What counts as "training" for Activity Class?

Former Member over 7 years ago

Hi guys,

Does walking count as "training" for Activity Class setting?

I work in an office so I'm sedentary during the day. I lift weights 3-4 times a week (every other day) for 50 minutes each where I do 4 exercises x 3 sets. I also walk to work and back which is 2.1km each way.

This means if I don't count walking then I train 3.5x a week for about 3 hours total. Otherwise I train 8.5x a week for 7 hours total.

I guess it for now it doesn't make that much of a difference since my Activity Class is something like 7 either way, but I was curious about this in case I start biking in the summer (too cold in Montreal right now haha) or doing other activities.

In general I think I'm in OK fitness shape, 6'0.5" (184 cm) and 159 lb (72 kg) and my resting heart rate is around 38.

I'm not sure what my resting heart rate is exactly since I only figured out how to wear the watch properly yesterday, I had it for two weeks though. Prior it would slide over my wrist bone and I think it resulted in lower readings since Garmin Connect is reporting my 7-day average as 33 bpm but this can't be.

I'm mostly asking about this because I would really like my reported calories to be as accurate as possible to put my mind at ease :D

Top Replies

TomasMelbourne over 7 years ago +1

I believe (but am not 100% certain, so feel free to ignore me if you know better) the Activity Class setting impacts the VO2max estimation and the LTHR estimation, both of which in turn influences the…

All Replies

0 TomasMelbourne over 7 years ago

"training" is something that gets your heart rate up and makes you sweat a bit (or sometimes a lot). So I would suggest that unless you power walk, then you should exclude the walking to work.

0 Former Member over 7 years ago

"training" is something that gets your heart rate up and makes you sweat a bit (or sometimes a lot). So I would suggest that unless you power walk, then you should exclude the walking to work.

Yeah I see what you mean. I guess it depends on the day then. Today I did the 2.1 km walk in 21 minutes (according to Fenix 5) so 6 km/h average and I had to wait at traffic lights (I live downtown). I guess it's almost a power walk by Wikipedia's definition.ciq.forums.garmin.com/.../1274053.png

0 TomasMelbourne over 7 years ago

I believe (but am not 100% certain, so feel free to ignore me if you know better) the Activity Class setting impacts the VO2max estimation and the LTHR estimation, both of which in turn influences the Training Load calculation. So by setting the bar higher (with using a high Activity Class) you're lowering the Training Load score, and conversely, if you set the bar low then you'll get to see some higher Training Load numbers.

As I said, i'm not 100% certain, so maybe somebody with a better understanding of the intricacies of these things will come along and their input.

0 Crispin_Ellisdon over 7 years ago

I don't believe Activity Class is used in the Firstbeat derived stats such as VO2 Max, LTHR, FTP, Training Load, Training Effect and Training Status (more useful discussion and references here https://forums.garmin.com/forum/into-sports/running/forerunner-935-aa/1264995-firstbeat-features ), but does get used for calorie computation https://support.garmin.com/faqSearch/en-GB/faq/content/DJEru6ns626MZTh2kvUXZA

I've always assumed that any activity that contributes to Intensity Minutes was a good measure of time for Activity Class assessment.

0 HermanB over 7 years ago

To be honest, I'm not positive that Activity Class is used for anything important these days. Well, at least, it's probably not used once your VO2max has been calculated - provided you device has that capability, which the Fenix 5 certainly does.

Back in the early days, Activity Class was used to individualize Training Effect scores, for example. In other words, it was used to translate EPOC values into how those particular values would impact you personally. If you were very active, then an good sized EPOC score has a much smaller physiological impact and stimulates less fitness development compared to someone who is relatively inactive.

When VO2max aerobic fitness detection was first added in the Forerunner 620 and Fenix 2 devices, then VO2max was used to personalized the TE scores instead of Activity Class.

Hope that helps.

0 TomasMelbourne over 7 years ago

Thanks for the clarificatin HermanB. Very useful as always.

0 seabeegps over 7 years ago

To be honest, I'm not positive that Activity Class is used for anything important these days. Well, at least, it's probably not used once your VO2max has been calculated - provided you device has that capability, which the Fenix 5 certainly does.

Back in the early days, Activity Class was used to individualize Training Effect scores, for example. In other words, it was used to translate EPOC values into how those particular values would impact you personally. If you were very active, then an good sized EPOC score has a much smaller physiological impact and stimulates less fitness development compared to someone who is relatively inactive.

When VO2max aerobic fitness detection was first added in the Forerunner 620 and Fenix 2 devices, then VO2max was used to personalized the TE scores instead of Activity Class.

Hope that helps.

I want to confirm this. Never set my Activity Class initially. VO2 Max got calculated, etc... and after about a month I decided to enter an activity class. Watched everything closely and could see no change in anything after that. Left class as it was set, despite it having gone up a bit, since I deducted it meant nothing.

Glad to have it confirmed by the expert! ;)

0 Former Member over 7 years ago

To be honest, I'm not positive that Activity Class is used for anything important these days.

Do you know what Activity Class influences? It does change calories, right?

Thanks!

0 HermanB over 7 years ago

I don't think so - but it's hard to say absolutely categorically that it is never used under any circumstances. For example, as a backup resource, or default when other, better data isn't available. But, really, anything that Activity Class could/would be used for... VO2max fitness level is a better value.

If accurate calorie counts are what you're really interested in, then you might check out this article we did a few months back.

How Firstbeat Gets Calorie Counts Right

It includes a few best practices at the end to help improve the accuracy of your own energy expenditure data.

0 Former Member over 7 years ago

Thank you for the link, that was an interesting read.

I already follow all those best practices except my heart rate is set to 220 minus my age. My heart rate is low in general and the watch is set to update max HR if it's higher. I don't need to adjust it down, right?