7 articles
Irish researchers compared the heart rate sensor in AirPods Pro 3 with a Polar H10 chest strap in 40 participants and 16 735 paired readings. The average error was about 2 beats with no systematic bias, but at high intensity individual readings drift by Β±10. We look at which workouts the earbuds are good enough for.
A meta-analysis from Amsterdam brings together everything known about the heart in the first day after a marathon. Troponin and NT-proBNP rise in every study and on average cross clinical thresholds, the right ventricle dilates, yet MRI finds no signs of damage. We look at what this means and when to see a doctor.
Stephen Seiler's group compared the real maximum heart rate of 4375 runners, cyclists and triathletes with the formulas. On average the formulas err low by nearly 5β6 beats, and for some individuals by 15β20. We look at how to determine your maximum in the field and why a lab test can miss it too.
Across 5311 athletes, maximum heart rate on the bike came out just 2 beats lower than in running. But you still can't carry threshold zones from one sport into the other β and here's why the group average is useless.
A 2026 systematic review: handheld lactate meters correlate with the laboratory reference at r = 0.95β0.99. And yet the spread of a single measurement at 3 mmol/L is Β±0.4 mmol/L. Here is why that is not a contradiction.
The useful signal in an optical heart rate sensor is just 1β2% of the reflected light, and every foot strike attacks it from three directions at once. Here is why your heart rate βsticksβ at 180 during intervals β and why no firmware update will fix it.
Familiar situation: you're running your usual route, same pace, but heart rate is 15 beats higher. Legs feel heavy, breathing harder. Overtrained? Getting sick? Or is it simpler β and scarier?