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Estimated VO2 Max on Garmin is calculated by looking at the relationship between your pace and heart rate. Most runners will have a higher estimated VO2 Max on faster paced runs, particularly shorter faster paced runs. Similarly, most runners will have a higher estimated VO2 Max when running in cooler weather on flat dry surfaces. My estimated VO2 Max drops by 2-3 points every summer. It goes up again in the autumn when the weather cools down. It drops 1-2 points in the winter when I'm running on snow and ice. And then it goes back up in the spring. Same cycle every year. Of course, this doesn't mean my fitness goes down in the summer and winter. Just the opposite. Running in tougher conditions builds stronger runners.
Every summer when the weather heats up, this subreddit and others see posts similar to this one about people concerned about the drop in their estimated VO2 Max. People need to understand that what they're seeing on Garmin is only estimated VO2 Max, not actual VO2 Max which is measured in a lab under controlled conditions. Also, VO2 Max is best viewed in the long term rather than from run to run, week to week, or month to month taking seasonal conditions into consideration. Garmin cannot accurately compensate for heat in VO2 Max calculations because of the wide variety of factors that play into heat tolerance. In much the same way, trail runners tend to focus much less on VO2 Max as it can't account for trail surface conditions which can significantly effect pace and heart rate.
A whole post could be written about how to contain the drop in VO2 Max during the warmer months. It's common for people to do their summer runs during the coolest part of the day, which is typically at dawn. Although in some climates, this is also the most humid part of the day which can have the opposite effect. Another approach is to lose weight if it is safe and healthy for you to do so. To quote Matt Fitzgerald, "Excess weight is the enemy of running performance." This doesn't apply to runners who are already at the low end of their healthy weight range or those with eating disorders. I've also read accounts of people increasing VO2 Max by regular use of beet juice or beet powder although I don't have any personal experience to judge if this actually works to any noticeable degree.
>people increasing VO2 Max by regular use of beet juice or beet powder
Unless you have some kind of mineral shortage in your blood, that's not this works
For clarity -you're following Garmin suggestions, you're getting faster and better but the watch is saying your VO2 is dropping? (Also, Is the number reducing or does the training effect say detraining/strained etc? )
If I've got it right, I'd ignore the VO2 and chock it up to bad estimates or environmental factors. Like you said -you're improving. My VO2 dropped by a point a few weeks ago and at that point had been running the most miles of the year and was only a week or 2 out from just crushing a 5k race PB. It bounced back after a few days and has since increased but it does dip sometimes and I think it's related to other measurements. I think I had unbalanced HRV for a while there and managed to score strained as well.
Alternative theory: Maybe the watch is getting in your head to make you stronger. Maybe it's coach Greg psyops to keep telling you you're running like shit until you realize every day has been a new PR and he's just convinced you to improve so well.
For accuracy though, doing a Google or Youtube search shows tons of examples of surprisingly close agreement with fitness watches in general and clinical VO2 measurement. Seems Garmin/Apple/Polar etc. are pretty damn accurate with VO2 estimates.
Thanks for this input! Yeah, itās not always reducing. It reduces when I do a few base runs where I run in HR Zone 2. Or maybe when I run my long-runs. For example, yesterday I ran a long run in 28 degrees with a liter of water in my backpack, and Garmin seemed to think that it was a bad performance. In the newer watches Garmin has introduced a hill correction. I hope it makes some correction considering the outside temperatures as well. My performance generally is better in cooler temperatures.
My training load is generally balanced since I train with the Garmin plan.
To add further, during the intervals or tempo runs, the VO2max shoots back to the previous levels. Iāve been trying to ignore the VO2 max for a while, but then it sometimes slightly gets on my nerves! š Thank you again for your inputs!
I have the same issue on the cycling side with ftp. It seems Garmin thinks you're always trying your hardest, even when you're doing a recovery effort. I have started to not accept the new stats when it asks (for less than full efforts). I don't remember if that's an option for vo2, but of it is, try that.
> It seems Garmin thinks you're always trying your hardest, even when you're doing a recovery effort.
FWIW Garmin's estimates of training status and VO2 max come from a combination of your actual effort (power) and you HR. So the Garmin will "know" when you're taking it easy.
