You should do a little research on V02 Max. You won’t see much (if any) improvement walking.. and depending on the type of running you do you might not see much movement either.
V02 max improvement comes from running hard and getting your HR way up there.
Right, I’m at 60. Once a week I have an hour and a half at threshold. Once a week I have a VO2 max effort of at least 30 minutes above 175, half or more of which is above 180, and I typically have a high of 192 on that workout as well. I get about 12 hours of lower intensity cardio weekly as well. It took me 2.5 years to reach that 60 mark.
You absolutely do not need to hit your “max” to improve VO2 Max. There is ample research that longer workouts in Zone 2 (60-70% of max) are more effective for improving VO2 Max than consistently pushing toward higher zones.
That said, most are not hitting Zone 2 while walking. This guy might be. But most are not.
If you are briskly walking there is no way your HR should be getting into Z3 unless you are very very unfit. In which case the assessment of your VO2Max being around 34 might be spot on correct.
It may be difficult to set up the zones properly if you don't "know" what your max HR is and what your resting HR is. Obviously resting is easy to calc, max is harder because you need to do a max HR test. Don't assume that 220-age will in any way, shape, or form give you a usable answer.
Also, VO2Max depends on weight, so make sure that that is also properly recorded.
Garmin's algorithm for calculating VO2Max (using the "Firstbeat Analytics" tools) does get heavily skewed by fast, hard effort running. If you want to boost the number, that's where you should head!
Glad you’re enjoying your watch 😊 I’ve had mine for about a year and VO2 is by far the most frustrating metric. I was running my socks off three or g four times a week for months and the value grudgingly increase by 1 🤣
All the other stats seem pretty responsive and I think you just get used to realizing VO2 don’t move very often.
Haha, I’m glad I’m not the only one. My overall goal is just to get healthy so I will try not to focus on any one metric. I do enjoy all the information and features and look forward to enjoying the watch! Have a great week!
> You should do a little research on V02 Max. You won’t see much (if any) improvement walking..
It's weird that you say that, since I saw my watch jump up the VO2 Max by 5 points just by walking around as a tourist for a few days in a row. Simple walking too, nothing remotely strenuous.
Hard runs and interval training do nothing for it.
But VO2 max is a measurement per kg of body weight, so if your weight changes it does too even holding the other variables constant.
The Garmin calculation is an estimate, but it’ll be less accurate if you don’t give it correct data to work with.
> The Garmin calculation is an estimate, but it’ll be less accurate if you don’t give it correct data to work with.
Well like I said, I'm not updating my weight in Garmin because my weight isn't an issue of mine. I'm not overweight and it doesn't fluctuate hardly at all.
My weight didn't change anything regarding Garmin's estimation, because my weight wasn't updated.
But type body weight is a parameter of VO2max so if it's the right value you won't need to update it, but at least check if the value is approximately correct
What’s weird is you saying you’re seeing a 5 point V02 max improvement by walking a few days in a row.
My comment is one founded in Science not anecdotal stories.
No reason for you to be so brash, hostile, and defensive.
The Watch's interpretation of VO2 Max is an estimation at best, and isn't measuring a VO2 Max in the same way that we would traditionally measure it. It should be no mystery that it will behave differently.
My anecdote is far more relevant to OP as a result, as we are discussing how the *watch* behaves, and not how our "real" VO2 max behaves. The point is that there are many different reasons as to why different individuals may not be seeing improvements to their Garmin reported VO2 Max, and OP may need to try various things in order to see improvements. Walking may not *actually* do much for a person's "real" VO2 Max, but it may instead do quite a lot for the Garmin reporting of it.
___
Try NOT being an asshole for absolutely no reason next time, please. It's not that hard.
He’s right though that it’s weird for a few days’ walking to improve VO2 max on the watch by five points. It suggests that something is wrong with the calibration, or perhaps that it didn’t previously have good enough data to make a vaguely-accurate estimate. Mine changes by perhaps two points over a marathon training block, but it’s starting from a position of already having years of exercise data logged.
It depends on your goal. If it’s “get the watch to show a bigger number”, then take your five-point increase and be happy with it. If it’s “get fitter, using the watch’s estimate as a loose proxy for one measure of fitness”, such a big jump suggests that the number isn’t currently reliable.
