Activity average heart rate way too low vs Garmin Connect (consistent across all runs)

For every running activity synced from Garmin, the “Avg HR” shown on intervals.icu
is far lower than the average heart rate shown for the same activity in Garmin
Connect — not a one-off outlier, this happens consistently on all my past runs
(they all show ~59-60 bpm average, which is close to resting HR, not running HR).

Looking at the HR chart on the activity page (Analysis > FC tab):

  • The “This run” curve starts around 118 bpm at 1s and then declines
    progressively down to ~30-40 bpm by the 20-30 minute mark.
  • The zone breakdown shows 75% of the time in Z1 (0-89 bpm), and the highest
    zone reached in the whole activity tops out at ~117 bpm (Z7: 112-117 bpm).

This doesn’t add up with Garmin’s own reported average of 159 bpm for the same
activity — if the true average was 159, a meaningful part of the activity
should show HR well above 117 bpm, not below it. It looks like the HR stream
intervals.icu is using for the average/zones on this activity isn’t the real
running HR data (maybe wrong data source, partial import, or a field mapping
issue during the Garmin sync).

What I’ve checked:

  • The same low-HR pattern (~59-60 bpm average) appears on every run I’ve
    looked at, not just this one.
  • [add: whether you’ve already tried disconnecting/reconnecting the Garmin
    integration under Settings > Integrations, and whether that changed anything]

Setup:

  • Garmin device: Forerunner 255
  • HR source: wrist-based optical sensor
  • Sync: Garmin Connect → intervals.icu (automatic sync)

Question: is this a known issue with HR data import/mapping from Garmin for
this device, and is there a way to re-sync/re-import the correct HR stream
for already-imported activities?

Show the HR graph on the Timeline tab. We can’ t see your activities for privacy reasons.
Is your device set for second by second recording? NOT Smart recording!
And no, this is 100% sure not a bug.

Your Z7 is about at >110bpm if I see your screenshot correctly. I think you have a wrong max HR in the settings and everything above that is not treated as valid measurement.

There also must be an information text on the activity that your heartrate exceeds your max heart rate setting.

Set your correct max heartrate on the settings page and click update zones afterwards.