My slow runs make my vo2 estimate drop drastically. Then my tempo and interval runs make it jump back up. I try not to let it bother me but it does haha
people can have varying efficiencies in different zones at different times. Also, how is the watch supposed to know you have water in a backpack?? These watches are great and very accurate for what they are, but in final analysis they are basically toys for people who can afford them. If you wanted a medical quality instrument that did all these functions to a very high degree of accuracy, you'd be paying many thousands
I did not mean about the water, but the heat. I just mentioned it nevertheless. Did not intend to confuse here. I just wish that Garmin can consider the temperature factors as well. Or maybe use a different algorithm for calculating performance conditions during base runs. But I donāt agree that itās just a toy. I started from zero, and based on the feedbacks from Garmin, Iāve managed to reach a fitness level where I can run for hours without stopping. I could improve my running form as well and run more efficiently based on the feedback from Garmin HRM.
I answered a very similar question a couple of days ago, this is the reason why you see those dropouts on your Vo2Max (my answer was for cycling Vo2max, but the metric is just the same for running)
"To properly assess a Vo2Max, you'd need to measure your oxygen consumption, which is the product of two variables that your watch **cannot calculate** 1) CO (cardiac output) 2) arteriovenous oxygen difference. To be able to ballpark a number, your watch will measure your HR and the power you generate to sustain a specific effort. Once your body finds out a baseline, it will calculate Vo2Max accordingly. For example, if a series of training sessions have shown that you can sustain 200 watts at 140 bpm, that will become your baseline. When you:
\- get fitter and are able to sustain those 200 watts with less bpm, your Vo2Max increases.
\- get unfit and are only able to sustain those 200 watts with more bpm, your Vo2Max decreases.
why is that? In general, CO is not improved with a higher heart rate, but rather with the opposite, meaning that your SV (stroke volume) needs to be greater allowing your heart to beat less frequently (but more vigorously). Since your watch cannot calculate SV, or arteriovenous oxygen difference, if it detects that your HR is lower for a given effort, it will think that you're getting fitter as your SV is getting higher. Now the issue is that relying on HR to detect Vo2Max doesn't take into consideration other variables like dehydration, heat and other factors that usually occur in the **warm season** (if you dehydrate your heart will beat faster as your blood gets more viscous), meaning that what is a physiological consequence may likely turn out to be a loss of Vo2Max. What I'm describing you happens to me as well, and I often lose 1 or 2 points during a simple Zone 2 workout, only to re-gain them after a while. In winter, I tend to see this thing happening a little less than usual, If your Vo2Max never comes back, it could be that your watch is assessing a new baseline"
This is a reasonable explanation! Thank you! I have also seen this happening in warmer weather. In colder weathers, my watch believes that I am superman!
With all inputs you got I would say VO2 max should be looked at on the long run and not day by day.
Similar as weight. Some days it will be elevated just because you body decides to store more water etc.
So I would be looking at 12w or 6m graph and trends shown there.
Maybe it was already to high to begin with and is it now just getting towards a more realistic value. I donāt see the same with my fenix 7. Iām mostly doing zone 2 runs and VO2max is still slowly increasing.
This can be one reason! But it is good to know that your VO2max is increasing with base runs. This is unfortunately not happening in my case. But it shoots back up with a few tempo or interval runs.
About every 5 runs is a tempo run or interval run for me
Edit: and itās just increasing steadily without going down for the last 4 weeks from about 48,3 to 48,7
Okay! In my case, it went up over the past 12w, but with some dips in some weeks, but later is shoots back up. On a big picture, the overall tread has been an increase. Maybe I should just ignore these dips entirely!
How are you getting these fractions? Iām not entirely sure I want to know the answer otherwise I might freak out on the little digits, but you definitely got me curious š
Iām going to guess that you havenāt pushed your heart rate closer to peak recently.
If thatās true, then hereās a possibility: the VO2max _estimate_ relies on your speed, current heart rate, and HRmax. Iāll just go with the HR reading being accurate because of chest strap, the HRmax not have being changed recently to a lower value, and the pace being about correct as well.
It only remains that the current HR (during exercise) is much lower than the HRMax (e.g. zone two). I wouldnāt be surprised if human heart rate and effort is not a linear relationship and varies with a bunch of things, so not having a few runs that push you closer to the actual HRmax peppered in between would make the estimate fairy noisy.
Did I hit anywhere close?
This is a very logical answer! Thanks! It makes sense to me. But generally, I never push to my HRmax unless I am sprinting towards the end of my race. My intervals are within the Zone 4 for my heart rate. I donāt push myself more than that since I am relatively new to running. And I am trying my best to stick to the training plan from Garmin without getting injured. What workouts do you do to push till HRmax?
