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What do workout audio prompts do?

rc99
1 month ago

So folks, I train on long distance trails and use both the workouts and navigation 'alerts' on my watch.  Having gotten fed up of the constant audio navigation prompts interrupting listening to audiobooks ("Turn Left in 20.234m" etc etc) I turned that off.

I then found that whenever I was out of the training zones in my workout it would constantly tell me I was too fast and/or too slow - over and over again.  So I also turned workout audio alerts off.

All I left on was activity alerts and 1km lap alerts.  See my settings in the photo.

When running yesterday using a route and workout, I received no audio alerts for the first segment of the workout where there was no zones set (warmup).  But when the second workout segment started I had audio notifications of both the new segment starting and that I was out of target zone.

I'm trying to understand if this is an activity audio alert or a workout audio alert?  I thought it was a workout alert which is why I turned it off, but maybe its an activity alert?

Can anyone clarify what exactly activity audio alerts cover and what workout audio alerts cover.  I guess I could just turn it all off but would rather try and understand what's going on.

Thanks in advance all.

  • 0 25 days ago

    Hi folks. Wondering if anyone has any insights on the audio prompts workings. Thanks in advance. 

  • +1 25 days ago

    They are two distinct things.

    ACTIVITY ALERTS
    Set you you. You can select to receive an alerts if, for example, your HR goes above a certain point. 
    Available for things like: heart rate, pace, cadence, time, distance, hydration time, or nutrition time.
    They are 

    WORKOUT ALERTS
    These are alerts for the structured workouts.
    When you hit step distance or time for example.
    Or, if you fall outside the parameters of the workout ie, Pace to high. 

    With Workout Alerts. What I find a bit annoying is the inability to separate the timing and distance instructions for each step and the alerts for going outside the set zones. For example .... I want the watch to count down the distance and beep when that step is completed. But due to various reasons - hill, or changes in my performance for example, I do not want to be told when I am outside of the parameters (pace, power, HR) of that workout. The only way I can find to avoid this is to build workouts using RPE. This effectively disables the performance part of the Workout Alerts, but leaves the time and distance elements of each step.

    Hope that helps.

  • 0 25 days ago in reply to jaymz1972

    Thanks so much for the info.  This really helps to clarify the workout alerts in particular.  What I can't understand is why my watch still informs me of the next segment of the workout even when workout alerts were turned off (I thought they might be activity alerts but your info suggests not).

    I totally agree with your point about needing to hear both logistical alerts (time, distance, segments) and performance ones (pace, power, HR).  I do like to be informed about the logistical ones so that I follow the workout, but I don't need a constant reminder of the performance ones, especially on workouts where I need to slow down towards the end of a tough workout.

    In all honestly though, I think workout audio alerts will be disabled going forward, they interrupt more than they help.  Nice to know they are there though if needed.  Thanks again.