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Training status

Former Member
Former Member over 8 years ago
Yesterday I received an "Unproductive" status on the Training status page on my 935. Feedback to Garmin:

1) Pretty darn impressive considering I'm fighting a cold and had slept like complete crap the previous 2 nights which the Sleep screen in Connect confirmed.

2) How can my Lactate Threshold and my Aerobic training effect both been positive/improving during yesterday's activity while the overall status went into Unproductive?

3) OHR and pace and the run overall felt nothing out of the ordinary which means the data I was provided went against the old school rule of listening to your body and instead used the behind the scenes data. Again, pretty awesome, but also perplexing as one could question if you should listen to your body or listen to your Garmin.

4) I'm going to use my HRM-TRI for my next few runs to see what type of variance I get in my data, but to date I have found the OHR to behave just like my old chest strap, with the exception that it takes 5-10 seconds longer for it to come down from peak values at times, for example when transitioning from an uphill to a downhill.

I very much want to be able to utilize these tools as much as Polar users swear by the data Polar provides, however I'm somewhat confused on how to do so with unintended mixed messages being received. I gladly welcome anyone who can chime in on a more scientific level.
  • 0 over 8 years ago
    I find the training status interesting. I had a half Ironman a few days ago and over the last week saw some interesting statuses that I hadn't seen before including, Peaking, Deconditioning, Recovering, and now I'm currently in Maintaining.

    As for VO2 max, why would you turn it off if you're doing more hills? If I'm training for a hilly race, my paces will be slower then paces for a flat race. So I don't mind the VO2 max and race predictions dropping since it's a better indication of how my real race paces will be.
  • 0 over 8 years ago
    Been taking "Training Status" with a grain of salt but I must say I look forward to seeing my metrics after a run ;-) Anyway I've been building up for a race on Sunday with a hard week last week and a light one this week and was happy/impressed to see "Peaking" on Monday (rest), then Productive on Tuesday (easy run), Productive on Wednesday (rest), Peaking on Thursday (easy run), Unproductive today (easy run). That's a bit of a "swing" in just one day with an easy run ! Now I did lose one VO2Max point today (likely because there were a couple of hills) but my HR was good. Although I was running with the oHR and the first 4/5 minutes were wacky (too high) so that may have throw off the VO2Max calculation a bit (they say you have to run 10 minutes so does it only look at the first ten minutes of an outing ?).

    Anyway just to say that it seems FB/Garmin should build a bit more "smoothness"/"checks and balances" in the "Training Status" to avoid these swings ;-)
  • 0 over 8 years ago
    I have noted the status rather hinges on VO2 Max. This week, for running, I went up 1 point and then down again so I was Productive but now Unproductive but "really" I am perhaps "Maintaining" as I was before the up and down. My fitness for cycling is unchanged this week merely because only rode a bike without a PM installed so no new VO2 Max determination could be made.

    So yeah "grain of salt" is perhaps required although trying to understand what perhaps it is "really" telling you I am finding of use.

    In any case you can't be Productive forever. VO2 Max will "naturally" go up and down from day to day. Usually also it is very hard to get better without sometimes getting a little "worse" in the midst of hard training.
  • 0 over 8 years ago
    In any case you can't be Productive forever.


    I don't know my training status would beg to differ ;)

    But in all seriousness i'm fairly sure it's wonky as hell because it's been "productive" for all but one day of "maintaining" in the last 30 days. Once or twice I've seen "peaking" in the morning but after a quick bike commute or easy run it changes back to "productive". It is possible I've somehow managed to be productive for a full month? Sure. But is it likely? Nah.
  • 0 over 8 years ago
    I should hope it's possible to be productive for a month. Depending on your level of fitness, you could feasibly be productive for YEARS. Even if you're in great shape, training plans can be as long as 4-6 months and not impossible to be productive most of that time.
  • 0 over 8 years ago
    James - that's interesting. What has your VO2 Max done in the last month - presume it has gone up and never come down?

    From what I have seen change in VO2 Max determines which way your fitness is going and so you can't be Productive if your VO2 Max has dropped after any given run or ride.

    It would be very difficult to keep improving VO2 Max as, even starting from a poor fitness level, I find we tend to reach a plateau after a while.
  • 0 over 8 years ago
    I think the training status is a bit more granular then the VO2 max we see on the watch. I've had increases and decreases in productive status without a change in the absolute VO2 max number. I suspect that the calculations are done out a few decimal points which we don't see.

    I was also pleasantly surprised that an open water swim yesterday had an effect on my training load AND my training status. There's clearer more then just VO2 max being used.
  • 0 over 8 years ago
    > There's clearer more then just VO2 max being used.
    Not so sure on this point. I do many of my rides on a bike without a PM and I never get training status changes after such rides.

    Did you have HR with your OWS? Dd you do many open water swims? If so, how might your latest swim compare to the others?
  • 0 over 8 years ago
    James - that's interesting. What has your VO2 Max done in the last month - presume it has gone up and never come down?


    My VO2 HAS increased pretty reliably over the past month (about 1ml/kg/week), though while I'd argue it's just normalized back to what my old watch used to say as it got used to my running. I assume it'll level out in the next week or two @ it's old number and then we'll see.

    I should hope it's possible to be productive for a month. Depending on your level of fitness, you could feasibly be productive for YEARS. Even if you're in great shape, training plans can be as long as 4-6 months and not impossible to be productive most of that time.


    Haha, true I was just being a bit cheeky. I do find it interesting though that when I had my old watch I spent maybe one day in "productive" mode and the rest of my time in "unproductive" mode though my training is relatively similar.

    One thing I've been doing it using Strava's Fitness/Freshness as a check and balance with Training Status and while my fitness has continued to rise (as would be expected), my form has actually gotten a bit worse, so i'm surprised to see it so consistently 'productive' and that something as easy as two short 4-5 mile commutes could bring it from "maintaining" or "peaking" to "productive".
  • 0 over 8 years ago
    Went from Peak to Unproductive to Recovering, which I suppose is true after my race yesterday!

    Wasn't aware of Strava's freshness score, thanks, it looks like one of the many metrics available on Runalyze for free, the readiness.