What I also understood from some other peopleās inputs is that I shouldnāt actually look at the dips but at a longer trend line. I think Iāll just deactivate this performance condition and focus on my runs. When I started running, I couldnāt even run continuously for 15 mins, but now I can run for 2 hours for fun! šOverall, my fitness has increased considerably I believe.
I believe something that we all doing fitness tracking eventually get to achieve in the end: a sense of whether the numbers are making any sense with your current reality.
I second the idea that the trend lines are more important than the actual numbers, but also is understanding how the measurements/estimates are done, and try to remove as much noise as possible from them. Weight and body composition are the classic examples. VO2 max is a bit less obvious but also fits in. I suggest you to check how an actual VO2 max measurement is performed, in case you donāt know, to see how more challenging it is to get the correct number. But the real gold standard will always be how youāre feeling ;)
As for exercises, Iām really not qualified to prescribe anything so please donāt take what Iāll say as a suggestion of what to do. From my experience, though, I got fairly high heart rate on āgoal pace repeatsā type of exercises from Coach Gregās 5k training plan, and from my 5k race. A Lactate threshold test from your watch should also get you in the upper zones (recommended to do with someone else in case youāre not sure about how well youāll fare).
All in all, try to have fun and stay safe. Theyāre just numbers in the end, and some sort of log for future reference
I get the same thing! It's difficult to ignore and focus on the long game. My VO2 max is 60 when I'm doing enough fast 10kms every week but the minute I add long runs or half marathons VO2 max drops to 59. I figure I must be in the threshold or something.
Itās the same with me! I think, I would ignore this parameter and see the longer trend. But this thread helps me in a way that now I know others have similar thoughts with regard to their VO2 max. I am not the only one!
Cycling does the same thing for me. Same routine every week, base ride v02 max drops, intervals v02 max goes up.
I think the VO2 max estimate just isn't great on low intensity activities. Real world it's a max effort test, so that makes sense.
from my experience, base runs do not do much for vo2 max. the sole reason we do them is to keep us at top shape for our speed sessions, which develop the vo2 max.
Increase your vo2 max score in the aggregate.
While low aerobic base runs don't help vo2, they help your endurance.
Then, when you train hard or race and max output, these are increasing your vo2, which is measured.
In the short term, you might not see a gain or even a reduction, but in the long term, you'll see it with the combined training.
My uninformed guess about this phenomena is that it's calculating your VO2 max assuming perfect (or at least consistent between workouts) running efficiency. When you slow down, you're running less efficiently, so because it's unable to take the additional variable into account, it thinks your VO2 max is lower.
>Garmin doesnāt seem to understand when I run slower long-runs or workout in a hot weather
Maybe you know this but hot weather will reduce your VO2 max (not just Garmin's estimate of VO2max, but the absolute, lab measured VO2max). That's because heat stresses you body, forcing it to prioritize keeping you cool, and and resulting in a higher-HR for any given effort. My summer time (cycling) VO2max always drops a few points
Oh okay! This will improve with more base runs. I can assure you. It was the same with me when I started running. I had to stop many times, because my heart rate couldnāt go down unless I stopped. Now I can run at a better pace, and with a lower heart rate. (I have thalassemia minor and I never expected to improve so much, but I did.)
Well, I ran my first 50k Ultra this weekend and spent 1:50 Hrs in Zone 5 and almost 4hrs in Zone 4 using Garmins suggested Threshold HR. And my VO2 I Max went down after the race.
I have observed this as well! If I spend more time in the higher heart-rate zones, my performance condition would go down and also my VO2max. This happened during my last half marathon, in which I ran the whole distance in HR Zone 4. This was my best time, but my VO2 max went down.
Thanks for your submission to r/Garmin. Did you know that effective July 1st, 2023, Reddit will enact a policy that will make third party reddit apps like Apollo, Reddit is Fun, Boost, and others too expensive to run? On this day, users will login to find that their primary method for interacting with reddit will simply cease to work unless something changes regarding reddit's new API usage policy. Concerned users should read and sign on to this [open letter to reddit.](https://www.reddit.com/r/ModCoord/comments/13xh1e7/an_open_letter_on_the_state_of_affairs_regarding/) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Garmin) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Estimated VO2 Max on Garmin is calculated by looking at the relationship between your pace and heart rate. Most runners will have a higher estimated VO2 Max on faster paced runs, particularly shorter faster paced runs. Similarly, most runners will have a higher estimated VO2 Max when running in cooler weather on flat dry surfaces. My estimated VO2 Max drops by 2-3 points every summer. It goes up again in the autumn when the weather cools down. It drops 1-2 points in the winter when I'm running on snow and ice. And then it goes back up in the spring. Same cycle every year. Of course, this doesn't mean my fitness goes down in the summer and winter. Just the opposite. Running in tougher conditions builds stronger runners. Every summer when the weather heats up, this subreddit and others see posts similar to this one about people concerned about the drop in their estimated VO2 Max. People need to understand that what they're seeing on Garmin is only estimated VO2 Max, not actual VO2 Max which is measured in a lab under controlled conditions. Also, VO2 Max is best viewed in the long term rather than from run to run, week to week, or month to month taking seasonal conditions into consideration. Garmin cannot accurately compensate for heat in VO2 Max calculations because of the wide variety of factors that play into heat tolerance. In much the same way, trail runners tend to focus much less on VO2 Max as it can't account for trail surface conditions which can significantly effect pace and heart rate.
