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Are you looking for some sort of medal? Bikerevive?
Maybe I'm just shit and slow then. Sorry but not going to get into comparisons on here as it is about as pointless as suggesting people can just ride a bit slower to make sure they hit zone 2.
I like riding fast and my rides are basically intervals. Ultimately everyone is different and their heart rates are individual and depend on a number of factors. The only real measure is improvement over time
No not at all just confused by the numbers. I'm not sure whether high hr for z2 is a good thing or low hr z2 is good tbh. Just confused that someone with samr lactate threshold using a Garmin gets given such different numbers by Garmin. I assumed that Garmin would use the same algorithm on ask devices, maybe t
Most rides are 2hrs, 25-30km, 400-500m of ascent
I've been sitting at the VO2 max of 57 for months. I think the last two marathons and even a 50k run haven't really managed to shift it past 57.
I had some dental work done and I couldn't run on doctors orders for seven days. They didn't say anything about the turbo trainer so I absolutely hammered that hard from day 2 🙂
Six days after the dental surgery I started running again- nothing spectacular just a few 10K runs (a few weeks ago when I was training for the last marathon I was averaging about 120 to 130 kilometers a week running) my Garmin suddenly told me that my VO2 max had dropped to 56......
I was not impressed. I'm starting to doubt the accuracy of my watch (mainly because it's going in the direction I don't agree with 🙂 )
my Garmin suddenly told me that my VO2 max had dropped to 56......
Yeah, this mystifies me as well. I go thru this loop with Garmin all the time:
- Garmin tells me my ride was "unproductive" and I need to do more riding at high intensity
- I go out and blow the doors off and upload my ride
- My VO2 Max goes down...
Case in point:
This shows my last ride as benefiting "base":
And this is the actual ride, which shows the vast majority of my ride as Zone 3 & 4....
This ride basically involves about an hour of climb/traverse/climb/traverse then another hour of consistent, steep climbing followed by about an hour's (road) descent.
AIUI, zones 3 & 4 are considered 'high aerobic' by Garmin so f++k knows what I'm doing wrong. The only way to game the system seems to do some rides with virtually no zone 1 or 2...it's only when I do those types of rides (on a turbo) that my VO2 increases.
As far as I can see, the fact that I free-wheeled downhill after the strenuous effort means my ride is "unproductive" and my VO2 score is "ruined". 🤷
(How the hell do you delete extra images from posts in STW?!?!)
How can you tell the difference between a VO2 max of 56 or 57? Effectively noise separating them. Also, there is no real reason why training should increase VO2 max , cause beyond a point it's hard to increase, and just tweaking your training won't do it. What did you do differently that you thought might do it? I don't think ultra training will as you're too far below an. threshold. Go do a proper, 3 or 4 month 5k training plan - that will do it.
I don't believe all these rides with people spending hours in zone 4 are using correctly calculated zones else this thread is a gold mine for people recruiting for world tour teams. You know that if you want 15 mins of zone 4 go and run a 5K at full race, then keep going for 45 minutes. Your max is underestimated. Also are you calculating zones of maz, range between min and max, or LTHR - garmin can calculate any of those if you ask it. People - what does Garmin think your max HR is?
I'm not gonna pretend I know the difference between a point of VO2 or the answer to your questions, but I'm trying to see a trend in the right direction (which is, basically, ride hard, get fitter - or at least not lose fitness).
The only consistent trend that I can determine from Garmin's is that far "too much" of my riding it considers "Unproductive"
As it happens, I only have a passing interest in this as I'm NOT following a training plan - I just find it amusing from a marketing point of view, as it hardly encourages the general population to use Garmin products! 😀
Incidentally, Garmin make some really odd design choices with their products. For instance, on my Edge 530, I found they prioritize running VO2 and HR zones over cycling VO2 and HR zones in the UI. Recently, I discovered my "running" HR max was correct (169) but for reasons I don't understand, my cycling HR max was wrong (189). And I don't run, so God knows why they are on the 530 or how the cycling values were wrong (I suspect an errant firmware update)
They also make it incredibly difficult (unless you know where to look) to actually set or check your max HR or HR zones. You can't see them or set them in Garmin Connect, for instance, unless you connect the device. Why - that's just incredibly dumb....??
HR zones are critical to training so why are they buried so deep in obscure menu options?
(Granted, all this may have changed with later devices as the newer UI is a lot better than my 530...)
