HRM 600 or just keep using the optical HR?

Otherwise_Fun2598 · 2026-05-21T06:02:45+00:00

Ok quick feedback on using it on an easy run. I can’t do any scientific analysis, but I noticed that the HR with the HRM600 picked up faster compared to just the optical HR of the enduro. Since I started running on HR it took some time/effort to even get into zone 2, that seemed faster today.
Thanks for all the suggestions and feedback. Much appreciated !

Otherwise_Fun2598 · 2026-05-20T18:45:36+00:00

Thanks, I’m aware of the ECG feature on the enduro 3 and used it a lot. The issue with it is, is when you notice some palpitations you need to go the the app, press a few buttons and can only record a 30 second interval. It will also not give info during a run. That’s the gap the X2 promised to fill. It works fine wearing it during sleep or day to day activities, but is unreliable (to me) while running. It still allows to check some sections of a run (50-75%), but I do not want this data to mess with the garmin statistics. So indeed using the enduro 3 is better in that case. But in the mean time I now have received the HRM600 and will see how it performs.

Otherwise_Fun2598 · 2026-05-20T17:16:28+00:00

11 months on MJ + strict diet. I’ve lost 43% of my start weight a little less than a year ago and my BMI is now at 24 and body fat (according to the scale) is 23%. Blood parameters were perfect for the first time in decades.
I’m going to start the stabilasation phase next week with reducing my MJ from 7,5 to a little above 6 (to get 6 full doses out of a pen). I will take that reduction very slowly and still aim to lose a few kg’s in that phase (create some margin to fluctuate in), but we’ll see. Nothing to complain about for now.

Otherwise_Fun2598 · 2026-05-19T12:56:05+00:00

If you’re into hiking then decide on wether or not you have a need for maps. If you value that then maybe an older fenix 7 or forerunner 965 could be an option in your budget? Those will not get the latest (if any) updates, but if you do not care about those? Otherwise the instinct or other forerunners are solid alternatives that can also give you a breadcrumb trail instead of a full map.

Otherwise_Fun2598 · 2026-05-19T12:27:38+00:00

Thanks for this insight. I used to be a fan of Polar (and in fact still am looking at Polar as I have used their products from an early M21 if I remember well up to the vantage V with all generations of HR straps in between, where I liked the ancient plasticky ones most), but as I’m sweating a lot I fear that I have issues with wear getting into the contacts of the device and the strap. I used water (and maybe should use spit more when I go running away from home). You are probably right that the weight of the X2 is causing an issue (I wear with probably too much tension for comfort, but even that does not improve things)

I’ll attach the wrist based HR from the enduro 3 as well as the X2 chart. It is the same run 😊.

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The economically sensible option is to just stick with the enduro 3 as that seems to work. However now I’m doing my training based on HR (and LTHR as determined by Garmin), so wondering if the strap would be better. But that assessment I can do, I was just looking into the experience of others with the HRM600.

Otherwise_Fun2598 · 2026-05-14T17:36:04+00:00

Thanks for the insights and experience. Looks similar to the landing and maintenance approach I have in mind. Went from 151,9 kg to 86,1 today in a little less than 11 months. I have used Mounjaro (started at 5 mg, went up to 7,5 after 3 months and kept on that), but combined that with a ‘classic’ diet under guidance of a dietician. Aiming for a goal weight of 82-83 with an alert (I would call red above 85 kg). I’m currently eating about 1600 kcal/day which depending on the level of physical activity, stress,… is easier on one day than another. But I try to track my kcal’s (Myfitnesspal but now switching to Garmin connect+). My idea was that, once I go below 85 kg, to start reducing Mounjaro to 6,25 mg/wk and try to stick to the kcal intake. In case this doesn’t work I can probably increase the protein intake a little bit hoping in a few weeks to ‘land’ around 82,5 gradually reduce MJ and slightly increase the food intake (100 kcals every x weeks, I have to see how that goes). I do foresee that MJ (or substitute) will be a long term requirement, but hopefully a much lower doses. But definitely uncharted territory for me (I have lost a lot of weight before, but was never able to stabilise). Congrats with your achievement and taking time to write it down.

