Hello everyone.
I'm looking for a way to measure my heart-rate while swimming.
My main requirements are (please excuse my bad english):
The device has to display the heart rate while i'm swimming. I'm a newbie and need to see my heart rate during my training.
Optical heart rate sensors don't seem to be very reliable under water. Thus i would prefer a non-optical device.
I would like to spend under 150£ if possible
Thank you!
You really don't, especially if you are a "newbie."Let me second this and double-down: you don't even need to know your heart rate if you are an excellent swimmer. I do one test set maybe every 4-6 weeks where I measure my heart rate*. Otherwise, knowing heart rate just doesn't matter to being able to swim faster or more efficiently**.
If you're looking at the most important metric to focus on, I would strongly recommend starting with counting your strokes and then working on your technique and fitness to go faster with the same number or fewer strokes. If you're looking to swim faster, the equation is simple:
Speed = stroke rate x stroke length
In a pool workout, with a pace clock, you can know your time and, by counting strokes, you can understand your stroke length. Check out www.swimwellblog.com/.../ for some deeper dive into some of these ideas.
* Summary of Dave Salo's pulse plot test set - swimcoachhill.wordpress.com/.../
** I've won multiple USMS National Championships in different events, so I do know a bit about swimming fast.
You really don't, especially if you are a "newbie."Let me second this and double-down: you don't even need to know your heart rate if you are an excellent swimmer. I do one test set maybe every 4-6 weeks where I measure my heart rate*. Otherwise, knowing heart rate just doesn't matter to being able to swim faster or more efficiently**.
If you're looking at the most important metric to focus on, I would strongly recommend starting with counting your strokes and then working on your technique and fitness to go faster with the same number or fewer strokes. If you're looking to swim faster, the equation is simple:
Speed = stroke rate x stroke length
In a pool workout, with a pace clock, you can know your time and, by counting strokes, you can understand your stroke length. Check out www.swimwellblog.com/.../ for some deeper dive into some of these ideas.
* Summary of Dave Salo's pulse plot test set - swimcoachhill.wordpress.com/.../
** I've won multiple USMS National Championships in different events, so I do know a bit about swimming fast.
