Lumpy Scams

Lumpy Scams is no scam; it's the info site for Lumpo.ca and a tribute to my Geocities days of old. I wanted to make an informative site to explain the logic behind Lumpo and why I made it the way I did. More about me here About Me and the story of how I got to making Lumpo.

What is the point of Lumpo?

Same reason as any other heart rate monitor: to monitor your heart rate during activity. But Lumpo is free! And it is a modern Progressive Web App (PWA) so you don't have to download anything; just go to the website and connect your chest strap. Substantial savings as the only purchase is an inexpensive Bluetooth Heart Rate Monitor. If you want, you can add a link and icon to your homescreen and it will run like any other native app on your phone, except you haven't downloaded any program files. All the data—your data!—is in your browser on your phone, not going anywhere else.

Why use Lumpo?

Because it's special—it's not like the other ones. Lol, actually though:

  • Enhanced max heart rate logic for MaxHR tests
  • Cardiac drift test calculated for you every workout (on the right)
  • It has live drift% so you know your current exertion level
  • Quartiles for segmented workout averages

Being Average

Averages are amazing! Here is an explanation of the averages that Lumpo uses to give your data.

MaxHR

Lumpo displays your maximum heart rate during exercise. It captures your last 5 highest values and takes the median of those values. This method may have robbed you of your highest number by a small margin, but it also helps eliminate unearned readings. A cautiously earned real number beats a fake data point any day in my humble opinion.

TotalAvg

The total average uses an incremental average (I could have called it IncAvg, I guess). It is a method of calculating an average that counts all the data points but doesn't require storing all of them. It counts every data point, so it is a total average of all the data that has been collected.

RollAvg

The roll average takes a 30-second window and calculates the average heart rate within that time frame. This helps tell you your current heart rate trends (e.g., are you accelerating?).

Drift

Drift is the difference between the roll average and the total average. It is a measure of how much your heart rate is changing over time. A positive drift means that your heart rate is increasing, while a negative drift means that your heart rate is decreasing. This can be useful for monitoring your performance during exercise and making adjustments as needed. It is also a good indicator of how well you are recovering. By combining the roll average and the total average, you can get a better understanding of heart rate lag during acceleration and recovery. Helpful for interval training and monitoring your steady-state heart rate.

Quartiles

Quartiles are a way to divide a data set into four equal parts. The first quartile (Q1) is the value that separates the lowest 25% of the data from the rest. The second quartile (Q2) is the value that separates the lowest 50% of the data from the rest. The third quartile (Q3) is the value that separates the lowest 75% of the data from the rest. The fourth quartile (Q4) represents the maximum value (the 100% mark). Quartiles are useful for seeing how your performance changes between the beginning, middle, and end of a session.

Q-drift

The Q-drift is this difference between the first two quartiles and the third and fourth quartiles. If you did a 1-hour steady-state workout, your first half and second half would be compared to give you the cardiac drift difference between them.