Apple Watch Ultra Heart Rate During Workout

I don’t think there is a real explanation out there and it dosent matter if try to put in place some sort of “ritual” or “magic approach” (position, weather, other small factors), unfortunately yeah like myself I been experiencing this issue but as I posted above, the running session after latest OS update went fine and smooth.

I believe there are some deeper issue with the software that somehow are not fixed yet if, and it shows up sometime.

I went also for a swim and the recording looks fine.

I have an Apple Watch 7, fully up to date on the operating system, and it can’t calculate my heart rate for the first 5-9 min of EVERY run. It consistently tracks my heart rate on all other activities- outdoor and indoor cycling, hiking, walking, and weight training. It is very frustrating, especially since my runs aren’t very long! It has got to be a software issue. Since it works fine for all the other activities, I think it has to do with the Run activity. I’ve tried manually making my watch give me my current heart rate right before I start the run, but it still has the gap. And when I try to manually get my heart rate during the run (which will probably cause me to test the Fall alert system), it still can’t calculate it.

So as many of you have posted, i never had this issue with my series 6 however after upgrading to the ultra 2 a couple lonths ago the heart rate is all over the place on my runs However not all my runs. Sometimes its fine and reads perfect after the first few mins others it wont read for 10-20 mins then when it does it says im at 175Bpm and i am definitely not. I run 3 times a week one short run 5km and hill sprints and it seems to read my heart rate fine. One is a 10-15km and this is all over the place sometimes it reads it sometimes it doesn’t, and the one long run of 20km plus and it seems to be finef for the most part. Looking back thru my runs there is no pattern sometimes its fine sometimes its not and i wear the watch the same and the temp is consistent where i live. This is a bit disappointing considering the price of the watch.

I have a series 8 and it does the same thing. Definitely software related.

You must test the AWU 2, they said the same story also for the first AWU :D.

For me, the single way to have an accurate heart rate was with a 3rd party chest heart belt :(.

I have more success with watchOS10 and tightening the strap, might also try a sweatband if there is a nice one for Ultra

My Ultra 2 does the same thing, so disappointing! Works on a walk, but not a run? I will try another strap also the other way round.

You are not the only one with this problem as I have the same issue. Also, the pacing is not consistent. For example, the average workout pace is different from the current average lap pace despite the fact that I’m on the first lap. I’m guessing there are software bugs that need to be fixed, something Apple is typically good at. By the way, I am using the Ultra watch.

Strange.... if it is a software bug, Why it only impacts on some users?

I tend to think that is something related with the movement on small wrists. (on Saturday I borrowed the watch to a friend that has a thicker wrist and it read 90% of the HR.

I don’t agree with this. I’m working out indoors in the same environment everyday and it’s all over the place.

im currently lifting weights with the watch not even that tight and it hasn’t missed a beat.

it’s a software issue.

HI OmriShpigel and thanks for all you are doing to fix this.

In my trainings I don't see correlation between temperature and better readings, here you can see two examples, one running in 6ºC and quite good readings, and other running in 15ºC and very few readings.

The only correlation that I can see is with speed/movement: The faster I go, the poor readings

OmriShpigel wrote:

Hi everybody,

I know all of you are frustrated about the Apple Watch not being able to read your heart rate sometimes while working out,

No we are not all frustrated. Apple Watch is the first sports device of many that I have used over the years that has never failed to take a good steady heart rate. It should be sufficient to wear any such device for 15 minutes whilst dressing and hydrating before exercise.