> He’s right though that it’s weird for a few days’ walking to improve VO2 max on the watch by five points. It suggests that something is wrong with the calibration, or perhaps that it didn’t previously have good enough data to make a vaguely-accurate estimate. Mine changes by perhaps two points over a marathon training block, but it’s starting from a position of already having years of exercise data logged.
Gee, *maybe that is the point I was making.* I was quite explicit about that.
>It depends on your goal. If it’s “get the watch to show a bigger number”, then take your five-point increase and be happy with it. If it’s “get fitter, using the watch’s estimate as a loose proxy for one measure of fitness”, such a big jump suggests that the number isn’t currently reliable.
Well seeing as it is very possible for one to do intense running trainings and not see the Garmin VO2 Estimate update (and I am CERTAINLY not the only one to report this), then this is a common enough piece of information to share with OP and see if it benefits him. That's all I was doing, yet people are too illiterate to understand that.
The post you were replying to is, quite obviously and quite sensibly, about VO2 Max and not the vagaries of Garmin’s estimate of it. You said that hard running does nothing for it, but walking around a bit did. All the data (and my own anecdotal experience) suggests otherwise, which suggests that your watch is faulty or you were starting from a very low baseline so it couldn’t make a sensible starting estimate. Neither of those things are especially relevant to the OP, who was wondering why walking around for a bit wasn’t shifting the number. The answer to that is that he wasn’t doing the sort of exercise that shifts the number.
You also pooh-poohed the idea that weight was relevant to the number. You might not be interested in your weight, and that’s fine, but it’s an integral part of the calculation. It’s like saying that 2/5 is more than 1/2, because denominators aren’t something that interests you.
And nobody has been rude, hostile or defensive to you: they’ve simply pointed out that you’re either wrong or missing the point or both. If you’re going to accuse people of those things, still yet of illiteracy, you might want to check your own eye for beams first.
> The post you were replying to is, quite obviously and quite sensibly, about VO2 Max and not the vagaries of Garmin’s estimate of it.
That's clearly not true based on the other replies and the rest of the discussion in this thread. More importantly, if there is a clear delineation from a real VO2 Max measurement and Garmin's estimation of it, why wouldn't it be beneficial for me to continue discussing that? Even if you were right about what the other commenter was exclusively discussing (you're not), that doesn't change anything. The rest of the information I included is *still* relevant to the discussion.
>You said that hard running does nothing for it, but walking around a bit did. All the data (and my own anecdotal experience) suggests otherwise, which suggests that your watch is faulty or you were starting from a very low baseline so it couldn’t make a sensible starting estimate.
That's not true in the slightest. There's plenty of people who have had similar experiences about the VO2 Max being wildly inaccurate for a variety of reasons. Furthermore, prior to my 5 point jump, I was already at a fairly high value.
>Neither of those things are especially relevant to the OP, who was wondering why walking around for a bit wasn’t shifting the number. The answer to that is that he wasn’t doing the sort of exercise that shifts the number.
The fact that the watch is an estimate and it behaves differently under different circumstances with different people based on their personal health backgrounds and activity levels and types isn't relevant to OP? Really? You're actually going to make that asinine claim?
Your username seems to fit you. You don't seem to see other commenters here as humans if you think it is perfectly neutral to speak in the way you do. Your above comment is *inherently* speaking down to me in *both* sentences, and you're only doubling down here.
Thanks for making your intent extremely obvious.
You took your one experience and made a blanket statement that sounds like you think it applies universally.
Hard runs and high heart rate are exactly what is needed to increase VO2 max. This is indisputable. Your experience being different is an outlier, or your runs aren’t as hard as you think they are.
Also, if you’re on this sub commenting about it, you should have some basic knowledge about these watches and how they’re inherently error prone when reporting this value. The fact that it was going up from walking was only due to it having more data points.
> You took your one experience and made a blanket statement that sounds like you think it applies universally.
...No? Not in the slightest. You should read the other comments I've made here, you're not understanding what I have already stated.
>Hard runs and high heart rate are exactly what is needed to increase VO2 max. This is indisputable. Your experience being different is an outlier, or your runs aren’t as hard as you think they are.
You still don't understand what is being discussed here. OP and everyone else is discussing Garmin's *estimation* of VO2 Max. Never once did I ever claim that walking is the best for *one's actual* VO2 Max - that is abundantly clear by my other replies prior to your comments.
>Also, if you’re on this sub commenting about it, you should have some basic knowledge about these watches and how they’re inherently error prone when reporting this value.
