Does anyone else ignore the training status?

Howdy,

I'm a fairly happy owner of a F6 pro - we all have our little niggles with the device but for the most part, mine works nicely.

However, my training is focused around low HR workouts in a roughly 80:20 ratio.. 80% low and 20% high intensity. This type of workout scheme appears to confuse the built in training metrics and even though my own fitness is improving, the watch is nearly always reporting unproductive or detraining.

I run on average 5-6 times a week with 3x 10-15km slow low HR runs, a long 15-25km slow low HR run and 1 or 2 high intensity runs off around 10km. I also do about 50km of biking, either road or MTB.

Its got to the point now that I pretty much ignore all the metrics coming off the watch for training status and solely rely on the watch for HR and GPS data only.

I seem to be one of the lucky ones and get accurate HR readings from my watch, I'm an EMT by profession and have tested resting and post workout HR with our medical equipment and the watch is pretty accurate.

Anyone else in the same boat for training metric issues?

  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 4 years ago

    I absolutely ignore my training status numbers.

  • One thought - for your runs are they using the Run activity or the Trail Run activity. As I understand it, the training status is related to VO2 max and so relates to how Average Pace and HR are progressing.

    Trail Run's dont calculate VO2 so if you do all your low HR runs in Run and high intensity blaster runs in Trail Run, you may confuse it.

  • Sign up to Runalyze and you get to see your VO2 max to 2 decimal places, which often reveals movement in the figures hidden (i.e you may get a unproductive going from, for example, 49.45 to 48.87 but your watch figure shows 49

  • I don't ignore them, but I take them with a major grain of salt as most of the time I'm not really training for something, just trying to stay un-fat.

  • Almost the same here. I do two units per week, one LISS and one HIIT. Training status most of the times shows "maintaining" or even "unproductive", although the times and distances improve and get better.

    I think in my case it does play a role that I am not mainly a runner, and especially not a good one. My LISS units are atm at a HR of ~150 and a pace of ~8min/km, depending how hard my training the day before was.

    So yes, I basically do not pay too much attention to it. What about your VO2Max, do you think it is affected as well by that? Mine sure is.

  • Fitness gains do not occur in a direct linear fashion.

    If you consider a typical training block of 3 weeks of progressively increasing load followed by a week of recovery, you might start with productive, then maintaining, and in the 3rd week, possibly unproductive, as your heart rate might be high for the pace/power produced due to the fatigue you are carrying. Followed by Recovery in the 4th week, and only when you start the next block of 4 weeks might you see Productive. 

    Overlaid on this are external stresses. A poor night's sleep, as stressful day at work, fighting a slight illness, etc, can all lead to higher HR, and potentially an Unproductive rating, even if the underlying training is effective.

    There is a fair bit of noise in the daily Productive/Unproductive/Maintaining statuses, although there is probably more significance to Detraining/Overreaching statuses. I prefer to keep an eye on my long term training plan, Training Load and Body Battery/Stress measurements than Training Status.

  • As long as I do only running, the training status seems pretty helpful. 

    As soon as I mix in some biking, hiking or even (very) long walks with the dog, the training status feels pretty useless. Recovery time is waaay to short, most of the time.

  • Major grain of salt for me. I mostly cycle and different power meters give different numbers, so when I ride my trainer (reports higher power in general) I tend to get 'productive' type workouts, but when I ride my MTB (PM reports lower power in general) my 'Training Status' starts to look a bit demoralizing, and since MTB is my exercise of choice when weather allows, I have to keep that in mind when I see my status (or else I will be bummed, and bummed after a good MTB ride is never right!)

  • Thanks for that!  I didn't know about runalyze.com, looks pretty amazing.

    d

  • Former Member
    0 Former Member over 4 years ago

    I ignore it as I know what I'll see if I look at it. It's been "productive" since February so really no insights and completely useless to look at.