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Garmin VO2Max Calculations

Hi guys,

I'm using the Vivoactive 4, and I can't understand the VO2Max estimations.

Some general stats - I'm 33 years old, 178cm, and my weight is 71KG.

I'm doing a 10K training plan, and I made the following runs:
October 8th - 7.19K, 6:16 min/km, avg. HR 160 bpm - VO2Max estimate - 51
October 12th - 6.84K, 6:35 min/km, avg. HR 152 bpm - VO2Max estimate - 50
October 13th - 8.85K, 5:39 min/km, avg. HR 159 bpm - VO2Max estimate - 49 (Only one day after the previous run)

You can see the detailed results in the image attached.

My question is how is it possible that my VO2Max estimation decreases when I ran faster and longer?What am I missing here?Before the drop in the last couple of days, my VO2Max estimation was 51 for over a month.

Thanks!

0 ovekvam over 4 years ago

I don't think the length of the run is relevant for the VO2Max. The way I understand it from an interview I read from an engineer working on these algorithms, is that the watch tries to generate a curve with the relationship between running power and heart rate. Every time you do a run, this curve is modified accordingly from the new data points recorded during the activity. Based on this curve, the watch estimates what your maximum aerobic running power is, and calculates VO2Max based on this together with gender, age and weight.

But I agree with you that your VO2Max has most likely improved based on the statistics you are presenting. It could also be that your improvement is down to better muscular stamina.

0 JRMiler over 4 years ago in reply to ovekvam

This is basically correct. A few other things to keep in mind:

1) The watch can mistake fatigue for decreased fitness.

2) A swing of a couple of points is pretty small. This is a very rough estimate, not a lab test.

3) The more data the watch gets, the more accurate it should be. So if it started high, it might just be settling in on the correct value.

4) VO2max is not the be all and end all of fitness, and it isn't highly responsive to training. What is far more responsive is your fractional utilization of VO2max at longer distances. Or, put another way, you can train really hard for a year, and you will probably get about as good as you're going to get in the 3k. But you can keep getting better for a decade at the marathon.