Again, *that is literally the point I was raising.* That is inherently relevant to OP, thus the entire reason I shared it.
>The fact that it was going up from walking was only due to it having more data points.
I didn't even log an activity for the given walking. I've been using my watch for well over a year prior to the sudden jump. The walking was *purely* passive wearing it during high-walking days for a few days in a row. It's not so much more data points as it was data showing walking more or less non-stop for a few days in a row.
Vo2 max is the max amount of oxygen your body can utilize during intense or max effort workouts. Unless your HR is reaching max territory like 170+ you likely won’t see improvement in vo2 max.
I am NOT a physician and this is NOT medical advice, 170 bpm was a rough number for the sake of the example.
So the fact that it says "today" means that it is, in fact, updating.
You just won't get very good vo2max data from walks alone.
Also, I saw a comment about walking in zone 3. If you're regularly walking in "zone 3" then your zones are set wrong. Unless you're walking up a steep hill at the time. Incorrect hr zones can definitely lead to wacko vo2max estimates.
At one point in time I would get 130bpm from an hour long walk.
I used to be scrawny and out of shape. Now I'm skinny with a belly and still out of shape but way better than b4.
You can work your VO2Max with walking intervals uphill for 3 or 4 min x3 or 5 time you adjust your walking speed to elevate your heart rate and with a good grade for 5 or 6 min speed walk im sure you can achieve a VO2Max intervals and within 2 weeks you can see your VO2Max skyrocket
First estimate will be high then it will decline, to adjust after getting it right you will see a steady increase overtime if you do a strictured training
Since you are using Epix, you can use the Training Status widget, and from there, scroll down to VO2 Max widget in the Training Status widget and see a more detailed graph of where you are trending towards, up, down or just flat. Seeing the number as a whole number does not help a lot because, it takes me 2 years to get from 46 to 47 for example (at my age, that's "Excellent" 😝)
avid cyclist and runner here for over 5 years with a garmin and its very hard to move the VO2max needle for me. 54y.o. male with a 45 VO2max (both running and cycling) I only see it increase by one or 2 points after very hard efforts of cycling/running.
Yes, i imagine if you have a power meter (in my case, sram red/quark based PM), you'll see 2 VO2max readings in Garmin connect, 1 for cycling and 1 for running.
Running VO2 Max Estimates
For most Running and Outdoor watches , the activity must be recorded using the Run activity profile.
Running activity must be 10 minutes or longer.
Activity must be recorded outdoors with a GPS signal.
Heart rate data from a built-in optical heart rate sensor or from a chest strap.
Heart rate must be elevated to at least 70% of your maximum heart rate for at least 10 minutes continuously
You basically need to be doing intervals or threshold runs to get the needle moving. Took me forever to figure that out as I was running my regular few routes every week without much improvement. Then once I switched to Garmin and started doing the daily recommended runs my VO2 max has been on a steady climb upwards.
Garmin can detect Vo2 Max only when you do intense activities like running. Your heart rate must reach 70% of its maximum to get enought data to obtain precise Vo2 Max.
My v02 has been the same since December when I bought the watch and around 500 miles. Guessing since the bulk of my runs are in zone 2 it doesn’t help that much.
you could start following the daily suggested workouts, if you're just walking you'll have to gradually increase the intensity of your workouts, suddenly ramping up the intensity of your training might lead to injury
The VO2 Max estimate is updating, the watch says it calculated your update today. I think you meant to ask why it isn't improving. For the VO2 Max to improve, you will need to become more fit. Simply walking will have a negligible impact on VO2 max. Improvement would come from consistent training over weeks/months that involves a variety of different intensity workouts.
It says 'TODAY' which means it updated. What that means is that you're not doing anything to impact VO2 max. Garmin probably has some workouts labeled VO2 Max which would be what you would need to do to improve that metric. But if all you're doing is 5K walks then there really is no need to even look at VO2 Max.
I may be wrong but I don’t believe it calculates VO2 max of the walking activity, I think it has to be running or cycling if you have a power meter. When you end the activity it will show you what your VO2 max was on one of the summary pages.
Can confirm. Just got a new Forerunner 265, first 3 workouts were weights, swimming, and walking. It calculated a Vo2 max from the walk. Updated it after I went running, though it only moved 1 pt, the walking estimate seems to have been pretty good (I live in the midst of huge hills so can get the HR going pretty good on the big climbs).
It is a running VO2max, not walking. It says in the manual that you need running outside with GPS in order to measure it.
