Hi guys ,
I was wondering what the best heart rate monitor / fitness band / smart watch thingy is the best for stand up paddle . I would also like to use it for other things if possible .. I would like to know how much my heart rate goes up because I love it so much it Dosent feel like excercise ...thanks in advance.

I've got a Garmin Vivoactive HR and have found it excellent so far.

This thread might help. It is now on page 2 of this Stand Up Paddle forum page but it was started just last week or so.

www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Stand-Up-Paddle/SUP/SUP-Watch-Vs-Smart-Phone-App-for-fitness-paddling/?page=-2

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Moldavite said..
Hi guys ,
I was wondering what the best heart rate monitor / fitness band / smart watch thingy is the best for stand up paddle . I would also like to use it for other things if possible .. I would like to know how much my heart rate goes up because I love it so much it Dosent feel like excercise ...thanks in advance.

G'day Moldavite if your very anal about heart rate monitors thats a very hard question shore you can stay with the basic 120/80 rule of thumb do it yourself kit.

Firstly if I was you I'd go get a Echocardiography done at John Flynn Hospital at Tugun at a cost of around $200 you'll get $70 back on Medicare or claim the lot on your Tax Return depending on your Job. I got my Echocardiography done at 50yo I'll be going for another Echocardiography next year when I turn 55yo then every 5 years after that.

A Echocardiography will give you your True heart Rate so it'll be easier for you to work out your bpm, % of max, Zones, when you buy your first Heart rate Monitor.

My resting Heart Rate is 35/40 beats per minute, If I do a 100m sprint my Heart rate goes through the roof but as soon as I stop my Heart Rate drops super fast that excellent plus all my pipes are clean.

Good Luck.

Get your hand on one of these GARMIN 920XT you will not be disappointed.

Thank you for the advice..I live in fnq though but I'm sure they do that thingy at local hospitals too

Anyone got the Garmin fenix sapphire 3 HR? Impressions? Does the SUP paddle cadence thingy actually work?

I'm not ready to invest 700 plus dollars ..heartrate distance calories and maybe a pedometer would suffice ..

An ECG is only interesting when something is soo of the charts as with downwinder and even then unless you do an complete exercise stress/test under ECG control just an single ECG says nothing and is imo a waste of money.
With a HR as low as Downwinder a ECG should be on the yearly routine of anybody.

I often train with an Suunto Ambit.
You have them in various options. I got the first one that works still excellent and is 100m waterproof.
On my raceboard I attached 2 loops where I put my watch between so I can see while padling my speed, average speed, and HR (or time).
I owned a Garmin before but prefer the software and ease of use of the Suunto.
If you don,t want a HR band get yourself a Tomtom. Pretty cool stuff and very precise.

By far the biggest nerd on gadgets like this I ever read about is DC rainmaker.
He writes lots of very in depth reviews about triathlon gear including HR watches: www.dcrainmaker.com/

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Area10 said..
Anyone got the Garmin fenix sapphire 3 HR? Impressions? Does the SUP paddle cadence thingy actually work?

I just got one. It seems to work great! I am only a beginner SUPer and in 2 short recreational sessions, I am enjoying seeing the data. One problem is that the "max" numbers can be inaccurate maybe due to unusual movements of the paddle or wrist.

In one of the session, it gave me max heart rate of 180bpm (I wasn't working that hard), and in another session, a Max Stroke Rate of 96 stroke per minute.

Another issue is that it is of course not easy to look at your wrist whilst paddling non-stop. You need to stop paddling to look.

Aside from that, it is great to see that some numbers such as:

<div class="data-bit">Avg HR - 140 bpm
Avg Moving Pace - 10:08 min/km
Best Pace - 5:47 min/km
Strokes - 1214
Avg Stroke Rate - 37 spm
Distance per Stroke - 2.68m

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Area10 said..
Anyone got the Garmin fenix sapphire 3 HR? Impressions? Does the SUP paddle cadence thingy actually work?

Yeh I have the F3 Sapphire,
Amazing tool and carries all you could ever want functionality wise.
Cadence is accurate.

3 months in with mine, swapped from the 920XT as the Fenix looks much nicer. Love it and wouldn't part with it unless something very, very good cam to market.

I've been really impressed with Garmin vivoactive. Under $300 with HR strap. It's waterproof has all the usual Garmin functions. Also, thin and comfortable to wear day-to-day. Also, has some useful smart watch functions.