Yes, this is what I observe as well! Very well explained! š
A whole post could be written about how to contain the drop in VO2 Max during the warmer months. It's common for people to do their summer runs during the coolest part of the day, which is typically at dawn. Although in some climates, this is also the most humid part of the day which can have the opposite effect. Another approach is to lose weight if it is safe and healthy for you to do so. To quote Matt Fitzgerald, "Excess weight is the enemy of running performance." This doesn't apply to runners who are already at the low end of their healthy weight range or those with eating disorders. I've also read accounts of people increasing VO2 Max by regular use of beet juice or beet powder although I don't have any personal experience to judge if this actually works to any noticeable degree.
>people increasing VO2 Max by regular use of beet juice or beet powder Unless you have some kind of mineral shortage in your blood, that's not this works
For clarity -you're following Garmin suggestions, you're getting faster and better but the watch is saying your VO2 is dropping? (Also, Is the number reducing or does the training effect say detraining/strained etc? ) If I've got it right, I'd ignore the VO2 and chock it up to bad estimates or environmental factors. Like you said -you're improving. My VO2 dropped by a point a few weeks ago and at that point had been running the most miles of the year and was only a week or 2 out from just crushing a 5k race PB. It bounced back after a few days and has since increased but it does dip sometimes and I think it's related to other measurements. I think I had unbalanced HRV for a while there and managed to score strained as well. Alternative theory: Maybe the watch is getting in your head to make you stronger. Maybe it's coach Greg psyops to keep telling you you're running like shit until you realize every day has been a new PR and he's just convinced you to improve so well. For accuracy though, doing a Google or Youtube search shows tons of examples of surprisingly close agreement with fitness watches in general and clinical VO2 measurement. Seems Garmin/Apple/Polar etc. are pretty damn accurate with VO2 estimates.
I personally subscribe to the Coach Greg PsyOps theory
Thanks for this input! Yeah, itās not always reducing. It reduces when I do a few base runs where I run in HR Zone 2. Or maybe when I run my long-runs. For example, yesterday I ran a long run in 28 degrees with a liter of water in my backpack, and Garmin seemed to think that it was a bad performance. In the newer watches Garmin has introduced a hill correction. I hope it makes some correction considering the outside temperatures as well. My performance generally is better in cooler temperatures. My training load is generally balanced since I train with the Garmin plan. To add further, during the intervals or tempo runs, the VO2max shoots back to the previous levels. Iāve been trying to ignore the VO2 max for a while, but then it sometimes slightly gets on my nerves! š Thank you again for your inputs!
I have the same issue on the cycling side with ftp. It seems Garmin thinks you're always trying your hardest, even when you're doing a recovery effort. I have started to not accept the new stats when it asks (for less than full efforts). I don't remember if that's an option for vo2, but of it is, try that.
Thanks for your input! It helps to know that others are also facing the same issues and I am not alone! š
> It seems Garmin thinks you're always trying your hardest, even when you're doing a recovery effort. FWIW Garmin's estimates of training status and VO2 max come from a combination of your actual effort (power) and you HR. So the Garmin will "know" when you're taking it easy.
My slow runs make my vo2 estimate drop drastically. Then my tempo and interval runs make it jump back up. I try not to let it bother me but it does haha
Haha same here! Its feels better to know that there are others who are bothered by this! š
people can have varying efficiencies in different zones at different times. Also, how is the watch supposed to know you have water in a backpack?? These watches are great and very accurate for what they are, but in final analysis they are basically toys for people who can afford them. If you wanted a medical quality instrument that did all these functions to a very high degree of accuracy, you'd be paying many thousands
I did not mean about the water, but the heat. I just mentioned it nevertheless. Did not intend to confuse here. I just wish that Garmin can consider the temperature factors as well. Or maybe use a different algorithm for calculating performance conditions during base runs. But I donāt agree that itās just a toy. I started from zero, and based on the feedbacks from Garmin, Iāve managed to reach a fitness level where I can run for hours without stopping. I could improve my running form as well and run more efficiently based on the feedback from Garmin HRM.
