Not wearing 24/7 does this affect VO2Max?

In theory it should not affect your VO2max, but I find Garmin to be kind of secretive on how this is calculated and it seems to depend highly on which types of activities you do and how often you do it.

Example:
In the summer half of the year when I do outside running several times per week and record it with the native Run app, VO2max is provided by the FirstBeat algorithms and updates seems to always be direct results from the recorded runs. In this scenario, not wearing the watch 24/7 should not affect your fitness data.

When I moved my running inside for the winter, I immediately stopped getting FirstBeat data, hence no updates of VO2max, and after a couple of weeks the Fitness component of Training Status went blank. (as expected)

However to my surprise: after a month or so of indoor running only I suddenly started to get updates to my VO2max, but still without any of the other FirstBeat metrics or Training Status.
I can't find any pattern in when I receive these updates, and certainly no direct link to my indoor running, so I guess that it's somehow calculated from my all-day activity tracking. In this scenario I guess the fitness data could be affected by wearing it 24/7 or not, however the VO2max updates I get now are very flattering so I don't pay too much attention to it, and I suspect the values to drop significantly when I get outside and the FirstBeat algorithms kicks into life again.

Not wearing it 24/7 will not affect VO[SUB]2max[/SUB]

philipshambrook Since you are able to be so bombastic about that, I guess you are able to explain to me what goes into the VO2max calculation as described in the second scenario above? Are you for example sure that average resting HR is not part of the equation?

I'm not trying to be rude - I'm genuinly interested, and it's a pity that Garmin is so secretive on the details...

I would expect it to affect it only so much as your HR zones are affected. Your weight, resting heart rate, lactate threshold, max heart rate, and a bunch of other things go into that calculation(i'm assuming since no one posts the equation anywhere) since the units of measure are volume of oxygen per minute per kg of body weight. The only one that is auto updated from daily wear would be the resting heart rate. Even then, the resting heart rate is only going to matter if you have your heart rate zones set to auto adjust to those values when they change.

Yes, I understand at a high level how the VO2max is calculated directly from/during a specific run, which is basically pace vs. effort, with the various factors you list affecting the calculation.
(I don’t think pulse zones matter though, as you can set your zones to whatever you like without that affecting anything. MaxHR matters for sure, LT maybe, but zones probably not)


What I would like to know more about is which parts of the daily activity tracking goes into the calculation when no specific activities are performed?

bombastic

Definition of bombastic for future reference.

RHR might be an issue when setting zones based on %heart rate reserve. If zones are based on heart rate max, or lactate threshold, then it's not an issue. Besides, resting heart rate is entered manually.

VO[SUB]2max[/SUB] is derived from activities. If you believe you are getting 'spurious' readings, start a conversation with Garmin Support/ Firstbeat. There is a possibility that there might be some input from activities resulting from Move IQ. I would be surprised if that was the case.

I’ve been getting VO2max updates almost daily for the last couple of months, starting to appear approximately 1 month after my last outdoor GPS run. However, they don’t seem to come from the regular ForstBeat algorithms, as Fitness in Training Status is still blank.

These updates are not something I believe or suspect - they are very much real, and it has been confirmed by Garmin support that the Fenix 5 Plus is capable of providing these values from all day activity tracking. I did not get any more detailed explanation than that - so therefore I am wondering what kind of data the calculations are based on and what triggers them.

I understand now that you probably have no clue about this, and I’m so sorry I misused the word bombastic - it has a slightly different meaning in my native language.

I base my statement on my work as an Exercise Physiologist. In general, VO[SUB]2max[/SUB] derived from non-exercise data is little more than a best guess. I could be guilty of overstating or being too dogmatic when stating 'Not wearing it 24/7 will not affect VO[SUB]2max[/SUB]', but there's no need to be rude. If Garmin are deriving some sort of metric from non-exercise data, it's a bit of a stretch to call it VO[SUB]2max [/SUB]and certainly worthless as a metric to base any training on. There are a number of equations out there that allow an estimation of VO2max from physical metrics such as BMI, age, activity level, sex etc. There's is little to suggest that these equations are greatly improved by including heart rate metrics.

I do know how to estimate VO2max from non-exercise data. I'm sure Garmin could program any device to do just that. I'm not convinced that is happening just yet. Although, given how Garmin are throwing data around, it could well be another number being presented to confuse the masses.

So, are you seeing a non-exercise VO2max being presented? Possibly. I would be interested to know whether others are seeing this. Would this number affect VO2max derived from exercise data? That's an entirely different question, but essentially what the OP is asking.

And in a somewhat long-winded way takes me back to "Not wearing it 24/7 will not affect VO[SUB]2max[/SUB]" but perhaps with the addition of ...calculated from exercise data. Because I don't believe that would be sensible, nor do I believe that Garmin would do that. But maybe that's the question you need to be asking of Garmin.

Dear @philipshambrook,
do you feel that you are adding any value to this discussion?
You are probably trying to help, but I think you could benefit from re-reading the thread from top before continuing.

There are basically two questions:
1. The OP
2. When not deriving from exercise data, what are Garmin using to calculate VO2max values.

In my first post I said that I don't put any trust in the VO2max values calculated from non-exercise data - and I certainly don't base my training on it - I was just asking the question of what the values are based on.
The fact (?) that you know how to do the calculations from non-exercise doesn't bring us any closer to answering the question of how Garmin does it., and I can't see how your work as Exercise Physiologist could be of any relevance to that - other than you trying to raise yourself above the rest of us by bringing in a fancy title.
You not being convinced that Garmin does these calculations doesn't bring anything of value to the table either, as I know for sure they are doing it which they have also confirmed to me directly.

As I said, I didn't see those updates until after I had stopped running outside for a month or so - so my best guess is that after some time without VO2max from FirstBeat, the Fenix 5 Plus starts calculating it from other data sources. Others probably won't see the same unless they stop running outside for a while.

As of the OP's question - no I don't think this will affect VO2max derived from exercise data - just as I was saying in my first response in this thread.