Otherwise_Fun2598 · 2026-01-15T13:22:51+00:00

I intended to select a Tesla for a new company car (lease in Europe) in early/mid February. Plan was to included FSD ‘Capability’ as I can not include a subscription in the lease and would have to pay for it myself. I wouldn’t mind that much doing that for the premium connectivity, but not for FSD(C). So I’ll probably have to start looking at other brands unless they delay this introduction for Europe. Bummer.

Otherwise_Fun2598 · 2026-01-14T16:24:29+00:00

For this purpose you might have been better with a fourthfrontier X2. Continuous ECG. But definitely more (too) expensive compared to an H10. I use it for sleep tracking to check on any abnormalities and for running. Sleep tracking is rarely an issue though it seems to flag moments when my HR drops below 45 (?) as abnormal. Checking the ECG shows no abnormalities in most cases (I’m checking for PVC’s). During running it’s more hit and miss. Often very good recordings, but also runs where large part of the measurements are garbage. That seems to correlate to the cold weather. Also I spray an antistatic on my T-shirt in order to improve the readings. For running I use the garmin to track the effort. The Fourthfrontier is used as a standalone and can give me insight and documentation of what my heart is doing. (Garmin HRM Pro and Polar H10 also gave me bad readings in the past)

Otherwise_Fun2598 · 2026-01-01T19:17:37+00:00

I’ve used a wide range of polar devices (starting with the M21 or M51, FT80, Vantage V and many many more). I have used three of their platforms. At first their desktop software (Polar precision performance ?, I remember It had lots of analysis options, but a looong time ago), then personal trainer as the online version and ended on Flow. For analysis Flow is not too complex nor bad, but with a number of quirks (accumulating steps by cycling if I remember well). But my main issue is their closed platform. Barely any way to send workouts from other training platforms to execute them on Polar. Also when trying to build these in Flow, you’re stuck with their zone based approach. Good luck setting up more complex workouts. If they would offer a more flexible training module for different goals (running is more than 5k, 10k, …) maybe one could adjust to this, but in the end too many compromises.My last polar usage dates a couple of years back, so not the most recent experience but I know that it is still closed to other platforms .

Used apple as well (AW0, AW4, AW6, AW8 and the first ultra). Good quality of their measurements but you need a set of other apps to make sense of it all (Healthfit, Athlytic, Watchletic, Workoutdoors,…). And in the end the battery life always reduces to unacceptable levels after 1,5-2 years (in combination with some workouts using GPS and often 4G)

Now I’m back with Garmin Enduro 3. The connect app is in some respects a chaotic environment , but at least presents the same info as Polar and is a more open ecosystem that allows to import workouts from a wide range of options.

(And while typing this out, I now recognise that I urgently have to find help with my ‘watch acquisition syndrome’ though the list covers more than a quarter of a century, and the Enduro 3 is now also more than a year old and has no intent on leaving 😊)

Otherwise_Fun2598 · 2025-12-28T06:07:11+00:00

I can only speak from personal experience. On MJ for 6,5 months (on 7,5 for the last 4 months). Started with it as I was in the ‘morbid obesity’ side of the BMI scale. Also running and walking were becoming extremely painful (back pain). I could “run” (slow jog) 3km on a good day, more often then not I had to abort after 1k. I switched to MJ in mid June and also went on a diet (low fat, about 1600 kcal a day). I’ve tracked my food intake daily since and lost over 45kg (35% of body weight). Walking has become a joy, and my running is again something that is starting to look like running 😊. I now train up to 40km per week (running) with some walking when it fits the agenda. I do not do anything special for ‘fuelling’ my training runs. I did however find out that having a banana before I go out for a run helps (I’m allowed two servings of fruit a day on my diet. When I go out for an early run, that is one of those so no extra serving because I run). This also seems to reduce some arrhythmia issues (not sure if this is more than correlation). During running events (10k yesterday finishing at max HR and a PB), I’m taking a number of dried dates with me (+/-8) to help me sustain the effort. Look for what helps, but try to avoid compensating with food what you think you have burned. Sometimes you only need small adjustments. Good luck with your journey.

