Training Status - Unproductive....how to change?

nickk said:

I'd try to take a day or two off, then do a 4-5 mile threshold run over relatively flat course to see if VO2 Max would budge.

Thank you for the recommendation. I tried that last weekend but got the same unproductive status.  Its odd, I tried resting and doing a few long (6.4 mile), slow runs, runs with threshold intervals, tempo runs.  Nothing works.  Even more odd, this only started happening when I got my F6  Pro.  Maybe its just a coincidence but with my 945, I pretty much always had productive status.

I'm having the same issue. i got my new f6 pro two weeks ago and even though i considerably upped my training, both in quality and amount it still says unproductive...

• is it possible that it only switches to productive when you have reached the load focus goal areas for anaerobic, high and low aerobic? as they are the 4 week average it's pretty much impossible to get there in the first days of owning a new watch, no? 

Barnie79 said:

is it possible that it only switches to productive when you have reached the load focus goal areas for anaerobic, high and low aerobic?

Good question.  With my 945, I never reached the anaerobic goal but my status was always Productive.  

Honestly,  I'm beginning to think the VO2 Max is utter bull.  I'm in fantastic shape, swim 2000yds, aqua fitness, and run 4 miles (albeit a slow 10min mile pace) all in the same day and feel rested and ready to go again.   Yet my VO2 Max says I have the fitness of a 59 year old.   and I'm 54.  

LOL.  I'm in better shape than 90% of the people around me.

Without properly set MaxHR Vo2max isn't going to be close. 

For everyone else, the watch only tells you that you are "productive" when your Vo2 max is increasing. I've been traveling for business a ton lately and spending way too much time eating and not enough running. I'm very unproductive right now and my watch is reminding me. 

One thing noted in some other threads, I believe the watch has a hard time determining Vo2Max on non-maximal efforts. I've had a bunch of times where I've run slow one day and had "unproductive" and run fast intervals the following and got a Vo2Max bump and flipped to productive. Potentially the watch is telling me i'm lacking aerobic base, which is probably true. 

What the others said is true. I had your problem when I switched from my F5 to F5+. Took like 3 weeks before my status updated!

Do you have the right device selected under training status?...

First Beat (Garmin) only factors running and cycling with a power meter to calculate VO2max.  So those 10 minute miles are giving you your low number.  It is really a pretty weak limitation.  They should be able to use any device with a power meter and certainly free style swimming.  Since I can't run (bad knee) I cycle with a power meter which yields a VO2max of 54 and an fitness age of 20 and top 1%.  I bet my bippy you are in better shape than me.  I'm 59 btw.

For some knuckle headed reason, training status isn't global.  It is based on a device.  So if you train with two devices it will be wrong.  If you switch to a new device it will think you are over training until it catches up with your levels which can take a couple weeks.