About a year ago I measured VO2 max while walking and got reading around 40. After months of exercise I realized that my performance is declining. So I paid more attention during the test (which says walking very fast during 15 minutes) and realized that it does not matter if I go fast or very slowly - always the same reading. So I lost interest and in about august I stopped making any tests. But what a surprise, the "measurements" continue on daily basis and have always the same reading 32. This even in days I did not put my foot out of the apartment because of bad weather. On the contrary, my RHR readings are 60-70, excellent for my age if true. I doubt the HR readings are any good and the VO2 max fuss makes any sense. Somebody has a different experience with VA3?
Hi, I cannot speak for walking. But it seems reliable for running. Currently I´m training more for speed, then for distance. The pulse lowers and the pace raises. Now I´m somewhere around 56. If you have a slower run, it will be straightened, somehow. A single run with a lower pace won´t change the VO2max. A second will. Or it is that much slower (running and talking with friends) that it will be decreased instantly. That´s not perfect, because my fitnesslevel wont change. I just ran slower with a low heartrate, once. But that´s how it works.
And, if you do not record an activity, the value will remain the same. It only changes on a new measurement.
It's pretty much normal. My personal experience with VA3M is that the watch records your VO2Max while walking only until you start running regularly. Since then, it updates your VO2Max upon runs only, ignoring walks, however long.
Now, running VO2Max is a lot more reliable, especially if you run intervals or just have workouts in different heart rate zones. My walking VO2Max used to be about 5-7 points higher than my running one, and that's because I walk usually at 85-80 heart rate, but it won't scale well when I run (my HR increases more than should vs. my pace). The watch still overestimates my running VO2Max by 3-5 points as well compared to some websites or VO2Max tables. This makes my walking VO2Max estimate to be 8-12 points higher than real.
