Heart rate monitors are commonly used in sports with a large aerobic emphasis to monitor exercise intensity. Female athletes who participate in endurance sports such as field hockey and soccer are also at an increased risk for experiencing training maladaptation (Schwellnus, 2016). Wearable technology is utilized by practitioners to monitor athlete training characteristics. Catapult Sports has combined GPS technology and heart rate monitors to increase the utility of their garments. Catapult Sports’s GPS component has been deemed valid and reliable (Varley 2012). However, the heart rate monitor has not been investigated by a third party. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to assess the reliability and validity of the Catapult Sports's Vector Elite 2.1 heart rate monitor in female athletes. It was hypothesized that the Catapult Sports’ Vector Elite 2.1 heart rate monitor would exhibit good intra-device reliability (ICC = at least 0.7) during rest, moderate and vigorous exercise intensities. It was also hypothesized that the Catapult Sports’ Vector Elite 2.1 heart rate monitor measurements during rest, moderate and vigorous exercise would exhibit a Pearson correlation of at least 0.7 when compared to a single-lead EKG. There would be minimal bias within 95% limits of agreement. Additionally, an acceptable coefficient of variation of 5-10%. A total of 27 division I female field hockey (n=17) and soccer (n=10) were recruited. Participants performed two VO2max tests while wearing the Catapult garment and a single lead EKG to obtain maximum and average heart rate values for each test stage. Overall, the reliability of the heart rate monitor decreased at intensity decreased. The Catapult garment was not valid as intensity increased. Overall, the Catapult heart rate measurements displayed good accuracy during resting conditions and stage one but lost accuracy as intensity increased.
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