How many people yell at their watch?

I've found yelling at inanimate objects just causes strangers to avoid me. 

Fredrik_Coulter said:

my watch says that my workout is "unproductive"

LOL! Garmin can be the most sadistic coach ever. If there is a reason, I would guess it's because you were supposed to take it easy or recover that day.

Aurelie said:

"Unproductive" for a week now... I'm trying to understand the reason

FirstBeat metrics is all about balance. I just looked at your other post where you commented on too much time in zone 4.  FirstBeat is giving you a "unproductive" status because it wants you to have more activities in zone 2 to "balance" your training. I had the same issue and I had to record long walks just to balance things out and change my status. I now take the status it gives me with a grain of salt. 

Yes, I think that's exactly the reason why... Thank you. I've been changing the way I train to get a more balanced load during the week but clearly is not enough. ;-) (in my case I think it's correct to say I should train more in Z2... I'm still a beginner after all...)

Well, I do my best to balance things out, but I find it difficult to train in zone 2.  I had the same issue with the TrainAsOne app. It would tell me to run for "X" minutes at a HR range of "X" (zone 2). Easier said then done.  I could speed walk in that zone, but no matter how slow I tried to run, I couldn't stay in zone 2.  If I changed my zones to "fit" what they wanted, I had an unreasonable maxHR. 

That's a challenge for sure. But I've noticed it goes along with your fitness level. 2 months ago I would've never been able to run in Z2 at a decent pace (at least for me) for 30 min or more. Now I can. Today I ran for 2h30m which is the longest I've ever run. So definitely a huge step up for me.

During last hour I tried to slow down more to stay in Z3 but it was very difficult (=kinda impossible really...).

But there was something else Today as I've said above. I think my body is tired and I probably need some more rest! 20 min into my workout my heart was already working steadily in Z3.... (unusual at that pace for me)

Aurelie said:

I've noticed it goes along with your fitness level.

I think you hit the nail on the head when it pertains to me.  I run, but I'm not a runner.  I don't train to compete in a 5K, 10K, etc.  I don't follow a training plan.  I basically run because I know it's good for me.  I stay active by doing all kinds of activities.  A jack of all trades, master of none.  I think this is why I find it difficult to run in zone 2.  For me to run in that zone, I find I'm more at a half step and not my normal stride and it feels unnatural.  Because the FirstBeat metrics are geared towards running, my training status always seems to be unbalanced. 

I think it's in general our fitness level (we can train our heart regardless of the activity we use to make it stronger...). Then I guess is also a matter of running efficiency, practice, strength, etc...

There are many studies and researches about low HR training (MAF for instance) and from what I understood low aerobic training should always be at the core of our activities (and in general Endurance training). But I'm a beginner so what do I know? Lol

;-)

Garmin Connect tells you why your status is what it is.  Normally I get it when I do easier workouts following very hard workouts.  The hard workouts will increase my VO2Max and the easier ones will decrease it and GC will report status unproductive due to Cycling VO2Max trend.  There are some cool articles with videos on Garmin's site explaining the metrics. If you care about this, it's worth a read / watch.