Garmin 610 voted best GPS watch 2011
You might find me talking about the Garmin Training Effect in my blog … it’s a new feature of the Garmin 610 where your Garmin will give your workout a score from 1-5 and helps you to decide on how you might vary your training accordngly.
‘Using your heart rate’ (and other variables) ‘Training Effect tells you if the exercise you are doing is maintaining your current fitness level or improving it.’
Apparently it takes quite a few workouts for your training effect score to level off, but my last two have been scored as 5 – overreaching. I don’t think I was over reaching, but I wasn’t taking it easy either.
I’ll be interested to know how it pans out over time! 😀
More on Training Effect here and here and here.
And here is some analysis I did of my Garmin Training Effect in February 2012. 🙂
Lorn Pearson Trains... 
MMMM very interesting actually, after doing heart rate training for 18 months my resting HR has dropped from 57 to 47 well that is when I stand up before running. I have just got a new 610 and have started using the TE tool. I would be interested to know more
Hey Andre, there is more info here: http://www.firstbeat.fi/en/training-effect I’m only on my third workout using my Garmin 610, a 2 this time for a 40 minute (exercise DVD) workout where my Heart rate was 63% on average, peaking at 100%. 😀 Even more info is here: http://www.firstbeat.fi/consumers/heart-rate-monitors/firstbeat-intelligence-in-heart-rate-monitors
I am constantly in the 5 range…I feel like I am working, but not really hard. I am 53. Is it possible that my heart rate/age adjustment is just off? ie. If I were 45, I would likely be in the 4 range…age is just a number. Do I really have to back off?
Hi,
I am no expert, but I do know that in life, sometimes formula (which is what Garmin Training Effect is) does not always suit every individual. It could be that it will take a while for Garmin TE to get to know your workouts and how you train, or it could be that quite simply you are a very fit 53 year old!
5s all the time suggest you are training hard – and perhaps over doing it? (as Garmin TE suggests). But in my experience, you’ll know yourself if you are over doing it… (feeling sick during workouts because you pushed yourself so hard, delayed onset muscle soreness, tiredness, over training, injury), or if you’re not. 🙂
(If you think you might be – read this: https://lornpearsontrains.wordpress.com/2011/08/16/top-ten-ways-to-avoid-over-training/ )
Have you trained with heart rate training before? Do you do some runs at 60% Max HR, 70%, 80% 90% on average? Or are they all run at 95%? If they’re all run at 95% ? If they are all run at 95% then I’d maybe suggest introducing some easier, slower, shorter runs. But it’s hard to advise when I don’t know you or how you train.
I am sure it could be true that your age/heart rate adjustment is just off and you probably know best rather than the Garmin TE. 😀 I think in this case it might be best to trust your (human) instinct and go with what you know, rather than what technology is trying to tell you.
Hope that helps. 😀
x
Lorn
Lorn
Hi Lorn,
Every tempo run or interval training I get a 5.0 TE. Like you, I feel I’m putting in effort but at the end of it I feel great and I don’t experience signs of overtraining.
The feature so far is not of any use to well-trained individuals, I hope it improves by the acclaimed learning effect!
Cheers
Fred
Hi Fred. I’ve been using Garmin Training Effect for about 2 months now. 2-4 runs a week. I also use it for circuits workouts where I just track my HR. The training effect numbers I get seem to be reflective of the workouts I’ve done. I get 4s or 5s for intense workouts or long steady runs (+20 miles) and get 2s to 3s for interval (circuits) training where my heart rate is on average about 70% or so.
So far it seems to be a good indicator (along side my HR). I’m tending to get more workouts in the 2-4 range but it’s because I don’t tend to push myself (interval/tempo wise) often.
It seems to be measuring my training effect pretty accurately now within the 2 months I’ve been using it. 🙂 Happy training x
Lorn
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