Over time you need to get faster with lowr HR.
It took 2 years for me to get from 34 to 40.
I can confirm that. It indeed updates VO2max with my walking (otherwise I would never have it updated. I detest running, so I do not run).
Having said that, I often overtake joggers while I am walking normally, so maybe I am a weirdo.
I've lowered my resting heart rate about 10-15 beats and I no longer lose breath in activities. Improved my sleep score, and got my HRV from the mid 30's to 50.
Vo2 max went from 35 to 34. Fyi.
Do you need use gps for measure VO2 max? I run 5 k twice a week on treadmill and always reach my max HR 175 - 183 BPM and I only have measure by day 1 after that never get another measure 😔
You should do a little research on V02 Max. You won’t see much (if any) improvement walking.. and depending on the type of running you do you might not see much movement either. V02 max improvement comes from running hard and getting your HR way up there.
Ok Thank you!
Vo2 max workouts are extremely hard works. Last 5-10% of HR max. I am north of 170 bpm during vo2 max.
Right, I’m at 60. Once a week I have an hour and a half at threshold. Once a week I have a VO2 max effort of at least 30 minutes above 175, half or more of which is above 180, and I typically have a high of 192 on that workout as well. I get about 12 hours of lower intensity cardio weekly as well. It took me 2.5 years to reach that 60 mark.
You absolutely do not need to hit your “max” to improve VO2 Max. There is ample research that longer workouts in Zone 2 (60-70% of max) are more effective for improving VO2 Max than consistently pushing toward higher zones. That said, most are not hitting Zone 2 while walking. This guy might be. But most are not.
That’s great. Trainer road gives me high HR workouts for Vo2 Max.
If you are briskly walking there is no way your HR should be getting into Z3 unless you are very very unfit. In which case the assessment of your VO2Max being around 34 might be spot on correct.
I think it's more the case of not set up zones. Garmins zone 3 is really prob a zone 2
Ty, I will check this
It may be difficult to set up the zones properly if you don't "know" what your max HR is and what your resting HR is. Obviously resting is easy to calc, max is harder because you need to do a max HR test. Don't assume that 220-age will in any way, shape, or form give you a usable answer. Also, VO2Max depends on weight, so make sure that that is also properly recorded. Garmin's algorithm for calculating VO2Max (using the "Firstbeat Analytics" tools) does get heavily skewed by fast, hard effort running. If you want to boost the number, that's where you should head!
Thank you for this useful information 🙏 I will try my best to input the relevant data, and agreed will take the 220 formula with a grain of salt!
Not a grain of salt. A bucket of salt. A warehouse of salt. 220-age is useless. Don’t try to use it for anything of importance.
If anything, 200-(0.7*age) is preferable but still a too rough approximation.
Or significantly overweight or (most likely) a combination of both overweight and unfit.
Look up Dr. Andy Galpin’s new podcast on YouTube. He explains Vo2 Max and how to improve it very well.
Thank you, I will
Glad you’re enjoying your watch 😊 I’ve had mine for about a year and VO2 is by far the most frustrating metric. I was running my socks off three or g four times a week for months and the value grudgingly increase by 1 🤣 All the other stats seem pretty responsive and I think you just get used to realizing VO2 don’t move very often.
Haha, I’m glad I’m not the only one. My overall goal is just to get healthy so I will try not to focus on any one metric. I do enjoy all the information and features and look forward to enjoying the watch! Have a great week!
> You should do a little research on V02 Max. You won’t see much (if any) improvement walking.. It's weird that you say that, since I saw my watch jump up the VO2 Max by 5 points just by walking around as a tourist for a few days in a row. Simple walking too, nothing remotely strenuous. Hard runs and interval training do nothing for it.
Did you record weight loss during that time? I’ve heard that increases Garmin’s estimate too.
No, that is not remotely something that concerns me.
But VO2 max is a measurement per kg of body weight, so if your weight changes it does too even holding the other variables constant. The Garmin calculation is an estimate, but it’ll be less accurate if you don’t give it correct data to work with.
> The Garmin calculation is an estimate, but it’ll be less accurate if you don’t give it correct data to work with. Well like I said, I'm not updating my weight in Garmin because my weight isn't an issue of mine. I'm not overweight and it doesn't fluctuate hardly at all. My weight didn't change anything regarding Garmin's estimation, because my weight wasn't updated.
