Validation of the Polar OH1 and M600 optical heart rate sensors during front crawl swim training

Abstract

The Polar OH1 is an optical heart rate (HR) sensor which can be used on different parts of the body. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the validity of the OH1 as well as a wrist worn heart rate device (Polar M600) during swimming. Methods Twenty-six well-trained competitive swimmers performed a regular training session including different swimming intensities. During the training the swimmers wore a H10 HR sensor with Polar Pro strap (H10) underneath the swim suit, a Polar OH1 optical HR sensor (OH1) underneath the swimming cap at the temple, and a sports watch with optical HR sensor, Polar M600 smart watch (M600) on the wrist. Results No difference in HRmax, HRmean and HRmin between H10 and OH1 were evident. The HRmax and HRmean obtained by the M600 was significantly lower than the obtained by H10 and OH1 (p < 0.05). The ICC showed mostly excellent agreements between H10 and OH1 and poor to good agreements between H10 and M600. Bland-Altmann plot for M600 vs. H10 indicates upper and lower limits of agreement of-53.0 to 33.9 beats per minute. For OH1 vs. H10 the upper and lower limits of agreement were-26.9 to 24.7 beats per minute. Conclusion The Polar OH1 optical HR sensor is a valid tool to monitor HR of different intensities during swimming whereas the Polar M600 smart watch as a wrist worn device is less accurate.

Measurement of Heart Rate Using the Polar OH1 and Fitbit Charge 3 Wearable Devices in Healthy Adults During Light, Moderate, Vigorous, and Sprint-Based Exercise: Validation Study

“…However, despite providing novel insights into the accuracy of Fitbit Charge 3 and Polar OH1 in the detection of HR, this study has limitations. The sample size of this study, which is consistent with other similar studies [6,7,13,26,[28][29][30], is small; therefore, the elements of the study are likely underpowered. This is particularly true for the HIIE type exercise, where a large variation in HR is observed, which is far from zero.…”

“…Therefore, under the conditions of this study, Fitbit Charge 3 We can only speculate as to why Fitbit Charge 3 performed worse than Polar OH1 during cycling and high-intensity exercise in this study. Olstad and Zinner [26] previously suggested that wrist-based devices may be less sensitive to sudden changes in exercise intensity, such as when transitioning from low to high intensity, as experienced in SIE, because peripheral resistance is lower at the wrist, reducing changes in pulse pressure and disrupting blood pulse detection [16]. Therefore, the positioning of Polar OH1 may partially mitigate the poor signal detected at the wrist location.…”

Heart Rate and Distance Measurement of Two Multisport Activity Trackers and a Cellphone App in Different Sports: A Cross-Sectional Validation and Comparison Field Study

“…The HR measurements with respect to the swimming discipline have to be discussed in more detail due to larger deviations. To date, the validation of wearables has been very poorly investigated, and only Olstad [ 15 ], Olstad, et al [ 16 ] and Olstad and Zinner [ 17 ] have published data in this context. The 1000 m swimming measurements showed a highly significant difference ( p < 0.001; d < −2.17) from the chest strap.…”

“…Navalta, et al [ 14 ] calculated an MAPE up to 24% in their trail running study. In swimming, Olstad [ 15 ], Olstad, et al [ 16 ] and Olstad and Zinner [ 17 ] investigated HR measurement and obtained a moderate correlation of r = 0.59. For distance measurement, most studies showed significant differences of p < 0.001.…”

A Portable and Flexible Self-Powered Multifunctional Sensor for Real-Time Monitoring in Swimming

“…However, these regular monitoring methods also encounter some inevitable bottlenecks in the process of continuous development. For example, multiple cameras need to be arranged in water and underwater to collect the motion angle and frequency information in kinetic analysis [ 18 , 19 ] and skill in swimming needs multi-joint coordination. In this process, the position and direction of the joints are constantly changing.…”