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Garmin training status issue - Unproductive!

6526406
over 1 year ago

I've been using my Garmin (originally a Forerunner 45s but now a Forerunner 965) to monitor my cycling activities and my fitness/performance of this. Since switching to the Forerunner 965 I've been using the added features such as the "training status", which has been really helpful….. 

……however, recently I got a power meter crank (Stages non-drive side….) for my road bike and that's thrown things. Before having the power meter crank I'd get cycling power readings from my smart indoor trainer and it would appear that the indoor trainer over estimates my power output. 

I think that this is affecting my training status score, as every ride or activity gives a really negative performance condition score now. This is rather annoying and not exactly helpful for my training. 

I'm 100% sure that this isn't a real trend as regular bike rides have been pretty consistent. 

What I am wondering is a) is this likely to be associated with my new power meter crank? and b) how can I reset things, if that's at all possible? 

  • 0 over 1 year ago

    Hi, what kind of indoor trainer do you use? Some are much more accurate than others.

    How does the power data compare between your power meter and indoor trainer at the same time? You can record 2 power meters with the Connect IQ app ANT+ Power: https://apps.garmin.com/en-US/apps/70f1aea3-f1d3-47f6-b7aa-23f029a75e3b

    Those questions should at least show whether or not there are different power readings between the 2 devices, which would definitely affect your metrics.

    If indeed your indoor trainer is reporting power too high, then it could definitely have the effect you're seeing. Garmin builds a trend of HR vs power data, extrapolates it to your max HR to estimate a maximal aerobic power (MAP), and then uses a statistical formula to estimate the associated VO2max. If the trainer power is artificially high, then it would result in a higher MAP and therefore higher VO2max. Then moving onto more accurate readings from your power meter would start lowering your HR vs power curve, resulting in lower MAP and thus lower VO2max. Garmin would then start reporting this as lower Performance Condition during activities, and over time your VO2max trend will drop.

    The "good" news is that it will eventually stabilize based on your continued use of accurate power readings. I suspect the effects of the high indoor trainer data will be fully flushed out after 4 wks.

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to Kyle J

    Thanks for the response and yes the trainer power readings are different and are definitely higher for the trainer, so your explanation ties in with my understanding. So, it seems like a case of just letting things settle down to a new "baseline". It's probably been more than 4 weeks, so this might take a little bit longer to flush out...... 

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to 6526406
    6526406 said:
    It's probably been more than 4 weeks, so this might take a little bit longer to flush out...... 

    Hmm that might be a separate issue then. My understanding is that Training Status is geared to reflect data from the past 7-days to 2-week -ish window (this also varies somewhat depending in the device(s) used). The 4-week window is more for the Load Focus feedback. So by 4 weeks I'd expect the VO2max "adjustment" to the more accurate power meter to be well complete.

    So by now this might just be the more common question of why it's "unproductive" in general, rather than anything to do with the old trainer power data anymore. Mainly this requires doing enough higher-intensity activities (= higher HR) of sufficient duration to have a good HR vs power trend. (Also important that your max HR setting is reasonable.)

    However because of the power measurement switch, you may find you need to work at higher power than before to reach the same higher HR. (This also happens naturally as fitness improves over time.)

    Other possible factors would be anything that affects your HR vs power and persists over a few weeks, such as illness, stress, sleep issues, dehydration, heat/humidity change, clothing type, etc.

  • 0 over 1 year ago in reply to Kyle J

    Thanks for the explanation, that's been really helpful. I'll just have to start upping the indoor sessions (especially now with autumn/winter outdoor sessions are more limited....).