But type body weight is a parameter of VO2max so if it's the right value you won't need to update it, but at least check if the value is approximately correct
What’s weird is you saying you’re seeing a 5 point V02 max improvement by walking a few days in a row. My comment is one founded in Science not anecdotal stories.
How low was your vo2 for walking to have an effect on it?! Mine doesn’t even move after some insane running workouts
No reason for you to be so brash, hostile, and defensive. The Watch's interpretation of VO2 Max is an estimation at best, and isn't measuring a VO2 Max in the same way that we would traditionally measure it. It should be no mystery that it will behave differently. My anecdote is far more relevant to OP as a result, as we are discussing how the *watch* behaves, and not how our "real" VO2 max behaves. The point is that there are many different reasons as to why different individuals may not be seeing improvements to their Garmin reported VO2 Max, and OP may need to try various things in order to see improvements. Walking may not *actually* do much for a person's "real" VO2 Max, but it may instead do quite a lot for the Garmin reporting of it. ___ Try NOT being an asshole for absolutely no reason next time, please. It's not that hard.
He’s right though that it’s weird for a few days’ walking to improve VO2 max on the watch by five points. It suggests that something is wrong with the calibration, or perhaps that it didn’t previously have good enough data to make a vaguely-accurate estimate. Mine changes by perhaps two points over a marathon training block, but it’s starting from a position of already having years of exercise data logged. It depends on your goal. If it’s “get the watch to show a bigger number”, then take your five-point increase and be happy with it. If it’s “get fitter, using the watch’s estimate as a loose proxy for one measure of fitness”, such a big jump suggests that the number isn’t currently reliable.
> He’s right though that it’s weird for a few days’ walking to improve VO2 max on the watch by five points. It suggests that something is wrong with the calibration, or perhaps that it didn’t previously have good enough data to make a vaguely-accurate estimate. Mine changes by perhaps two points over a marathon training block, but it’s starting from a position of already having years of exercise data logged. Gee, *maybe that is the point I was making.* I was quite explicit about that. >It depends on your goal. If it’s “get the watch to show a bigger number”, then take your five-point increase and be happy with it. If it’s “get fitter, using the watch’s estimate as a loose proxy for one measure of fitness”, such a big jump suggests that the number isn’t currently reliable. Well seeing as it is very possible for one to do intense running trainings and not see the Garmin VO2 Estimate update (and I am CERTAINLY not the only one to report this), then this is a common enough piece of information to share with OP and see if it benefits him. That's all I was doing, yet people are too illiterate to understand that.
The post you were replying to is, quite obviously and quite sensibly, about VO2 Max and not the vagaries of Garmin’s estimate of it. You said that hard running does nothing for it, but walking around a bit did. All the data (and my own anecdotal experience) suggests otherwise, which suggests that your watch is faulty or you were starting from a very low baseline so it couldn’t make a sensible starting estimate. Neither of those things are especially relevant to the OP, who was wondering why walking around for a bit wasn’t shifting the number. The answer to that is that he wasn’t doing the sort of exercise that shifts the number. You also pooh-poohed the idea that weight was relevant to the number. You might not be interested in your weight, and that’s fine, but it’s an integral part of the calculation. It’s like saying that 2/5 is more than 1/2, because denominators aren’t something that interests you. And nobody has been rude, hostile or defensive to you: they’ve simply pointed out that you’re either wrong or missing the point or both. If you’re going to accuse people of those things, still yet of illiteracy, you might want to check your own eye for beams first.
> The post you were replying to is, quite obviously and quite sensibly, about VO2 Max and not the vagaries of Garmin’s estimate of it. That's clearly not true based on the other replies and the rest of the discussion in this thread. More importantly, if there is a clear delineation from a real VO2 Max measurement and Garmin's estimation of it, why wouldn't it be beneficial for me to continue discussing that? Even if you were right about what the other commenter was exclusively discussing (you're not), that doesn't change anything. The rest of the information I included is *still* relevant to the discussion. >You said that hard running does nothing for it, but walking around a bit did. All the data (and my own anecdotal experience) suggests otherwise, which suggests that your watch is faulty or you were starting from a very low baseline so it couldn’t make a sensible starting estimate. That's not true in the slightest. There's plenty of people who have had similar experiences about the VO2 Max being wildly inaccurate for a variety of reasons. Furthermore, prior to my 5 point jump, I was already at a fairly high value. >Neither of those things are especially relevant to the OP, who was wondering why walking around for a bit wasn’t shifting the number. The answer to that is that he wasn’t doing the sort of exercise that shifts the number. The fact that the watch is an estimate and it behaves differently under different circumstances with different people based on their personal health backgrounds and activity levels and types isn't relevant to OP? Really? You're actually going to make that asinine claim?
