Heart rate monitor advice and should I upgrade PM3?

[ttreaders]

Hi,

I've been training for a month and making good progress and am now wanting to purchase a heart rate monitor to better monitor my sessions.

I have a model D with a PM3, am I able to buy a heart rate watch such as a Garmin or do I have to buy C2's own chest belt and cable? Some recommendations on the best for price/performance would be appreciated.

Also, I'm wondering if there are many advantages to using a PM5, (I don't know if you can upgrade it?), and if so, is it worth the cost?

Cheers

[Citroen]

It's a simple unscrew the bolt and remove the PM4 fit the PM5 refit the bolt.

[Ombrax]

am I able to buy a heart rate watch such as a Garmin or do I have to buy C2's own chest belt and cable?

Regular old Garmin will work just fine, as long as it meets the requirements described here:

https://www.concept2.com/skierg/accesso ... -equipment

[Allan Olesen]

If you want your heart rate displayed/recorded on the PM3, you will need both a heart rate sensor for yourself and a cabled receiver for your PM3. The heart rate sensor will have to be a special (however quite cheap) Polar model.

I have used that solution for more than a year, and it is really annoying. The wireless connection between the sensor strap and the receiver is very weak, so you have to place the receiver carefully on the rail in a position where it is not too far back or too far in front.

Every time you need to disassemble the rower, you will then have to disconnect or remove the receiver first, since the receiver is on the rear half, and the PM3 is on the front.

It was such a relief to get a PM5. It is compatible with a normal ANT+ strap, for example a Garmin. I can even connect the strap (in my case a Polar arm strap) to both my PM5 and my Garmin watch and get heart rate recorded in both my C2 file and in my Garmin file.

[ttreaders]

Thanks for the replies

I have used that solution for more than a year, and it is really annoying. The wireless connection between the sensor strap and the receiver is very weak, so you have to place the receiver carefully on the rail in a position where it is not too far back or too far in front.

Every time you need to disassemble the rower, you will then have to disconnect or remove the receiver first, since the receiver is on the rear half, and the PM3 is on the front.

It was such a relief to get a PM5. It is compatible with a normal ANT+ strap, for example a Garmin. I can even connect the strap (in my case a Polar arm strap) to both my PM5 and my Garmin watch and get heart rate recorded in both my C2 file and in my Garmin file.

Cheers, that does sound like a pain. So with the PM5 you don't have to use a chest strap? That's one of the things that was off putting to me as it sounds very uncomfortable

[Allan Olesen]

So with the PM5 you don't have to use a chest strap?

You need some kind of heart rate sensor, but it doesn't need to be a chest strap. If you prefer an arm strap with an optical sensor (like I do), that is perfectly fine.

Whatever you buy, it has to support either Bluetooth or ANT+ communication to be able to speak to the PM5, but I think most modern heart rate sensors do that.

Stay away from using a watch with built in heart rate sensor, even if it is able to transmit to the PM5 (some Garmin watches are). Built-in watch sensors do not play well with rowing.

[Ombrax]

That's one of the things that was off putting to me as it sounds very uncomfortable

If you're a guy, then chest straps are no problem at all, and you shouldn't worry one bit about whether one would be a problem. If you're a gal, then do some checking online and see what folks say. I do know that women have been using them for ages, and in fact, there are some sports bras that have the strap location incorporated into the design.

I don't know if things have improved for arm-based devices, but for a very long time chest strap transmitters were the gold standard as far as getting a reliable measurement of your HR. That may have changed.

Good Luck

[Tony Cook]

I needed a new monitor so upgraded to a PM5. Bought a cheap CooSpo chest strap, for around £50 cheaper than a Polar, and it connects no problem.
As a newbie to the erging world I find it invaluable. It shows me that I can go harder, even on the easy rows. If I rowed how I feel I should then I’d be about 5 seconds a split slower than I now know I can do. E.g. pre-HRM I’d row an hour piece at 2:05+. With a HRM and capping at 70% I do an hour+ at <2:00 pace.
The very experienced guys will have a better feel as to what their body is doing but for me it row to HR caps depending on my training that day and go faster/further than I would do without it.

[Ombrax]

Another random comment for those who are new to HRMs:

You may get lucky, but in the vast majority of cases you can't trust the 220 - age or other such equations to figure out your max HR. (although they will get you in the right ballpark) You will get a more accurate number by putting in the painful effort of figuring out what it is yourself. There are lots of ways to go about doing this, but no shortcuts, and all, by definition, should result in an all-out max effort for some period of time.

Caveat the lawyers told me to include: Don't do this unless you're confident your cardiovascular system can handle it, and if you have any doubts, ask your doctor.

[Popcorn]

The PM3 works so you don't need to get the PM5 if you don't want to spend the money. I got a PM5 this year to replace a PM2 and it was easy to do the retrofit. I like it because it connects to ergdata and the display is bigger and easier for me to read, but it isn't really necessary. If you order one, you can see which one goes with your model of concept 2.

I use the Wahoo tickr chest strap and connect to the PM5 with ant. But if I didn't have the PM5, I could just look at the heart rate info on the Wahoo app on my phone, which is connected via bluetooth. I can see the current HR on the phone and it's displayed plenty big enough to see while working out, and then look at the graph afterwards. Using the PM5 and ergdata, I can get it on the same graph with the stroke rate and pace to look at later, but that's not really that necessary.

I find the Wahoo chest strap perfectly comfortable.

[Popcorn]

Oh, and I'll add that I might not have upgraded if I already had a PM3. I had a PM2 and it just wasn't as easy to set things up for me. It functioned OK really but knowing that we would be stuck exercising at home for quite some time, I felt like spending the money on the PM5 was worthwhile.

[mickyduck]

I had an old analogue Polar HRM with the wired sensor on my old C as stated above it was a pain getting it to work properly. I bought a PM5 to replace a broken PM3, maybe even PM2 (usual battery leakage issue with unused rowers).
The PM5 is so much easier to use connects to ErgData and so far no issues, I have a Garmin chest strap. I would upgrade and sell on the PM3.. but I like my data

[ttreaders]

Thanks for all the additional replies, they've been really helpful

I'm a 6'7 guy, use to row quite a bit back in 2011-2012 when I purchased the rower then got lazy and not really used it since. It's good to read that the chest strap is comfortable, it just didn't sound like it would be!

[CJOttawa]

Thanks for all the additional replies, they've been really helpful

I'm a 6'7 guy, use to row quite a bit back in 2011-2012 when I purchased the rower then got lazy and not really used it since. It's good to read that the chest strap is comfortable, it just didn't sound like it would be!

Polar H10 comes with a deluxe strap that has anti-slip silicone dots. As a result, you can wear it more loosely than other straps without it sliding down, making it the most comfortable straps I've tried. (Garmin, Wahoo, Polar etc) If you want comfort, that's the one to go with. (it has the benefit of being the king of the hill in HRMs right now - BTLE dual-channel, ANT+, Polar GymLink 5kHz and onboard memory)

[IanMacDonald]

I am "comfortable" in a modest kind of way with my Model C with its original PM2 plus a Polar chest strap transmitter. The PM 2 display is partly faulty but still useable. I have somewhere in storage an unused PM3.
* Is it worth changing the PM2 for the PM3? Are there any advantages?
* Is it just a straight swap?
* I have read blogs about upgrading from a PM3 to a PM5. If I have no desire to do the fancy stuff with linking to my PC, is there a case for shelling out for a PM5 (if indeed a PM5 is compatible with the Model C)?
Tks