Intensity Minutes Questionnaire.

Sam201176 over 7 years ago

Since I've owned my first 5x..( had four)...Intensity minutes has never worked properly for me in the long term.......
I've seen many posts about the Issue...but never a large thread.....just sporadic small threads, as its an intermittent bug, there never will be a large thread that gets noticed.
I get free Intensity minutes by just accumulating steps around the house...with a low heartrate... when its broken 600 mins a day for nothing can happen sometimes.
When its working.....I only receive them with a sustained heartrate of at least 130 -140 bpm for 10mins...
Tweaking hr zones or activity classes...is not a solution that works much.....if at all....(any advice appreciated with that) :--)::::::::::
I was hoping to get some feedback here in the forums from you guys.....even just a yes or a no answer to the question......."do any of you see the same as me concerning intensity minutes sometimes"...?
I'll send this thread link off to product support and phone etc....If there is an Issue occasionally ...or if its just my bad luck.....I'll have to send this one in too, as they haven't worked for the last month this time..
Thanks in advance to anyone who participates :--)
All the best!

0 Former Member over 5 years ago

My 2 month old Vivosport does not calculate intensity minutes correctly. Sometimes after a run the IM look correct according to the heart rate zone info. But, sometimes it awards IM when I have done nothing or done exercise that falls within the zones that do not qualify for a credit. Garmin are fobbing people off. Accept its rubbish and don't waste your time. The Garmin get out is to offer you a refurbished one after you return yours which they state is faulty. The only fault I believe is the programmer who devised the activity recording.

0 olson917 over 5 years ago

I have had the same issue with my fenix 5 sapphire since I bought it. It's actually one of the biggest disappointments I have with the watch. I'm not an athlete, I'm a middle aged guy trying to keep fit. I have had workouts where I keep my HR above 80% of max for an hour, no intensity minutes. I have had casual walks with my wife show up with not only intensity minutes but "vigorous" minutes!

The real deal killer for me is I don't get Intensity minutes when swimming with a HRM swim. I realize that it's buried in the literature somewhere that this is intended, but why? Again, I can crank out a 60 minute swim all above 80% max HR and nothing. This is inexcusable with a top of the line fitness watch that at the time was the best thing Garmin had going for swimming.

0 PhotoPete over 5 years ago in reply to olson917

Yesterday I did a gentle 2 mile stroll with my son, sipping a cup of coffee whilst we walked. 69 intensity minutes.

Today a 40 minute HR zone 4 bike ride on turbo trainers. 0 intensity minutes.

The data being produced by these watches is absolutely worthless IMHO.

Don’t even get me started on the random numbers which make up ‘training effect’. Even if you can determine some vague semblance of a pattern to the data it is pretty much guaranteed to change at random following the next firmware / software update.

Honestly, the only thing that is stopping Garmin from feeling ashamed of their products must be the fact that people appear willing to continue to pay so much for them.

0 LuckySailor over 5 years ago in reply to olson917

it says in the literature that swimming doesn't count for IM. Sorry for bad news