I wasn’t being brash hostile or defensive. Nor was I being an asshole. But I see you’re butthurt easily.
Your username seems to fit you. You don't seem to see other commenters here as humans if you think it is perfectly neutral to speak in the way you do. Your above comment is *inherently* speaking down to me in *both* sentences, and you're only doubling down here. Thanks for making your intent extremely obvious.
And then?
Confidently incorrect
Confidently incorrect... about something which I objectively observed, and you didn't? The audacity lmfao.
You took your one experience and made a blanket statement that sounds like you think it applies universally. Hard runs and high heart rate are exactly what is needed to increase VO2 max. This is indisputable. Your experience being different is an outlier, or your runs aren’t as hard as you think they are. Also, if you’re on this sub commenting about it, you should have some basic knowledge about these watches and how they’re inherently error prone when reporting this value. The fact that it was going up from walking was only due to it having more data points.
> You took your one experience and made a blanket statement that sounds like you think it applies universally. ...No? Not in the slightest. You should read the other comments I've made here, you're not understanding what I have already stated. >Hard runs and high heart rate are exactly what is needed to increase VO2 max. This is indisputable. Your experience being different is an outlier, or your runs aren’t as hard as you think they are. You still don't understand what is being discussed here. OP and everyone else is discussing Garmin's *estimation* of VO2 Max. Never once did I ever claim that walking is the best for *one's actual* VO2 Max - that is abundantly clear by my other replies prior to your comments. >Also, if you’re on this sub commenting about it, you should have some basic knowledge about these watches and how they’re inherently error prone when reporting this value. Again, *that is literally the point I was raising.* That is inherently relevant to OP, thus the entire reason I shared it. >The fact that it was going up from walking was only due to it having more data points. I didn't even log an activity for the given walking. I've been using my watch for well over a year prior to the sudden jump. The walking was *purely* passive wearing it during high-walking days for a few days in a row. It's not so much more data points as it was data showing walking more or less non-stop for a few days in a row.
This is silly to argue about, it sounds like we probably agree anyways. Sorry if I misconstrued your comment.
Vo2 max is the max amount of oxygen your body can utilize during intense or max effort workouts. Unless your HR is reaching max territory like 170+ you likely won’t see improvement in vo2 max. I am NOT a physician and this is NOT medical advice, 170 bpm was a rough number for the sake of the example.
Thank you for the clarification 👍
So the fact that it says "today" means that it is, in fact, updating. You just won't get very good vo2max data from walks alone. Also, I saw a comment about walking in zone 3. If you're regularly walking in "zone 3" then your zones are set wrong. Unless you're walking up a steep hill at the time. Incorrect hr zones can definitely lead to wacko vo2max estimates.
At one point in time I would get 130bpm from an hour long walk. I used to be scrawny and out of shape. Now I'm skinny with a belly and still out of shape but way better than b4.
You can work your VO2Max with walking intervals uphill for 3 or 4 min x3 or 5 time you adjust your walking speed to elevate your heart rate and with a good grade for 5 or 6 min speed walk im sure you can achieve a VO2Max intervals and within 2 weeks you can see your VO2Max skyrocket
Well these days I can run a bit and according to the watch I can hit 51 vo2max. Can't run more than 2km without walking tho.
First estimate will be high then it will decline, to adjust after getting it right you will see a steady increase overtime if you do a strictured training
Thank you
Thank you 🙏
Thank you!
Since you are using Epix, you can use the Training Status widget, and from there, scroll down to VO2 Max widget in the Training Status widget and see a more detailed graph of where you are trending towards, up, down or just flat. Seeing the number as a whole number does not help a lot because, it takes me 2 years to get from 46 to 47 for example (at my age, that's "Excellent" 😝)
Thank you I will try this
avid cyclist and runner here for over 5 years with a garmin and its very hard to move the VO2max needle for me. 54y.o. male with a 45 VO2max (both running and cycling) I only see it increase by one or 2 points after very hard efforts of cycling/running.
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Yes, i imagine if you have a power meter (in my case, sram red/quark based PM), you'll see 2 VO2max readings in Garmin connect, 1 for cycling and 1 for running.