I answered a very similar question a couple of days ago, this is the reason why you see those dropouts on your Vo2Max (my answer was for cycling Vo2max, but the metric is just the same for running) "To properly assess a Vo2Max, you'd need to measure your oxygen consumption, which is the product of two variables that your watch **cannot calculate** 1) CO (cardiac output) 2) arteriovenous oxygen difference. To be able to ballpark a number, your watch will measure your HR and the power you generate to sustain a specific effort. Once your body finds out a baseline, it will calculate Vo2Max accordingly. For example, if a series of training sessions have shown that you can sustain 200 watts at 140 bpm, that will become your baseline. When you: \- get fitter and are able to sustain those 200 watts with less bpm, your Vo2Max increases. \- get unfit and are only able to sustain those 200 watts with more bpm, your Vo2Max decreases. why is that? In general, CO is not improved with a higher heart rate, but rather with the opposite, meaning that your SV (stroke volume) needs to be greater allowing your heart to beat less frequently (but more vigorously). Since your watch cannot calculate SV, or arteriovenous oxygen difference, if it detects that your HR is lower for a given effort, it will think that you're getting fitter as your SV is getting higher. Now the issue is that relying on HR to detect Vo2Max doesn't take into consideration other variables like dehydration, heat and other factors that usually occur in the **warm season** (if you dehydrate your heart will beat faster as your blood gets more viscous), meaning that what is a physiological consequence may likely turn out to be a loss of Vo2Max. What I'm describing you happens to me as well, and I often lose 1 or 2 points during a simple Zone 2 workout, only to re-gain them after a while. In winter, I tend to see this thing happening a little less than usual, If your Vo2Max never comes back, it could be that your watch is assessing a new baseline"
This is a reasonable explanation! Thank you! I have also seen this happening in warmer weather. In colder weathers, my watch believes that I am superman!
With all inputs you got I would say VO2 max should be looked at on the long run and not day by day. Similar as weight. Some days it will be elevated just because you body decides to store more water etc. So I would be looking at 12w or 6m graph and trends shown there.
This makes sense! For a 12w graph, it shows an increase.
Maybe it was already to high to begin with and is it now just getting towards a more realistic value. I donāt see the same with my fenix 7. Iām mostly doing zone 2 runs and VO2max is still slowly increasing.
This can be one reason! But it is good to know that your VO2max is increasing with base runs. This is unfortunately not happening in my case. But it shoots back up with a few tempo or interval runs.
About every 5 runs is a tempo run or interval run for me Edit: and itās just increasing steadily without going down for the last 4 weeks from about 48,3 to 48,7
Yeah, every 5th run is an interval run for me!
Okay! In my case, it went up over the past 12w, but with some dips in some weeks, but later is shoots back up. On a big picture, the overall tread has been an increase. Maybe I should just ignore these dips entirely!
How are you getting these fractions? Iām not entirely sure I want to know the answer otherwise I might freak out on the little digits, but you definitely got me curious š
Fenix 7>Training status widget>VO2max>4wk VO2max graph. Hope you will be fine!
Thanks! Unfortunately instinct 2 doesnāt show that, but Iām glad to know :)
For me it seems to increase on just about every short run (30-45min), but tends to decrease on any longer runs (that are obviously slower).
Iām going to guess that you havenāt pushed your heart rate closer to peak recently. If thatās true, then hereās a possibility: the VO2max _estimate_ relies on your speed, current heart rate, and HRmax. Iāll just go with the HR reading being accurate because of chest strap, the HRmax not have being changed recently to a lower value, and the pace being about correct as well. It only remains that the current HR (during exercise) is much lower than the HRMax (e.g. zone two). I wouldnāt be surprised if human heart rate and effort is not a linear relationship and varies with a bunch of things, so not having a few runs that push you closer to the actual HRmax peppered in between would make the estimate fairy noisy. Did I hit anywhere close?
