VO₂ max : same number every time when using AW5 with external HRM (Polar H10)

I have the same problem with AW series 5 running without my phone and with a polar H10 connected via Bluetooth and properly synching during apple workout runs (>20min always).

What's interesting is I couldn't use my HR monitor for a few days last week and relied on the AW built-in heart rate monitor. I didn't change anything else about my workout "setup" otherwise, and the VO2Max data started updating normally. I've been able to use the Polar for 2 days now, and we're back to the same issue (unchanging VO2Max with very different workout conditions, so no chance of randomly being the same).

There does seem to be an issue with how that metric is calculated - is there a requirement on the built-in sensor for HR data that external sensors cannot provide? Is is just a bug on not using the actual source of HR data and using "default" or some other metric that doesn't change over time? What would that be, anyway? It has updated the "steady state" value from working out with my apple watch a few times so there is some sort of actual health metric being used and updated, it seems.

See screenshot below - highlighted in yellow are "Polar H10 days" and the green section is when I was wearing just my watch and seeing some changes in the data:

On your phone in the health app,go to Summary and tap on VO2 max,scroll down to the bottom and tap on Data sources and access,is your polar listed there?.

If it is then scroll down to the bottom and make sure your watch is at the top of the list in data sources.

From your screenshot it shows that the polar isn't requesting access to the health app which would explain why there is no data being recorded in the health app.I found this;

https://support.polar.com/uk-en/support/can_i_use_polar_beat_on_my_apple_watch

Had exactly the same issue...

at some point I unpaired my AW and paired again. Result was that no recording of vo2max has been done since. Though, I always used the Polar H10 since then. Guess I have to use AW PPG for a run to get another reading.

Anyway, this is a bug and I hope Apple can solve it!

Thank you for bringing this up. I suspected this behavior but this seems to confirm it. I have the same exact issue. Can't be a coincidence that VO2max is always the same number, down to two decimal places. I am using the Polar OH1 HRM.

Seriously frustrating issue which needs to be resolved (and probably is easily resolvable). HR data is being written correctly, so there must be a bug in the VO2max calculation. Please Apple, look into this!

Hallo @Apple!

I have exactly the same issue, using an external heart rate belt from Suunto/ SportsTracker.

I always have the same VO2max since the last 20 runnings :(.

This is frustrating!

Please get it solved.

Thank you!

Thomas

I'll add to this thread and say I have the same exact issue. VO2 max unchanged, to the hundredth decimal place, for like the last 10 runs. I also recently got a polar H10 which works great (have confirmed that HR data is accurate, and that the plesmythography lights on the bottom of the watch are off during HR readings), but not sure if it is getting properly calculated for vo2 max.

Same problem for me too. Only difference I am using Garmin Heart Rate Monitor. My AW S4 perfectly records the heart rate during and I can see it the Activity app on my iPhone but the Health app spews out the same VO2Max as the last I used the AW HR sensor. For pointless recording accurate HR and then fall back to unreliable sensor.

Hope Apple listens to everyone’s frustration here and fixed it but I am not holding breath as this was identified as an issue over a year ago in others threads.

For what it's worth, to at least keep trends accurate (i.e. see progress or changes in VO2Max vs. time) I have been alternating running days with and without my Polar H10 monitor. It appears 1-2 runs with just the Apple Watch every week or so actually updates the backend data and sets a "new" static level. This results in VO2Max vs. time looking more like a series of step functions vs. continuous discrete data points.

It's not truly a workaround ("just don't use it!" shouldn't be a workaround) but at least provides enough insight into my Health data to retain some value.

I have the exact same issue, no accurate calculation of the VO2 max measurement since I started using the Polar H10 chest heart rate monitor back in August 2019.

I was going crazy why on earth this happens and I thought that it is too big of a coincidence that my VO2 max measurement are so stable, up to two decimal places. That explains why I am seeing this.

This is really annoying since I want to use the Polar H10 chest heart rate monitor to get accurate heart rate measurements.

Hardware:

Apple Watch series 5 - watchOS 6.2.6

iPhone 11 Pro - iOS 13.5.1

Polar H10 chest HRM

Has anyone had the chance to try if watchOS7/iOS14 fixes this issue?

I am not a registered developer and don't have access to the dev betas. I can report back once the public betas are out.

I have the same issue with my Apple Watch S4 and Polar H10 that's connected directly to watches.