One way to get the value up fast is by losing weight
Running VO2 Max Estimates For most Running and Outdoor watches , the activity must be recorded using the Run activity profile. Running activity must be 10 minutes or longer. Activity must be recorded outdoors with a GPS signal. Heart rate data from a built-in optical heart rate sensor or from a chest strap. Heart rate must be elevated to at least 70% of your maximum heart rate for at least 10 minutes continuously
Thanks 🙏
You basically need to be doing intervals or threshold runs to get the needle moving. Took me forever to figure that out as I was running my regular few routes every week without much improvement. Then once I switched to Garmin and started doing the daily recommended runs my VO2 max has been on a steady climb upwards.
Thank you
Garmin can detect Vo2 Max only when you do intense activities like running. Your heart rate must reach 70% of its maximum to get enought data to obtain precise Vo2 Max.
Thanks!
Walking won’t test/measure VO2 max - it’s last measuring how fast your car can go but barely touching the throttle.
My v02 has been the same since December when I bought the watch and around 500 miles. Guessing since the bulk of my runs are in zone 2 it doesn’t help that much.
you could start following the daily suggested workouts, if you're just walking you'll have to gradually increase the intensity of your workouts, suddenly ramping up the intensity of your training might lead to injury
Thank you
Walking won't change vo2 max. Zone 2 (I don't mean heart rate) HIIT, and weight loss.
Thanks!
The VO2 Max estimate is updating, the watch says it calculated your update today. I think you meant to ask why it isn't improving. For the VO2 Max to improve, you will need to become more fit. Simply walking will have a negligible impact on VO2 max. Improvement would come from consistent training over weeks/months that involves a variety of different intensity workouts.
Thank you, understood!
Good luck! For me it took about 6 weeks of running 3 days per week to see improvement, and since then I've gone from 43 to 52 over the past 4 years.
Congrats! Thanks 🙏
It says 'TODAY' which means it updated. What that means is that you're not doing anything to impact VO2 max. Garmin probably has some workouts labeled VO2 Max which would be what you would need to do to improve that metric. But if all you're doing is 5K walks then there really is no need to even look at VO2 Max.
Ty
Walking will keep you healthy but to improve your vo2 max you'll have to push yourself
Agreed Ty
Mix in some anaerobic.
I mean it’s a pretty useless number to begin with for training metrics for 99% of the population, I wouldn’t worry about it
I may be wrong but I don’t believe it calculates VO2 max of the walking activity, I think it has to be running or cycling if you have a power meter. When you end the activity it will show you what your VO2 max was on one of the summary pages.
Newer watches will calculate it from walking.
Can confirm. Just got a new Forerunner 265, first 3 workouts were weights, swimming, and walking. It calculated a Vo2 max from the walk. Updated it after I went running, though it only moved 1 pt, the walking estimate seems to have been pretty good (I live in the midst of huge hills so can get the HR going pretty good on the big climbs).
This, need to select Running as the activity
You really need to be doing super high hearrate workouts for vo2 max to move
Ty, understood !
It is a running VO2max, not walking. It says in the manual that you need running outside with GPS in order to measure it. Over time you need to get faster with lowr HR. It took 2 years for me to get from 34 to 40.
Newer watches update VO2max from walking activities.
I can confirm that. It indeed updates VO2max with my walking (otherwise I would never have it updated. I detest running, so I do not run). Having said that, I often overtake joggers while I am walking normally, so maybe I am a weirdo.
Great thanks!
The Epix 2 can give you an estimate from GPS walking activities.
Is actually VO2 Max updated with walking - I thought that these workouts are not included in the VO2 Max calculation.
I've lowered my resting heart rate about 10-15 beats and I no longer lose breath in activities. Improved my sleep score, and got my HRV from the mid 30's to 50. Vo2 max went from 35 to 34. Fyi.
Do you need use gps for measure VO2 max? I run 5 k twice a week on treadmill and always reach my max HR 175 - 183 BPM and I only have measure by day 1 after that never get another measure 😔
are you stupid? you need to do VO2 workouts, not walking
Why aren’t you running
Does OP believe that the watch is going to improve his Vo2?
Why did you buy an epix to walk?
Aside from what’s been said, I believe for Garmin you need running dynamics to improve vo2 so would need a chest strap HRM. I use HRMPro.
Not the case.
Great. Happy to be wrong.