Fitness watches, whoop , Garmin & others

[kingrollo]

I think the higher level Garmin models you have loads of different exercise modes. Pretty sure gym workouts are on it, including treadmill, exercise bike, indoor rowing, weights, etc. I splurged on the Garmin Epix a few months ago and love it, but I do love my gadgets!

Sorry what I meant was - if you just go to the gym - and start working out would it calculate you stress/recovery sessions etc - or do have to load up a gym workout on the watch ?

 

[Mo1959]

Sorry what I meant was - if you just go to the gym - and start working out would it calculate you stress/recovery sessions etc - or do have to load up a gym workout on the watch ?

It monitors heart rate, stress, body battery, etc constantly so it would certainly keep tabs on that. I sometimes go a walk and don't bother starting the gps and just let it count my steps, heart rate, etc but seems daft to spend decent money on one and not use it to it's full potential.

 

[C R]

Sorry what I meant was - if you just go to the gym - and start working out would it calculate you stress/recovery sessions etc - or do have to load up a gym workout on the watch ?

In my Garmin watch I need to select an activity to get GPS tracking and to generate the activity entry for Garmin Connect.

The watch does record heart rate and steps continuously, but doesn't detect when an activity starts or stops. At least mine doesn't.

 

[Tom...]

In my Garmin watch I need to select an activity to get GPS tracking and to generate the activity entry for Garmin Connect.

The watch does record heart rate and steps continuously, but doesn't detect when an activity starts or stops. At least mine doesn't.

This can be adjusted in the 'Move IQ' settings

 

[Tom...]

 

[Tom...]

Sorry I've just seen you have the Forerunner 235, on which this does not feature

 

[nickb]

For those who have a device - do you have to tell it what you are doing ?

Ie if going to gym - do have to load a gym workout ? - or does it automatically know by increased exertion, HR etc ?

I use a Whoop and also an Apple Watch*. Both are linked so I only tell the watch what I'm about to do.

Both devices are capable of inferring what I'm up to and are usually pretty spot-on if I didn't tell them but my preferred watch face has a complication for activities so it's just two touches to tell it I'm about to start a ride or a walk etc. Whoop then picks that info up.

Given the size of the user base and the development resources available, I think the Apple Watch will develop into a very sophisticated health & fitness monitor that could eclipse every other similar device. The upcoming changes in WatchOS9 alone are quite significant without any hardware changes.

Whoop will also detect sleep but I turn my iPhone's focus to 'Sleep' when I turn-in and that info gets pushed to the Whoop.

Whoop's HRV info is limited to your sleep as far as I can tell and it's used specifically for calculating recovery. I assume it can measure outside of this and their servers may well store that but I can't see any use in that data for my own use case. HRV on the Apple Watch seems to jump all over the place and I've not been able to make any sense of it.

Apple Watch/Health app also comes-up with a cardio fitness/VO2 max assessment which seems pretty good as a trend if not an actual score. This is limited to walk/run and doesn't show anything for cycle rides.

Regarding the Garmin 'Recovery Time' - it seems to be based on a brief snapshot of how quickly one's HR is dropping and is a total gimmick.

* I bought the Apple Watch as I'm a total Apple fanboy and the Watch7 finally ticked the boxes required for me to get one. I bought the Whoop as I was preparing myself for a fitness drive prior to prostate surgery and to augment my post-op recovery. I bought it on a 24 month sub which makes it £20/month and there was a 30-day return policy so I could decide if it really was for me. The money I've saved by quitting booze as part of the fitness drive has already paid for the Whoop subscription!

 

[alex_cycles]

I use a Whoop and also an Apple Watch*. Both are linked so I only tell the watch what I'm about to do.

Both devices are capable of inferring what I'm up to and are usually pretty spot-on if I didn't tell them but my preferred watch face has a complication for activities so it's just two touches to tell it I'm about to start a ride or a walk etc. Whoop then picks that info up.

Given the size of the user base and the development resources available, I think the Apple Watch will develop into a very sophisticated health & fitness monitor that could eclipse every other similar device. The upcoming changes in WatchOS9 alone are quite significant without any hardware changes.

Whoop will also detect sleep but I turn my iPhone's focus to 'Sleep' when I turn-in and that info gets pushed to the Whoop.

Whoop's HRV info is limited to your sleep as far as I can tell and it's used specifically for calculating recovery. I assume it can measure outside of this and their servers may well store that but I can't see any use in that data for my own use case. HRV on the Apple Watch seems to jump all over the place and I've not been able to make any sense of it.

Apple Watch/Health app also comes-up with a cardio fitness/VO2 max assessment which seems pretty good as a trend if not an actual score. This is limited to walk/run and doesn't show anything for cycle rides.

Regarding the Garmin 'Recovery Time' - it seems to be based on a brief snapshot of how quickly one's HR is dropping and is a total gimmick.

* I bought the Apple Watch as I'm a total Apple fanboy and the Watch7 finally ticked the boxes required for me to get one. I bought the Whoop as I was preparing myself for a fitness drive prior to prostate surgery and to augment my post-op recovery. I bought it on a 24 month sub which makes it £20/month and there was a 30-day return policy so I could decide if it really was for me. The money I've saved by quitting booze as part of the fitness drive has already paid for the Whoop subscription!

Each to their own. I just prefer 'owning' things rather than monthly payments. On Garmin Connect, my data is mine forever, which IMHO is how it should be. Pay for the hardware and you own the output. The only thing I don't like about it is that, with my old VivoSport it doesn't seem to include activities from elsewhere (e.g. Zwift) in the overall training load calculation (but I'm using intervals.icu for that, which is free or $4/month if you choose to support them). According to DCRainmaker https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2021/06...oad-the-sufferfest-and-tacx-app-workouts.html it should be able to do this if I can get it working right (looks like it needs a more advanced fitness watch, like a Forerunner).

 

[stephec]

I've got an old Garmin Fenix 3 that I use for running, if I do a hard interval session it tells me I need 26 hours recovery, if I do an easy four miles it says I need 20 hours.

I take it with a pinch of salt as the watch doesn't know how much my legs are aching.

 

[ukbabz]

I wear a garmin 245 and use it for logging runs and walks, as well as an 530 for riding.

I find the physio true up between the two a bit ropey at times, and if they get out of sync can over-ride each other. However, the more I use it the more it seems to match with how I feel.

Often my 530will tell me I need 3 days, then after a good nights kip the watch has dropped this to 24 hours..

 

[baby-boop-boops]

I have a garmin fenix 6s pro. The more I go out on the bike the less recovery time I need as my fitness levels increase. If I have 24 or less hours recovery I still might go for a long ride if I'm feeling OK. I like to use it as a guide. It feels accurate to me so does the body battery.