Unusual Anaerobic drop

Azo said:

Overnight the anaerobic value under the Load Focus dropped from 1426 to 779.

On the web only, or on the watch too? When you go to the Training Status report at https://connect.garmin.com/app/report/-1/all/last_four_weeks, and click on the link 'Activity List' under the Exercise Load chart, are all activities listed there, and do their load values match?

Everywhere, in the watch, on the web and on the Connect App.

Just to be clear:

Aug 9, Training Load 824 / Load Focus: Anaerobic 1426, High Aerobic 729 and Low Aerobic 976

Aug 10, Training Load 757 / Load Focus: Anaerobic 779, High Aerobic 576 and Low Aerobic 960

All the other drops are in normal range. Anaerobic drop from 1426 to 779 is not unusual only, it cannot be true.

Azo said:

it cannot be true

Why exactly do you think so? The Exercise Load can be completely different every day. You can have one day zero anaerobic load, and another day a thousand or more, depending on the structure of your training.

Exercise Load, unlike the Acute Training Load is not a weighted average over several days. Exercise Load is calculated from the scratch for every activity separately, and it is not influenced by previous activities, so sudden changes are absolutely normal.

You have a good point for gains after an exercise. But this is about drop over night. 

For more than a month the Anaerobic load was in the 1000 to 1300 range.

Aug 9: in the morning Training Load 628 / Load Focus: Anaerobic 1387, High Aerobic 615 and Low Aerobic 976

In the evening I went Mountain Biking, and after exercise these are the numbers:

Aug 9, evening, Training Load 824 / Load Focus: Anaerobic 1426, High Aerobic 729 and Low Aerobic 976

Training Load gain after MTB: 196 - normal

Anaerobic gain after MTB: 39 - modest

High Aerobic gain after MTB: 114 - normal

Nest morning, Anaerobic dropped 647 points. Really? 

A 6 Km run will add about 100 points to Anaerobic load. It means over night I lost the equivalent of 16 MTB exercises or 6 runs of 6Km each.

No, it cannot be true. and never happened in more than 4 years I use Garmin fitness watch.

My problem is not the load loss, but I start asking me questions about the accuracy and the science behind all this numbers, graphs and evaluations.

Azo said:

Nest morning, Anaerobic dropped 647 points. Really?

Are you telling that on Aug 10th, the Anaerobic Exercise Load for the previous day of Aug 9th dropped from 1426 to 647, or are you telling that the value of Anaerobic EL for Aug 10th was 647? If the later is the case, then it is nothing surprising - EL starts each day from zero (unlike Acute Training Load).

In the former case (the data for the previous day changing), then look at the list of the activities for given day, under the Exercise Load chart on the Training Status page, as I suggested. Is any of the activities you did on given day missing? Or does any of them show a different value than when you look at its details? Does the total sum match the individual activities?

Perhaps it would be better if you could post a screenshot of the Exercise Load graph from the page https://connect.garmin.com/app/report/-1/all/last_four_weeks in order to illustrate your problem.

I may not explained clearly, here is the Anaerobic EL numbers for the bike trip:

August 8-th: morning - Anaerobic EL: 1245, after MTB Anaerobic EL: 1387

August 9-th: morning - Anaerobic EL: 1387 (no loss overnight), after MTB Anaerobic EL: 1426

August 10-th: morning - Anaerobic EL: 779 ( loss of 647 points)

It looks that all activities are recorded.

Do you have any data to backup this statement? If yes, please send a link.

This is what I found in Garmin documentation:

<Garmin Anaerobic Exercise Load

Cumulative Tracking

Garmin's anaerobic exercise load is designed to track cumulative training effects over time. This means that the exercise load can indeed carry over from one day to the next.

Influence on Performance

Your performance and recovery from previous workouts can significantly influence your training load on subsequent days. This tracking helps athletes understand how their training impacts their overall fitness and recovery.

Key Points

• Cumulative Effect: Anaerobic exercise load accumulates over multiple days.
• Performance Impact: Previous workouts affect the training load for future sessions.
• Recovery Consideration: Recovery from past workouts is factored into the load calculation.

This system allows athletes to better manage their training and recovery, ensuring they can optimize their performance over time.>

If Anaerobic (as well as High/Low Aerobic) EL is not carried out daily, as per your statement, it will start with zero every day and remain zero for a rest day. It may show a value depending on the effort intensity. To reach 1500-2000 Anaerobic EL you need 2-3 weeks of heavy exercising. But in one day? Not sure if you run a marathon you can get 2000 Anaerobic EL.                  

Azo said:

This is what I found in Garmin documentation:

I do not find anything like that on Garmin's website. Neither on the website of Firstbeat (the provider of the methodology). It rather looks like a text from AI, to me. Do not believe all what AI tells you. If it is really from Garmin's documentation, please provide the link to it.

Garmin clearly states (for example here Training Load | Garmin Technology) that "Exercise load describes the strenuousness of a single activity".

Of course, it indeed does have a cumulative effect, although it is then carried out through the Acute Training Load metrics, which is the moving weighted average of combined Exercise Load over 10 days (7 days on older devices). Also the Training Focus reflects the Training Load over a longer period (4 weeks), but the metrics Exercise Load remains the effect of a single activity.

And the inline help directly on the Training Status page tells the following:

Exercise load measures how much oxygen your body consumes for recovery after an activity. The longer or more intense the activity, the higher the score.

So, no cumulative effect here (that one is in the ATL and in the CTL). If the individual EL were impacted by accumulated EL from previous activities, it would not be proportional to the length and intensity of the individual activity, rather also to the length and intensity of previous activities.