Recovery time question

Hi folks

Question regarding recovery time.

This morning I did a moderate-hard run and the watch gave me 38 hours recovery time. This was a bit high compared to what I'd expect to see with my old F3 but I figured the fitness numbers are still in their first week on the new watch so didn't worry about the high reading too much.

Later in the day I did a second, easier and shorter run. Watch gave me 17 hours recovery. Again - bit higher than I expected but that's ok.

So after these 2 sessions my recovery time is showing as 17 hours and not 17 + 38 hours.

Is this a possible bug (recovery time is not cumulative and resets with each activity) or does the watch recalculate/recalibrate recovery time with each activity and has worked out that after my 2 workouts I actually need 17 hours, not 55 hours?

Thanks in advance!

0 gasteropod over 8 years ago

I'd expect recovery time to be based on things like HRV and other measurements. So, if you seemed more recovered after you second run than you were after the first I'd expect the watch to show a shorter recovery time. I'd certainly not expect recovery times to be cumulative. I don't think it is working out how long you should rest simply based on how hard you worked in each session and then add these together.

Each time you are given a recovery time it's based on how you seemed after that run and how much time it thinks you should recover based on your current state.

To me it just seems you recovered quicker than your watch expected. Active recovery :-)

0 budish over 8 years ago

So after these 2 sessions my recovery time is showing as 17 hours and not 17 + 38 hours.
Is this a possible bug (recovery time is not cumulative and resets with each activity) or does the watch recalculate/recalibrate recovery time with each activity and has worked out that after my 2 workouts I actually need 17 hours, not 55 hours?

From the FirstBeat website:

When you complete and save your session, the amount of time your body needs to complete the work of restoration and adaptation is displayed on a countdown timer. Countdowns range from 0 hours to 4 days. Key elements of the calculation include the Training Effect of your completed session and the amount of time remaining on your Recovery Time countdown at the start of your session. Recovery times are not simply added together, but are instead re-evaluated by the Firstbeat analytics engine using performance data collected from your session.

0 tickerguy over 8 years ago

Yeah, this is totally common. I often go do another run before the previous expires its "recovery time" and have never seen anything that looks "additive." The classic one that I've seen multiple times is a "recovery run" the day after I run a half-marathon and I get a "18 hours" post the second run, but had a 3-4 day time period displayed the previous day.....

0 dkatchalov over 8 years ago

Awesome, thanks everyone!

Also thanks for the link to the FB site, I wanted to read up on how they calculate their measures.