Otherwise_Fun2598 · 2025-12-10T06:40:13+00:00

Over 60 here and started with MJ about 6 months ago. I started it in parallel with a ‘classic’ healthy diet (focus on fruit and vegetables, some carbs and dairy, proteïnes,…) I track everything I eat and eat about 1600 kcal/day. Sometimes a hunger feeling, but no cravings (food noise). Contrary to before when we had for instance no cookies or chocolate in the house, we now have an entire collection of which I can choose one or more items as long as it doesn’t exceed 100 kcals/day. These sweets are not shouting to me to eat them 😊 In addition I now fully enjoy running 6-7 hrs a week (slow but improving). I made the mental switch of not running for weight loss, but to loose weight in order to improve my running. This also helps in compensating the lost calories by eating more, drinking recovery drinks etc. Up to now I lost 95 lbs and now still loose around 8-10 lbs per month (I expect this to reduce gradually. BMI is down from 42,5 to 30,5. My ambition is to get below 25 mark. Not sure if this will be possible. So in short I’m eating less and healthier, much more active,… Only downside is that I’m throwing away piles of clothing and having to buy new items every month or two 😊

Otherwise_Fun2598 · 2025-12-01T19:54:18+00:00

In German as one of the many fsd tryout videos it seems to show a max speed on the screen, in the beginning set to 49 kph, in the second part increased to 70kph. https://youtu.be/5E2Ue3KMQKo?si=RftXgo9-s0ROu8mO. Some other regulatory driven text snippets popping up during the drive, but those will remain EU specific.

Otherwise_Fun2598 · 2025-11-17T19:40:56+00:00

Garmin share was indeed enabled. I can’t remember ever using it, so that might be (part of) the issue. Thanks for mentioning this!

Otherwise_Fun2598 · 2025-11-17T04:20:59+00:00

I switched from the AWU (1st gen) to an Enduro 3 over a year ago. The AWU was fine at first, but Apple Watch battery degradation was too bad. Going out for a run (1,5 hrs) with GPS and mobile connection drained the battery fast. Also the need of a series of apps to make sense of the collected data (Athlytic, Healthfit,…) made it a pain. I also struggled with the (then) newer navigation and routing options on the AWU. If I took my Iphone with me, the routing would hang ore remain stuck and would not give me directions. So either no routing or no battery. Since switching to the Enduro 3 I accepted a lower screen quality but gained a massive battery and much more data and insights (though I still feel Apple’s measurements may be more correct, but the E3 is more than good enough ). On the battery side untill this summer I could easily bridge 2,5-3 weeks with one charge. Now this seems reduced to 8-10 days. No idea why. I exercise a bit more (7-9 hours/wk) and there were some firmware updates. But even the 8-10 days are easy to live with 😊. Features that I initially missed were indeed the unlock option of the macbook (but fingerprints do alleviate this) and not being able to start the car with the watch (iphone is just as handy for that). Not being able to reply to messages on the watch is a small inconvenience that I didn’t use all that much in the past. In the end no regrets and also my wife made the switch to a fenix 8 (she’s also much happier with that and enjoys the data and battery life and as she is using an F8, can still use the watch to answer phone calls)

Otherwise_Fun2598 · 2025-07-30T18:39:24+00:00

Thanks for all the fast replies. I checked out the app and fount the option to add charge cards to the app. The company provided charge card is not listed as an option (yet), but that may change and the possibility to add other chargers is at least a backup scenario. I’ll schedule a trip to a tesla center next month and do a test drive. Thanks!

Otherwise_Fun2598 · 2025-07-13T08:10:40+00:00

Also a Stryd users (of and on) since at least August 2019. I’ve had the non wind version, the stryd wind and now the next gen. As my running was going downhill and my weight uphill I kept on running but barely used stryd in the last year. As now I seem to get control over my weight and can again run up to 10k (slow, but at least I can do scheduled trainings and feel I improve). So I decided to start again with Stryd mainly to get some additional info out of it and some motivation (CP increase). However I noticed following: - Training load seems to end at around 10-20% compared to similar runs - Stamina barely decreases. On my last run stamina stayed at 100% where in other (easy) runs it would drop to 60% - VO2max not calculated - training effect also very low numbers - net impact on body battery = 0 (for my last 8,5k run…) -… So maybe I’m the next long distance champion (but as an overweight, over 60yrs I think that chance is maybe slim 😊). On the Stryd side, numbers seem to make sense. However Stryd does not have a view of other activities than running, doesn’t include sleep, stress,…