How can you tell the difference between a VO2 max of 56 or 57? Effectively noise separating them
In those examples, Garmin is actually rounding to the nearest whole number. It could be 56.51 one day and 56.49 the next but you'd see a drop of 1. Some watches and some trend graphs do show it more accurately though.
40 minutes of being in zone 4 means you should be on a world tour team?
Dear God do you really think that heart rate equals power output? 100% of the tdf field would probably be in z1 maybe bottom of zone 2 for the same effort i have to put in.
What a dumb comment
This is a typical ATB ride for me, even at the high heart rate I’m not out of breath just run out of muscle power! I had to push for a short distance yesterday, breathing was very heavy but heartbeat only 120, I wish I understood all this.. 
I have a garmin 255, it never even updates the vo2 max. I just use it for cycling really. Does it update it better for running?
It is getting to turbo trainer time though, maybe it'll update then
It is getting to turbo trainer time though, maybe it'll update then
If you don't use a power meter or a turbo trainer/software package that provides power readings then you won't get cycling VO2 Max.
@wheelsonfire1 that looks like a lot of time in Z5. Given that the zones are probably set from your Max HR value, how have you set that (if at all)?
I’d spend a lot of time in zone 5 if my wheels were on fire!
Is Garmin reliant on receiving the occasional max effort to help determine MHR?
Just thinking it may be set low if folk aren't be riding flat out once in a while - kind of garbage in, garbage out.
Or it's defaulting to 220 minus age, either way a lot of time in zones above look really high.
@scotroutes I may look into the settings although the maximum bpm I have had in recent years was 172, my resting rate is mid forties and I’m 65….
The usual maximum that I see these days is 168.
the maximum bpm I have had in recent years was 172, my resting rate is mid forties and I’m 65….
The usual maximum that I see these days is 168.
Not too dissimilar to me. My Z5 starts at 157 though (90% of max) and, applying that calculation, I'd expect your Z5 to start around 151-152. It would be worth trying some sort of Max HR test to see where it truly lies and then resetting the zones accordingly.
@scotroutes thank you for the input, I’m a casual user of these statistics just gained from logging ride details, pictures, weather etc. I occasionally glance at my watch when riding and if the bpm looks a bit high then I’ll “have a minute” and look at the view!
Tangentially related to this, I've just realised that Garmin considers "Anaerobic" as a Power Zone but not a Heart Rate zone - I was always under the impression that HR Zone 5 was "Anaerobic"...
I did an FTP test yesterday and my HR was in Zone 5 for most of the test and I was expecting Garmin to bump my Anaerobic Load Focus numbers up, but, no, it just considered that session as High Aerobic, and deemed my training as "Unproductive" (again!) as I have Anaerobic shortage 🤷
(And my VO2 went down again, though as my FTP dropped, that's probably correct 😕)
HR Zone 5 is 'maximum' above 90% - at least for Garmin anyway, lots of different models around.
As far as I'm aware their anaerobic measure is power only and is time spent above 120% FTP
So if you want to address your anaerobic shortage, go and do some sprints 😀
For instance, on my Edge 530, I found they prioritize running VO2 and HR zones over cycling VO2 and HR zones in the UI. Recently, I discovered my "running" HR max was correct (169) but for reasons I don't understand, my cycling HR max was wrong (189).
Well that would explain why all your zoning is out if you don't calculate against a reliable max HR number. What have you actually measured your max HR as? And how did you test it? Interesting your running number is lower, but again have you ever done a running max test (3 *2 minutes hill, walk down recovery and vomiting on the 3rd is a standard test)
My max HR (169) is based on the highest heart rate I've seen recorded. It was probably at the end of an old FTP test when I've emptied the tank during the last minute of the 20 minute test, or during a Zwift crit race.
My last FTP (2 days ago) saw a max HR of 163 and I doubt it would go higher, so I may have to reduce my settings on the 530...
I've never been "professionally" measured and I don't run so I've never done a running test!
Edited to add:
This is from Garmin's website (first Google result) where their own user guide refers to HR Z5 as "Anaerobic" yet their own "Exercise Load" metric does not...
I have a fairly similar min and max heart rate. So I just had a look at a few recent activities for zones... and they seem to differ depending on the activity!
Zone 5 for gravel and hiking is > 148bpm
Zone 5 for MTB and walking is > 172bpm
I know a few really hard technical lung-busting hills for me regularly see ~155bpm. Almost broken is ~163bpm.
I don't recall seeing 172 except when i've had glitchy chest straps that seem to double my heart rate!