Polar s810 can measure your heartbeat intervals. The differences in these periods reflect your autonomic nervous system when it regulates your heartbeat. This measurement is most useful at rest or low intensities, because we are talking about tiny differences (msecs.) Your relaxation rate indicates the state of your physical recovery. If you are overtrained, it might very well be reflected on the Polar s810 monitor.
From a clinical perspective, you will typically use an electrocardiogram (ECG) to measure the differences in length between each heartbeat. This is called the R-R interval, referring to the time between two R waves in the ECG. You don’t have to understand what these waves mean, but if you have a particular interest in this topic, there is an explanation here: electrocardiogram.
Polar s810 provides valid measurement of the R-R intervals and calculation of the heart rate variability compared to ECG. This variability can be used as a sign of health and recovery level. I think it is interesting that a heart rate monitor can provide such precise info because it allows you to notice when you need more rest before the following training schedule. Thus, it can protect you from overtraining. In theory, there should be a correlation between the state of physical recovery and your heart rate variability, and it is also concluded to be true in a couple of scientific studies.
If we look back at the last decades, there has not been much progress in heart rate monitors: They showed the heart rate and stored some data in files (and not much compared to other digital things these days). So introducing precise details like Polar s810 is interesting. Hopefully, Polar watches will get competition from other products, so more helpful info will make our bike training more scientific.
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Trying to understand: To utilize this feature of the Polar 810 I would need to wear the monitor while resting?
Correct. But you don't have to wear it all the time. Only when you're testing... :-)
Does anyone know how the recovery function in the s810 works - for example when you select View and Selection Info... from the menu a window opens and under "Recovery" it gives a value for # of beats.
Some times this number is negative sometimes it's positive - what is the significance?
Can I use the Polar S810 for measuring HRV during sleep, then in the morning download the HRV measurement to software for analysis?
Kind regards
Frank Bongiorno
I have the RS800sd and it has the same feature. The test takes about 6 minutes. The first half is resting (sitting or lying down) and the second half is standing. When the test is finished, the watch reports resting heart rate, standing heart rate, maximum heart rate (during the test), and a number from 1 to 9 that indicates your state of recovery/overtraining.
srm - that recovery number is the difference between your heart rate at the beginning and end of the selection. I don't think it has anything to do with physical recovery, although there is probably some correlation between your state of recovery and how quickly your heart rate can change.
Thanks Jason - appreciate the feedback!
I have the Polar CS600 pro edition, and the test takes 6 min. as Jason explains. Tuesday the 22 sept. 2009, I took the test in the morning showing me recovery 2, and a max HR at 184. But 3 hours later the same day I took a cycling-test (incl. Wingate, FTH etc.) by a professional, and at that test my max HR got all the way up to 191. So the watch have a litle error-margin there at 3-4%. It is always a little bit lower than my actual, but then again, it is a fantastic feature and I use it a lot.... :)
Kind Regards
Michael
The RS800 puts my max HR at 188-190 depending on how much training I've been doing and that seems to be about right as I've had my HR at 183-185 during some intense, but not all out climbs. I guess my max HR could be even higher, but 189 seems to be accurate enough for me.