Validity of Wearable Activity Monitors during Cycling and Resistance Exercise
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: The use of wearable activity monitors has seen rapid growth; however, the mode and intensity of exercise could affect the validity of heart rate (HR) and caloric (energy) expenditure (EE) readings. There is a lack of data regarding the validity of wearable activity monitors during graded cycling regimen and a standard resistance exercise. The present study determined the validity of eight monitors for HR compared with an ECG and seven monitors for EE compared with a metabolic analyzer during graded cycling and resistance exercise. METHODS: Fifty subjects (28 women, 22 men) completed separate trials of graded cycling and three sets of four resistance exercises at a 10-repetition-maximum load. Monitors included the following: Apple Watch Series 2, Fitbit Blaze, Fitbit Charge 2, Polar H7, Polar A360, Garmin Vivosmart HR, TomTom Touch, and Bose SoundSport Pulse (BSP) headphones. HR was recorded after each cycling intensity and after each resistance exercise set. EE was recorded after both protocols. Validity was established as having a mean absolute percent error (MAPE) value of ≤10%. RESULTS: The Polar H7 and BSP were valid during both exercise modes (cycling: MAPE = 6.87%, R = 0.79; resistance exercise: MAPE = 6.31%, R = 0.83). During cycling, the Apple Watch Series 2 revealed the greatest HR validity (MAPE = 4.14%, R = 0.80). The BSP revealed the greatest HR accuracy during resistance exercise (MAPE = 6.24%, R = 0.86). Across all devices, as exercise intensity increased, there was greater underestimation of HR. No device was valid for EE during cycling or resistance exercise. CONCLUSIONS: HR from wearable devices differed at different exercise intensities; EE estimates from wearable devices were inaccurate. Wearable devices are not medical devices, and users should be cautious when using these devices for monitoring physiological responses to exercise.
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HR and EE measured by both the Garmin and Fitbit devices during the resistance exercise were similar to the measurements reported by Boudreaux et al.
“In results presented in this paper, HR and EE measured by both the Garmin and Fitbit devices during the resistance exercise were similar to the measurements reported by Boudreaux et al [24].”
From Accuracy of Wrist-Worn Activity Monitors During Common Daily Physical Activities and Types of Structured Exercise: Evaluation Study (2018) · cites this paper as [24]
Presently, there are at least four studies that have investigated the accuracy of wearable devices during resistance exercises and none during high-intensity interval training.
“Presently, there are at least 4 studies [21-24] that have investigated the accuracy of wearable devices during resistance exercises and none during HIIT training.”
From Accuracy of Wrist-Worn Activity Monitors During Common Daily Physical Activities and Types of Structured Exercise: Evaluation Study (2018) · cites this paper as [24]
Bourdreaux et al showed that energy expenditure measured by the devices was poor, with mean absolute percent error values ranging between 43% and 57%.
“They also showed that the EE measured by the devices was poor, with MAPE values ranging between 43% and 57%.”
From Accuracy of Wrist-Worn Activity Monitors During Common Daily Physical Activities and Types of Structured Exercise: Evaluation Study (2018) · cites this paper as [24]
Bourdreaux et al demonstrated that heart rate measured by nonwrist worn devices was relatively accurate, whereas wrist-worn devices showed poor correlations (R<.8) and higher error during resistance exercises (mean absolute percent error >9%).
“Results from this study demonstrated that HR measured by nonwrist worn devices were relatively accurate, whereas wrist-worn devices showed poor correlations (R<.8) and higher error during resistance exercises (mean absolute percent error [MAPE] >9%).”
From Accuracy of Wrist-Worn Activity Monitors During Common Daily Physical Activities and Types of Structured Exercise: Evaluation Study (2018) · cites this paper as [24]
The Polar H7 was the most valid and reliable device and the only device that was valid and reliable during all different levels of exercise intensity.
“The Polar H7 was compared to other HR monitoring devices, as Apple Watch Series, Fitbit or Garmin Vivosmart HR, and the results proved that it was not only the most valid and reliable device, but also the only device that was valid and reliable during all different levels of exercise intensity (Boudreaux et al., 2018).”
From The relationship of muscle oxygen saturation analyzer with other monitoring and quantification tools in a maximal incremental treadmill test (2023) · cites this paper as Boudreaux et al., 2018
Some studies have used the gold-standard reference method of electrocardiogram, which directly measures heart rate via electrical impulses from the heart and is used for clinical accuracy.
“Although some studies have attempted to address wearable HR accuracy using the gold-standard reference method of ECG, which directly measures HR via electrical impulses from the heart and is used for clinical accuracy38–44”
From Guidelines for wrist-worn consumer wearable assessment of heart rate in biobehavioral research (2020) · cites this paper as [39]
Apple Watch has lower mean difference standard deviation and higher agreement with electrocardiogram than Fitbit devices.
“lower mean difference standard deviation43, and higher agreement with ECG than Fitbit devices39,44.”
From Guidelines for wrist-worn consumer wearable assessment of heart rate in biobehavioral research (2020) · cites this paper as [39]
Apple Watch models have lower overall error (1.20 to 6.70%) than Fitbit models (2.38 to 21.36%).
“as well as lower overall error with the Apple Watch models ranging from 1.20 to 6.70% error and Fitbit models ranging from 2.38 to 21.36% error39,42,45”
From Guidelines for wrist-worn consumer wearable assessment of heart rate in biobehavioral research (2020) · cites this paper as [39]
Wrist placement, tightness of device, dominant vs non-dominant hand use, and degree of wrist movement have consistently been shown to influence the accuracy of heart rate measurement.
“In addition to wrist circumference, there are a number of other factors including wrist placement, tightness of device, dominant vs non-dominant hand use, and degree of wrist movement that have consistently been shown to influence the accuracy of HR measurement39”
From Guidelines for wrist-worn consumer wearable assessment of heart rate in biobehavioral research (2020) · cites this paper as [39]
Wearable devices are more accurate during rest and low intensity exercise compared to higher intensity exercise, when they can begin to deviate more from ECG recordings.
“a substantial amount of research showing that wearable devices are more accurate during rest and low intensity exercise when compared to higher intensity exercise, when wearable devices can begin to deviate more from ECG recordings38,39,44,46,70–73”
From Guidelines for wrist-worn consumer wearable assessment of heart rate in biobehavioral research (2020) · cites this paper as [39]
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BackgroundMethod
- Authors
- BOUDREAUX, B. D., HEBERT, E. P., HOLLANDER, D. B., WILLIAMS, B. M., CORMIER, C. L., NAQUIN, M. R., GILLAN, W. W., GUSEW, E. E., & KRAEMER, R. R.
- Affiliations
- Southeastern Louisiana University (US)
- Venue
- Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise
- Published
- 2018-03
- Volume
- 50
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 624-633
- ISSN
- 0195-9131 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2770746328
- Cited by
- 205
- References
- 27
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 29 · 2024: 20 · 2023: 35 · 2022: 27 · 2021: 23 · 2020: 19 · 2019: 30 · 2018: 11
- FWCI
- 12.14
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Physical Activity and Health
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Complementary and alternative medicine › Cardiovascular and exercise physiology
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Non-Invasive Vital Sign Monitoring
- Keywords
- wearable activity trackers, heart rate monitoring, energy expenditure estimation, resistance training, device validity, exercise intensity, Apple Watch, Fitbit
- MeSH terms
- Fitness Trackers, Adult, Bicycling, Energy Metabolism, Exercise Test, Female, Heart Rate, Humans, Male, Monitoring, Physiologic, Resistance Training, Young Adult
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