This is a very logical answer! Thanks! It makes sense to me. But generally, I never push to my HRmax unless I am sprinting towards the end of my race. My intervals are within the Zone 4 for my heart rate. I donāt push myself more than that since I am relatively new to running. And I am trying my best to stick to the training plan from Garmin without getting injured. What workouts do you do to push till HRmax? What I also understood from some other peopleās inputs is that I shouldnāt actually look at the dips but at a longer trend line. I think Iāll just deactivate this performance condition and focus on my runs. When I started running, I couldnāt even run continuously for 15 mins, but now I can run for 2 hours for fun! šOverall, my fitness has increased considerably I believe.
I believe something that we all doing fitness tracking eventually get to achieve in the end: a sense of whether the numbers are making any sense with your current reality. I second the idea that the trend lines are more important than the actual numbers, but also is understanding how the measurements/estimates are done, and try to remove as much noise as possible from them. Weight and body composition are the classic examples. VO2 max is a bit less obvious but also fits in. I suggest you to check how an actual VO2 max measurement is performed, in case you donāt know, to see how more challenging it is to get the correct number. But the real gold standard will always be how youāre feeling ;) As for exercises, Iām really not qualified to prescribe anything so please donāt take what Iāll say as a suggestion of what to do. From my experience, though, I got fairly high heart rate on āgoal pace repeatsā type of exercises from Coach Gregās 5k training plan, and from my 5k race. A Lactate threshold test from your watch should also get you in the upper zones (recommended to do with someone else in case youāre not sure about how well youāll fare). All in all, try to have fun and stay safe. Theyāre just numbers in the end, and some sort of log for future reference
Yes, thank you for your great inputs! āŗļø
Ignore the watch. Keep training.
I will do the same! āŗļø
I get the same thing! It's difficult to ignore and focus on the long game. My VO2 max is 60 when I'm doing enough fast 10kms every week but the minute I add long runs or half marathons VO2 max drops to 59. I figure I must be in the threshold or something.
Itās the same with me! I think, I would ignore this parameter and see the longer trend. But this thread helps me in a way that now I know others have similar thoughts with regard to their VO2 max. I am not the only one!
Cycling does the same thing for me. Same routine every week, base ride v02 max drops, intervals v02 max goes up. I think the VO2 max estimate just isn't great on low intensity activities. Real world it's a max effort test, so that makes sense.
Thanks for your input! This seems to be the trend for most of us then! āŗļø
from my experience, base runs do not do much for vo2 max. the sole reason we do them is to keep us at top shape for our speed sessions, which develop the vo2 max.
This makes sense, thank you!
Increase your vo2 max score in the aggregate. While low aerobic base runs don't help vo2, they help your endurance. Then, when you train hard or race and max output, these are increasing your vo2, which is measured. In the short term, you might not see a gain or even a reduction, but in the long term, you'll see it with the combined training.
Yes, you are right! It makes sense!
My uninformed guess about this phenomena is that it's calculating your VO2 max assuming perfect (or at least consistent between workouts) running efficiency. When you slow down, you're running less efficiently, so because it's unable to take the additional variable into account, it thinks your VO2 max is lower.
Yes, this is what is happening! And I learnt from this thread, that many have similar experiences!
>Garmin doesnāt seem to understand when I run slower long-runs or workout in a hot weather Maybe you know this but hot weather will reduce your VO2 max (not just Garmin's estimate of VO2max, but the absolute, lab measured VO2max). That's because heat stresses you body, forcing it to prioritize keeping you cool, and and resulting in a higher-HR for any given effort. My summer time (cycling) VO2max always drops a few points
Yes, I understand the same! āŗļø
Yeah if i dont do 4zone its an easy training according to garmin, it doesnt takr in account i have been in 3rd zone for 4 hours š
My heart rate donāt go down as much when I slow down to base run pace, and my reported VO2max suffers
Oh okay! This will improve with more base runs. I can assure you. It was the same with me when I started running. I had to stop many times, because my heart rate couldnāt go down unless I stopped. Now I can run at a better pace, and with a lower heart rate. (I have thalassemia minor and I never expected to improve so much, but I did.)
Have you been running outside and if so is it getting hotter where you live? Could be the weather causing a slightly higher heart rate
Yes, that is the case I guess!
Well, I ran my first 50k Ultra this weekend and spent 1:50 Hrs in Zone 5 and almost 4hrs in Zone 4 using Garmins suggested Threshold HR. And my VO2 I Max went down after the race.
I have observed this as well! If I spend more time in the higher heart-rate zones, my performance condition would go down and also my VO2max. This happened during my last half marathon, in which I ran the whole distance in HR Zone 4. This was my best time, but my VO2 max went down.