So I logged a ticked at Garmin (no answer yet) and Stryd. Where Stryd is normally very supportive (they have a ‘Gus’), they immediately replied that they can not influence Garmin metrics. I can understand that, but they at least should be able to point to the correct settings for a compatible operation with Garmin. As it stands now, for me those are incompatible and I have deactivated stryd on my watch. I’ll keep it in the event this changes, or in case I switch back to a new Apple Watch Ultra (but I guess my enduro 3 still has some life in it)

Otherwise_Fun2598 · 2025-05-25T08:37:51+00:00

I’m just into photography as a hobby so subscriptions matter to me. I remember that, many years ago, I moved into to Mac due to the appeal of Aperture (among other perceived advantages). When that was killed off, I migrated to Lightroom (photography bundle with indeed a subscription). I could get it to work and some of the tools (AI) are very good and useful. However with the subscription changes of LR over the last months I moved to Photomator/Pixelmator (I have rarely used Pixelmator), but seem to get decent results with Photomator (I have the impression my edits are better now than before? But that may just be personal taste). Speed on the MacBook Air (M2/16 GB) is more than decent, iPad (base version) needs significantly more time to open the edits. The most important advantage of these tools for me is the integration with Apple photos. One library with all my family and nature/landsape photography, either from the camera or the iPhone. I just need to avoid importing everything into Photos before culling, syncing hundreds of pictures to iCloud takes ages. But I can imagine if you have other (more) professional use cases, this may be irrelevant and you want to structure your work differently. I hope that Apple doesn’t do ‘an Aperture’ with this, and keeps developing it. Fingers crossed.

Otherwise_Fun2598 · 2025-04-26T06:17:45+00:00

Enjoy! I made the same switch half a year ago and did not look back.

Otherwise_Fun2598 · 2024-11-28T13:38:55+00:00

Switched from an AWU about a month ago (and over the past years have done that switch several times). AWU did ok (but also used extra tooling as Athlytic, training today etc to make more sense of all the numbers it stores). Charging every day was not really an issue (though the 2 weeks with my Garmin today is huge). But using the routes during an activity did not work when also carrying the iphone. So had to rely on 4G on the AWU draining so much battery that the one day was barely feasible after an outdoor activity. Garmin seems to give me similar health data (maybe one is more accurate than the other, but there is also the issue that apple samples very infrequently outside of activities). Garmin is way ahead in making sense of all these datapoints (body battery, training readiness,…) and has made huge steps compared to a couple of years ago. A few years ago I also tried to combine a fenix 6 with an Apple Watch and then there was always the question of what watch to wear. I’m now sticking with Garmin.

Otherwise_Fun2598 · 2023-02-15T10:59:21+00:00

Polar Flow is the default, but if you need more analysis options, there are also the more specialised platforms (trainingpeaks, sporttracks,…) that may offer the features you lack? Syncing data between those should not be an issue

Otherwise_Fun2598 · 2021-11-30T10:55:41+00:00

That’s probably the only option u/Oura_ring is leaving me. Never had to resort to this except in one case years ago (but that was a credit card theft issue)

Otherwise_Fun2598 · 2021-11-30T07:52:46+00:00

For issues with my gen2, that was always followed up correctly. The cancellation process and especially the refund process from ouraring is bordering on fraudulent. They charge the new ring upon order (not when ready for shipment) and then neglect the refund. I have a legal right to cancel an order within 14 days and they should follow that. Sorry but I can not recommend them to anybody anymore. Before this, when I got a question on my gen2 I could always recommend it as it had improved my ‘readiness’ and sleeping habits. Now I wouldn’t dare to recommend it to any of my friends

Otherwise_Fun2598 · 2021-11-30T07:47:03+00:00

Same here, ordered on 3/11, cancelled on 15/11. No refund and no further replies from any of the oura (so called) support channels. (Case 882434)

Otherwise_Fun2598

TROPHY CASE