Replacing running with elliptical trainer

Any exercise that increase your Heart Rate > 120 for extended periods of time is very beneficial for most people. But you might not get "VO2Max" and other fitness "pointers" from Garmin.

You "can" do a bike ride on an indoor bike with power meter once in a while to keep track of your Bike VO2Max. 

Garmin's smaller watches can do Vo2Max estimate from "walking exercises" but I have not checked if F6+ does. (Apple Watch do as well)

But for you to track your own fitness - create a set program - like 30 min at level "chose a level" - and then do that exact exercise every 10-14 days. Then in Garmin Connect - compare your average HR and peak HR between the exercises and you should see improvement over time. 

DO NOT make the "test" exercise your standard exercise you do every time multiple times per week.

Our body seems to have a way of "cheating" over time - so if you do the exact exercise again and again - your body becomes used to it - and learns how to spend less energy doing that exact exercise. So it would feel like have made huge progress - but if you then did another test - progress would not be as pronounced. 

So build yourself a training program - a short intense training - a longer "medium hard" training session - and a very long very "easy". Then switch between them.

But if you are unfit and obese - get a doctor to advise on how hard you can exercise before you start any training. 

Thanks for your thoughts, kaz911.

One of the reasons I bought a Fenix 6 is auto-goals and constant monitoring of fitness levels.

You will not see me go to max heart rate very soon. It's all about slowly building up with the least impact on hips and joints, losing weight.

The Octane has training routines to work on fitness and cardio and a beginner mode to slowly take you up to speed. I can easily follow those programs but I thought I tap into the Garmin ecosystem to have everything on my watch.

I could simply ignore the elliptical activity and use the indoor treadmill app instead to follow the Garmin Coach program for example but I can see the watch playing up because the arm movement is different on an elliptical.

I have no experience if this is the same so I thought I ask first for thoughts.

To be fair the Fenix is a GPS watch and therefore aimed at outdoor use. Even though it can be used indoors you will get more out it when used outdoors. The inbuilt accelerometer in the watch apparently has difficulty with ellipticals because there is not the acceleration changes that occur with running strides.

I have little experience with using ellipticals for training specifically but I suspect your best bet will be to focus on heart rate training goals. It’s not possible to suggest a specific heart rate number that you should train above to get benefit. I have worked with people for whom 120 bpm is at the limit of their ability because they are very undertrained. Your starting point needs to be working out heart rate training zones. In the first instance you might want to get a check-up from a doctor to ensure you have no underlying issues that would prevent you starting a program of regular exercise. That visit could include a stress test that might help you determine training zones. There are also a number of formulas you can use to determine training zones to start with the most common being 220-age - https://www.active.com/fitness/articles/how-to-calculate-your-training-heart-rate-zones. This method tends to overestimate for young people but underestimates for older people. That’s not a bad thing if you are 40+ as the training zones will tend to be conservative and less risky for starting out.

Your best option might be to engage an exercise professional to start with. Trying to wade through the heaps of advice available on the internet and on this forum can be very confusing.

Thanks, Philipp.
My thoughts are drifting towards outdoor training now too.

I had a checkup recently so I'm good to go. The advice is to go slow in the beginning.

I was hoping to use the Garmin training programs right from the start so I can train in my own time. I work from home. 

IF at all possible - do slow jogging outside once per week. Then you will get the VO2max as your HR will quite probably be above 130-140 if you are overweight even with a slight jog. So you need around 20 minutes I think it is before the watch starts to calculate. Then the watch will start giving you recommendations on running and better tracking. 

I did not start running until I was 35'ish and 95 kg (20 kg too much) - I have since managed to stay between 80 and 85 - until I had an ankle injury. Then I bounced back to 88 - but now on my way down again with diet combined with exercise. 

First thing to remember for loosing weight is - diet is 90% - training is 10% - at least in the first 3-6 months. 

I set myself 1500 kcal daily target in MyFitness pal. And I eat to that target no matter how much I work out.

Garmin and even the free version of MyFitnessPal can "synchronise" so your food consumption lands in Garmin Connect and your workout lands in MyFitnessPal.  But then MyFitnessPal will give you extra "food" credits for the exercise - but I ignore them. The first 2 weeks are really hard - then it becomes routine. 

I'm currently on day 40 and have lost 4 kg - despite Christmas :) and 100g loss / day is a healthy weight loss. 

When I reach 6-7 kg lost - I'll start to eat more when I do weight training - as that helps you gain muscle mass - which then increases your "standby" consumption (BMR - basic metabolic rate)

Thanks for your reply, Kaz911.

After a lazy Christmas, I did a 30 minute swim with a bit of pushing myself and a 30 minute walk.

the watch already gave me a VO2max reading of poor and the watch tells me that I’ve done enough for today.

Nutrition is one of the things I still have to look into. Meals that are balanced, low GI and easy to prepare is a bit daunting.

cheers,

Edward