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Proper Protocol to Train Your Watch

6066278
7 months ago

I started with a Garmin Quatix, that I originally purchsed because of its ability to interface with my Garmin electronics on my boat, not for fitness. At a later point I started an epic diet to lose 95 lbs and seeing how deeply Garmin watches were vested in fitness, I utilized the Quatix to the fullest. I wore it 24x7 and also worre a Garming HR Pro chest strap during workouts. I was getting into HIIT and wanted the accuracy and timelyness of the chest strap compared to the opitical HR sensor. In any event, I hit this thing hard and lost the 95 lbs in 9 months. Tons of cardio, lifting, eating sufficient protein, all of it. Got back into great shape, resting HR mid 40s, VO2 Max 90 percentile, etc. Near the end I upgrade to the Epix Pro as kind of a reward.

Now to my question. I owe much of my success at pulling off this diet to the active calories metric on my watch. Of course, aslo to the food calories that I tracked in MyFitnessPal, but there are plenty of apps to do that with, or even a spreadsheet. But I found the active calories on the watch to be amazingly consistent and relatively accurate according to the activty. For example, as I got more and more into shape and increased the speed or incline on my treadmill, the reported calories reflected this. Even if I ran with dumbells in my hands, it reported an increase. When I took into account my TDEE from the watch and subtracted my intake from MyFitnessPal, the resulting weight loss on the scale was consistantly withing 10% to 20%. I did not expect exactness but I was very impressed with its conistancy and relative accuracy. When I walked on a flat surface compared to a 12% incline, its active calories between the two compared closey to online calculators.

So, I wore the watch 24x7 and a chest strap during all workouts. Is this why it became so good at tracking calories? Is there a protocol documented somewhere that describes how to use the watch over time to make it more accurate (other than obvious things like making sure it is tight)?

The reason I ask is that some people do not get this kind of accuracy and it is hrd to advise them on how they could. Or am I just lucky? It really was reliable enough to drive this diet from start to end.

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  • 0 6 months ago
    6066278 said:
    So, I wore the watch 24x7 and a chest strap during all workouts. Is this why it became so good at tracking calories?

    Yes, the most important is getting accurate HR, and especially the 7 days Average Resting HR. If you do not wear the watch round the clock, that data will not be accurate. Max HR may have influence too, but I rather tend disabling the auto-detection, because up and then it can happen that erroneous reading causes a false Max HR detection.

    Wearing the HRM strap during activities is also a good idea, especially if the wrist HR sensor does not give you sufficiently accurate data. The accuracy depends on many factors, and while it is perfect in many cases (myself including), there are always people for whom it does not work that well, whatever the reason are (for example bad wristband fit, wrong position, wrist tattoos, high tan, thick epidermis, low hemoglobin levels, peripheral vasoconstriction, ...)

  • 0 6 months ago in reply to trux

    Thanks. That sounds like a good start. Wear it long enough to get accurate resting HR. I did turn off the auto max and set it myself. I also think using an HR strap is a good recommendation. While the optical is ok for steady state stuff, I found the HR strap to help a lot with lifting, where because to flexing of your wrists, the optical sensor can get disrupted. Also, the smoothing algorithms on the wrist sensor make it a pain for HIIT, where you start maxing out in 30 seconds. I wonder if acquiring a good HRV status is beneficial as well. Maybe I will recommend 24x7 wear for awhile, and those other things.

  • 0 6 months ago in reply to 6066278
    6066278 said:
    I will recommend 24x7 wear for awhile

    Not for a while. It should be worn permanently 24/7, because the 7 days avg Resting HR is being updated every day, so if you stop wearing the watch during the night, the avg Resting HR will quickly raise again.

  • 0 6 months ago in reply to trux

    Btw, I hadn't noticed before, maybe it is new, you can turn off the average resting HR feature and manually enter and update your resting HR. Just like with max HR.

  • 0 6 months ago in reply to 6066278

    Yes, it is possible now, and the change dates back minimally around a year, I'd tell. However, I'd rather recommend keeping it on, and wearing the watch 24/7, since the Resting HR is a rather good and important metrics for evaluating your fitness (and used in many other features of the watch). In many cases it may be a much indicator of your health and fitness, than for example VO₂max or LTHR. And unlike the Max HR that changes minimally, and practically only with age, the RHR may change more and in both directions, so I'd set it manually only if there is really no possibility to wear the watch round the clock, or at least during some periods of deep rest.