paces that HR is a limiting factor.

It's not essential but it does have its uses. I use a Wahoo Tickr as it's relatively cheap and reliable

[jamesg]

If you have the data, you can use it. The PM provides lots of objective data such as stroke rate and Watts, but subjective can only come from HR. All three together offer plenty of monitor and control options that we can use as may be of help.

If monitoring HR level and trend says we have to do something, such as learn to row, work harder or just survive, Watts and Rating let us control the change.

[nick rockliff]

If you have one wear it and keep a log.

[lindsayh]

I do like to use it for UT2 sessions as I can't limit my pace as effectively without it, but I don't use it for any other sessions. I always find for faster paces that HR is a limiting factor. It's not essential but it does have its uses. I use a Wahoo Tickr as it's relatively cheap and reliable

me too - been using a TickR for a few years now and it has been very reliable. Defo not necessary but I find it useful mainly for keeping in the sub threshold zone for longer steady pieces. If you know your true MHR it can be useful getting intensity up in hard interval pieces where I try to get >90% of MHR. Rating of perceived exertion (RPE) is also valuable and will often but not always match up with HR

[Ombrax]

As Carl suggested above, I've gone with a Garmin ANT+ chest strap and have found it to work well.

I use it for useful feedback during a row, but don't bother to log the data.

Since the chest straps aren't that expensive I'd say go ahead and get one, but it's certainly not a "must have."

[shevchenko]

thanks for replies.

i understand that it s useful for cardio and rowing.

and my apple watch isnt accurate for rowing.
so if i want to track heart rate i ve to purchase a chest belt hr.

and maybe it s motivational too ..

[Carl Watts]

HR gives you the full picture of your row and Concept 2 has a great logbook now to track your progress.

https://log.concept2.com/profile/863525/log/36871563

As others have stated, very useful for HR limited rows to stay in the UT2 training band.

[lancecampeau]

I have never used a heart monitor...

That said, I rarely listen to music or wear headphones on the rower. In fact I sometimes wear dense foam earplugs just so I can better hear my breathing and heart directly through bone conduction.

As a life long musician and sound editor, my ears are trained to listen for subtle audio clues. The cadence, volume and tone of the fan is something I lock onto while rowing. Along with carefully watching the performance monitor, I'm listening to the sound the air flow through the machine very carefully. This listening process has become an integral part of my rowing training.

A bit unorthodox, but this technique offers another form of useful real-time feedback when you're are doing a hard workout.

[jackarabit]

As Carl suggested above, I've gone with a Garmin ANT+ chest strap and have found it to work well.

I use it for useful feedback during a row, but don't bother to log the data.

Since the chest straps aren't that expensive I'd say go ahead and get one, but it's certainly not a "must have."

+2: the Garmin HRM-10 ANT+ is cheap and reliable. These so-called hardstrap belts with conductors sealed inside rubber housing take a rap for unreliability which is not deserved. The more expensive soft strap models which attach the monitor to chest belt via metal snaps are the ones with conductivity problems.

As stated by Stu and Lindsay, heart rate capping to training zone threshold or ceiling is probably the most common employment for HRMs. I did an hour capping HR @ top UT2 yesterday.

[gregsmith01748]

Putting in my usual plug for the Polar OH1 HRM. This is a simple, reasonably priced BT-LE based monitor that goes on your forearm or bicep. I used chest straps for years and was skeptical that something on my arm would be reliable rowing. But I tested it and it works very reliably. Other great things about this monitor.

1. I can put it on in the gym without showing everyone my spare tire. :-O
2. I used to have issues with reliability of HR if the contacts were too dry, not so with an optical solution
3. When I was doing loads of meters, I was getting chafing on my sides from the strap.

I'm with Carl. I wear a monitor for every session. In endurance workouts, I use it to cap intensity. In hard workouts, I use it to push myself harder. If I don't spend some time above 95% of my HRR, then I really haven't put everything I have my 4 x 2k workout.

[DavidA]

I do like to use it for UT2 sessions as I can't limit my pace as effectively without it, but I don't use it for any other sessions. I always find for faster paces that HR is a limiting factor. It's not essential but it does have its uses. I use a Wahoo Tickr as it's relatively cheap and reliable

me too - been using a TickR for a few years now and it has been very reliable. Defo not necessary but I find it useful mainly for keeping in the sub threshold zone for longer steady pieces. If you know your true MHR it can be useful getting intensity up in hard interval pieces where I try to get >90% of MHR. Rating of perceived exertion (RPE) is also valuable and will often but not always match up with HR

I also liked using the TickR. Unfortunately both ones I have had stopped working properly once the first battery died. I would replace the battery with new ones, and they would only work for a week or so, then loose signal sporadically, then die.