What To Know
- Maybe you’re just trying to conserve battery life or prefer not to track your heart rate for a particular activity.
- The Garmin Forerunner 35 is equipped with a built-in optical heart rate sensor, which uses green LEDs and photodiodes to measure your heart rate at the wrist.
- If you’re going on a long adventure or need to maximize your battery life, disabling heart rate tracking can help.
Are you a Garmin Forerunner 35 user who finds the constant heart rate monitoring a bit intrusive? Maybe you’re just trying to conserve battery life or prefer not to track your heart rate for a particular activity. Whatever your reason, knowing how to turn off the heart rate monitor on your Garmin Forerunner 35 is essential. This blog post will guide you through the process step-by-step, ensuring you can easily manage your heart rate tracking preferences.
Understanding Heart Rate Monitoring on the Garmin Forerunner 35
The Garmin Forerunner 35 is equipped with a built-in optical heart rate sensor, which uses green LEDs and photodiodes to measure your heart rate at the wrist. This technology offers convenient and continuous heart rate tracking, but it can also drain your battery faster and might not be suitable for every situation.
Turning Off the Heart Rate Monitor During an Activity
If you want to temporarily disable heart rate tracking during a specific activity, follow these simple steps:
1. Start your activity: On your Garmin Forerunner 35, press the “Start” button to begin an activity like running, walking, or cycling.
2. Access the activity screen: During the activity, press the “Up” button to cycle through the data fields.
3. Find the heart rate field: Look for the field displaying your heart rate. It’s usually represented by a heart icon or “HR.”
4. Turn off heart rate tracking: Press and hold the “Up” button until the heart rate field changes. You’ll see a message indicating that heart rate tracking is off.
Turning Off the Heart Rate Monitor in the Settings Menu
For more permanent control over heart rate monitoring, you can adjust the settings directly on your Garmin Forerunner 35:
1. Access the Settings menu: From the watch face, press the “Down” button to scroll through the menu options.
2. Navigate to System: Continue pressing “Down” until you reach the “System” option.
3. Select Sensors & Accessories: Press the “Select” button to enter the “Sensors & Accessories” menu.
4. Choose Heart Rate: Use the “Up” and “Down” buttons to navigate to the “Heart Rate” option and press “Select.”
5. Turn off the heart rate monitor: You’ll see different options related to heart rate tracking. Select “Off” to disable the heart rate monitor completely.
Understanding the Impact of Turning Off the Heart Rate Monitor
While turning off the heart rate monitor might seem like a simple solution, it’s important to understand the consequences:
- Reduced data accuracy: Disabling heart rate tracking will prevent your Garmin Forerunner 35 from recording your heart rate data during activities. This might affect the accuracy of other metrics like calories burned and training load.
- Limited workout insights: Heart rate data is crucial for analyzing your workouts and understanding your fitness progress. Without it, you may miss out on valuable insights about your performance and recovery.
- Battery life benefits: Turning off the heart rate monitor will extend your watch’s battery life, especially during long activities or when using GPS tracking.
When to Consider Turning Off the Heart Rate Monitor
While continuous heart rate monitoring offers valuable data, there are situations where turning it off might be beneficial:
- Conserving battery life: If you’re going on a long adventure or need to maximize your battery life, disabling heart rate tracking can help.
- Avoiding skin irritation: Some users experience skin irritation from the optical heart rate sensor, especially during prolonged wear. Turning it off can alleviate this discomfort.
- Privacy concerns: If you’re concerned about privacy, disabling heart rate tracking ensures your personal data isn’t being collected.
- Specific activities: Some activities, like swimming or high-impact workouts, might not require or benefit from continuous heart rate monitoring.
Turning Off the Heart Rate Monitor for Specific Activities
If you want to disable heart rate tracking only for certain activities, you can customize the settings accordingly:
1. Access the Activity Settings: From the watch face, press the “Down” button to scroll through the menu options.
2. Select Activities: Continue pressing “Down” until you reach the “Activities” option.
3. Choose the activity: Use the “Up” and “Down” buttons to navigate to the specific activity you want to adjust.
4. Turn off heart rate tracking: Within the activity settings, you’ll find an option to disable heart rate tracking. Select “Off” to turn it off for that particular activity.
Turning Off the Heart Rate Monitor for Specific Data Fields
You can also choose to hide the heart rate data field on your watch face, even if the heart rate monitor is still active:
1. Access the Watch Face Settings: From the watch face, press and hold the “Select” button.
2. Choose the data fields: You’ll see a list of data fields that can be displayed on your watch face.
3. Remove the heart rate field: Use the “Up” and “Down” buttons to navigate to the heart rate field and press the “Select” button to remove it from the display.
Turning Off the Heart Rate Monitor for Specific Time Periods
For even more granular control, you can schedule times when the heart rate monitor will automatically turn off:
1. Access the Sleep Settings: From the watch face, press the “Down” button to scroll through the menu options.
2. Select Sleep: Continue pressing “Down” until you reach the “Sleep” option.
3. Choose Sleep Mode: Press the “Select” button to enter the “Sleep Mode” settings.
4. Turn off heart rate tracking during sleep: You’ll find an option to disable heart rate tracking during sleep. Select “Off” to turn it off.
A Final Word on Heart Rate Monitoring
Turning off the heart rate monitor on your Garmin Forerunner 35 is a simple yet powerful way to customize your fitness tracking experience. By understanding the impact of disabling heart rate tracking and carefully considering your needs, you can make informed decisions about when and how to manage your heart rate data.
Information You Need to Know
Q: Will turning off the heart rate monitor affect other data like steps or distance?
A: No, turning off the heart rate monitor will not affect other data like steps, distance, or calories burned. These metrics are tracked independently by the watch’s accelerometer and GPS sensors.
Q: Can I turn off the heart rate monitor only for specific activities like swimming?
A: Yes, you can customize the settings for each activity and disable heart rate tracking for specific activities like swimming or high-impact workouts.
Q: Will turning off the heart rate monitor save battery life?
A: Yes, disabling the heart rate monitor will significantly extend your watch’s battery life, especially during long activities or when using GPS tracking.
Q: Is it safe to turn off the heart rate monitor?
A: It’s generally safe to turn off the heart rate monitor, but it might affect the accuracy of certain metrics. If you have any concerns, consult with a healthcare professional.
Q: Can I turn off the heart rate monitor permanently?
A: Yes, you can permanently disable the heart rate monitor by going to the “Sensors & Accessories” menu and selecting “Off” under the “Heart Rate” option. However, you can always re-enable it later if you change your mind.
