Related
This discussion has been locked.
You can no longer post new replies to this discussion. If you have a question you can start a new discussion

Heat acclimation

R_Tellis
over 5 years ago

So we’ve had a fairly mild spring here and prior to today had only 2 runs with my 945 that were over 71f and the heat acclimation was at 17%.

Today I ran an HM and the temp at start time was probably around 68f, although the temp shown for the run by Connect is 63f, but quickly rose into the mid-70’s. Afterward my heat acclimation remained at 17%.

This seems to be a flaw with the way this feature works, or maybe my understanding of it. Many runs can have a rise from below the threshold temp to above it, and also there’s a good chance that the temp that Connect receives might be accurate. My watch had been been connected to my phone the entire time so it’s not a matter of it using outdated info.

from Firstbeat might have some insight?

  • 0 over 5 years ago in reply to DaniloDiMarco

    It might not start at 21, but rather at a 'feels like' 21.

    I'm not actually sure.

    Of course, I'm also not quite sure what acclimation to what is essentially normal room temperature means or entails. 

  • 0 over 5 years ago in reply to HermanB

    it would be interesting to see in the Garmin connect heat acclimation's specific section more info about the calculation, for instance this kind of table that Garmin would use for the heat acclimation data...

  • 0 over 5 years ago in reply to DaniloDiMarco

    other suggestions :

    • what about to improve the screen related to weather widget? I don't see humidity data; city... 
    • what about to give the user the possibility to insert manually the weather data before a run (or also after! why not?) if the bluetooth connection is not available or the phone is away?
    • if I forget to pair via bluetooth before a run I lost the chance to have a more accurate heat acclimation and other parameters...
  • 0 over 5 years ago

    Well, after the temperatures here in Oregon have shot up this week and I've been trying to acclimate to be prepared for an Ultra Relay this weekend, I can say that the heat acclimation implementation on my watch is completely useless. Trying to pull the data from a local weather station data is obviously not a reasonable way to do this. Here are my three runs so far this week and the accompanying results:

    1) Sunday.. ran 10.8 miles in Zone 3-4 HR. The activity recorded the local weather station reporting 66 deg F. My Tempe recorded a starting temp of 91 deg F that slowly fell off to around 85 deg F at the finish. I started at 5:30pm and ended around 7:30pm which are the hottest time of the day here in Oregon this time of year. The actual weather report for the area said the temperatures hit 90ish that day where I was at. Result was Heat acclimation = 0%

    2)Monday.. ran a 3 mile recovery run in zone 2 HR. Started the activity around 5pm again, but was running on open blacktop with no shade this time. The activity in connect tagged it at 84deg F, my Tempe recorded it between 91-95 deg F for the entire run. The local weather data supports the Tempe measurements at the time I was running. Result was Heat Acclimation =25%

    3)Tuesday.. another 3 mile recovery run in zone 2 HR. Started the run during my lunch break but it was supposed to be one of the hottest days so far this year. Connect recorded it at 82 deg F, Tempe started at 86 deg F and went up to as much as 100 deg F in some spots. I was running around a lake and in and out of some trees so the temperature swings make sense. Result was Heat Acclimation = 24%

    In conclusion, I have run 16 miles in the last 3 days in 85-100 deg F heat and my heat acclimation is reading only 24%. The more I think about it, the more confused I get on this. 24% of what? Why would you not use the temperature data that is available on the watch? Wouldn't it make more sense to have a heat acclimation temperature? Similar to the altitude acclimation. You don't say that someone is 10% altitude acclimated, because it wouldn't make any sense. 

    I'm hoping I'm just missing something here, because I think it could be a very cool bit of information. I was connected to GCM prior to and after the activity, so it "should" have gotten the right weather data.

  • 0 over 5 years ago in reply to Browner40
    Browner40 said:
    is completely useless

    Wholeheartedly agree.

    In fact I'd go so far to say almost all of the "training condition" features on this watch (and all Garmin watches) are basically useless.  It's just simply too much "garbage in garbage out" with regard to how it captures data, whether it's the oHR or this nonsense in checking local weather stations (instead of a perfectly viable Garmin-branded Tempe device).

    Almost all of this stuff on my watch when it pops up I give it a "huh, okay that's interesting" and that's about it.  The only thing I sorta pay attention to is the recovery heart rate data, but like so much of this stuff it's NOT VISIBLE ANYWHERE ELSE on Garmin Connect.  I'd love to track recovery heart rate over time for similar workouts, but it's not possible unless I record it myself.

  • 0 over 5 years ago in reply to Browner40

    I'm having trouble guessing what you think a normal or reasonable acclimatization rate would be, and why you assume that the feedback you are getting from your watch is wrong. FYI: NATO heat acclim regs suggest that it would be normal to expect 50% acclim after the first week of exposure. Your body doesn't just change over night. 

  • 0 over 5 years ago

    I think it is confusing that the heat acclimation doesn't show you to which temperature/humidity you are acclimatised percentage-wise . I assume it is the temperature/humidity of the last recorded activity?

    I am wondering what would happen in the following scenario: I reached a heat acclimation of 80% at 30 degrees C and 0% humidity. The next activity takes place at 40 degrees C and 50% humidity. Will the acclimation go down or up? I would assume down since my body would need extra time to acclimatise to the new condition. Same question, but what happens when I change from an extreme hot setting to a mild one? Will the acclimation jump (close) to 100%?

    Maybe  knows the algorithm behind this?

    Thanks for the help!

  • 0 over 5 years ago

    Like most of the training effect metrics on this device, the Heat Acclimation is a whacky, hard to decipher, and mostly useless feature.

    Yesterday I did a 55min run in 80+ temps (also 90% humidity but we know it doesn't take that into effect).  Today out of curiosity I pulled up my "Training Status" and scrolled to Heat Acclimation only for it to say as of yesterday I am down 16% on heat acclimation.

    Garbage in, Garbage out.

  • 0 over 5 years ago in reply to HermanB

    I have no idea, that's kind of the point of my post. It doesn't make any sense that a 10 mile run in Zone 4 HR in high heat would give me 0% acclimation and a short 3 mile run in less heat would give me 25%. I'm a US Army veteran with multiple desert deployments and am well versed in acclimating to heat. The point is that there is no consistency and the temperature numbers used by the watch are not accurate.

    How can a 3 mile run in Zone 2 HR and a temperature barely high enough to trigger the acclimation algorithm give 25% acclimation while an almost identical run the next day makes it go down? 

    It is also very confusing to have acclimation given as a percentage. Percentage of what? Is it in relation to the temperature outside at the time you are looking at the data?

  • 0 over 5 years ago

    And what if the nearest weather station gives wrong data? How can I change it?

    The weather widget gives me correct hourly and days data, but the first big number is always 10°C under the minimum temperature of the day. This number is what appears then in Garmin Connect and it's wrong. But I have no idea how to tell the watch to change the local weather station because this station is giving for sure bad data (usually 10°C below)