GARMIN LACTATE THRESHOLD TEST

[@johannesschmidt3923]

Hey, you should actually pay attention to keep your warm up really in zone 1 or 2 max. From your data I can see that your warm up was almost the same pace and HF as the whole test itself - which actually distorts your test result.

[@MichaelHatfield]

Heads up, Garmin's default HR zones go off percentage of users max HR and doesn't align with runners HR training zones. Under user settings, you can change how it calculates HR zones. The other two options are either based off of lactate threshold or percentage of HR reserves. Both give similar results and place zone 2 where it should be for zone 2 training.

[@approachableactive]

Yeah this is what I was told when I went to a study centre for a vo2max test. You must change it to % heart rate reserve and enter your resting rate. That'll align your zones with what your looking for. The default is definitely calibrated for casual users.

[@Senseigainz]

My test said it could not calculate a threshold 🤬🤬🤬 i nearly died in the last 3 minutes

[@aidanfurey2015]

😂

[@sunito89]

Bro, I have done the test twice and the threshold didnt calculate :D So after that I decieded to revome my running zone and next time I hope for calibration :D

[@luisfonseca9264]

I did my test yesterday and it counldnt detect my lactate três hold as well. It asks me to raise my hr to 190 when my maximum theorytacly is 182bpm.

[@sunito89]

You need to go to auto detection and do "on" on lactate threshold

[@richardponce1580]

Good job and well put together. Thank you.

[@luisfonseca9264]

I did my test yesterday and it counldnt detect my lactate três hold as well. It asks me to raise my hr to 190 when my maximum theorytacly is 182bpm.

[@chrisgreenfield5786]

You mentioned that Garmin Zones are off and Zone 3 really should be zone 2. Where did you get that info? I have been struggling to do "zone two" as is being recommended by everyone under the sun and spend almost all of my time in Garmin's Zone 3. Which apparently is where I need to be according to your statement.

[@runningwithjane]

Super helpful - thanks!!

[@LimaOneNiner]

Off of the 5 zones method, the zone 2 is correct. You mentioned youre doing your zone 2 in the zone 3 area which is too high and inefficient. The zone 3 is a zone for more tempo style runs. Thats also where you would run your longer races on the high end of zone 3 low end of zone 4. Youre not running your long races at threshhold.

[@kylemoore3335]

Agree. Great content, appreciate the insight on data, and unfortunately zone 2 is correct by garmin. I'm similar, high 130s is top of Z2. Took a while to even be able to run (slowly) while holding HR in Z2. Those who have the patience to spend a lot of time there will do well in endurance.

[@CSWells-uq4jx]

Not in my experience. In my experience what Garmin calls zone 2 is literally a walk. And zone 3 is what I know I can comfortably hold for over 3 hrs or longer and still feel like I could keep going indefinitely. I comfortably run a half marathon in training at this hr including inclines without walk breaks and able to keep up a conversation and breathing through my nose. And I still feel fresh and ready to go the next day. So I respectfully disagree. I have had 0 improvement in a year of trying to stay in what they call zone 2 for 80% of my training. But I have always had rapid improvements when I’ve spent the majority of my time in what they call zone 3.

[@CSWells-uq4jx]

Edit: I was actually doing some research after I made this comment and realized why some people might be saying Garmin’s zone 2 is correct and others are saying zone 2 is off. I think it has to do with height/ gender because I found a lot of information, saying that people with a taller stature usually have a lower heart rate than people with a shorter stature. Also, women, who tend to be shorter than men on average, also have a heart that is between 20 to 30% smaller and tend to have a higher heart rate than men by about 20 to 30% as a result. So, I think Garman may be basing its zones off of a 6 foot tall male heart rate zone expectation. In which case, it would make sense that people who are shorter than that may find that what Garmin is calling zone 3 feels nothing like it should and zone 3 feels more like what zone 2 should feel like. If we follow the math on this, then it would make sense that I, a 5f 6in female feels like 140-168 bpm feels like zone 2 should feel even though that is almost exactly 20% higher than Garmin says my zone 2 should be. But, let’s say a 6 ft male would probably find that zone 2 actually feels like zone 2. I’d be super interested to see the actual stats on hight ranges for runners and their corresponding heart rate zones. I wonder if we’d see a trend.

[@LimaOneNiner]

@@CSWells-uq4jx youre way over thinking it. Zone 2 has nothing to do with what your garmin says. Zone 2 is based on your cardiovascular system efficiency. Not what your height/weight etc. My point to the poster was to find his zone 2 and use it. Not necessarily what garmin is telling him. Many ways to find it. RPE, vo2 max test or actual lactate testing. Garmin gives you a starting point but just because you run at a faster heart rate that what garmin is saying, it doesnt mean its not zone two. Thats why there is functionality in the watch to change the zone heart rates.

[@CSWells-uq4jx]

@@LimaOneNiner Ok. I don’t think we are actually in disagreement here as much as we think. My problem is that the 5 zone model as Garmin calculates it doesn’t seem to have very even or accurate zone ranges for me. (Despite having over 2 years of data) And I think that’s what is confusing me and making me doubt how I know I’m feeling. Because it feels like I’m ignoring the science if I’m ignoring the tech, if that makes any sense. Because, if I follow how each zone in a five zone model should feel based on how I feel at different heart rates, it would look like this: z1 112-145, z2 146-165, z3 166-175, z4 176-180, z5 182-198(198 is the highest I’ve seen my hr recently on hill repeats/ speed sessions) But that doesn’t seem right to have such a small range for zones 3-5. Am I misunderstanding how this zones should feel? These are my definitions I use: Zone 1 super easy. Could sustain basically all day and would be unlikely to even break a sweat if it’s cool out. Leisurely walking. Zone 2 Easy. Can sustain for over 3 hours. Can comfortably maintain a full conversation and breathe through your nose the whole time. Don’t feel sore, stiff Or heavy afterwards or the next day. Feels relaxed and like you forget you’re even running for extended periods of time. Zone 3 moderate. Starts getting uncomfortable to breathe entirely through your nose. You can say maybe a sentence at a time but not hold a conversation past that. Can sustain for about 2 hours. Might be a little stiff after and the next day. Zone 4. Hard. Can not breathe through your nose. Can only say a couple words at a time. Can only sustain for an hour at most. Will likely be a bit sore/ stiff later or the next day. Zone 5 Very Hard. Heavily breathing. Can maybe say one word at a time. Can only sustain for 2-5 mins. Legs burn and start feeling very heavy by the end of the effort. You feel like you want to collapse after you stop and you are sucking air. Likely very sore later or the next day. I don’t know. I guess I just think it doesn’t seem right the the range for z3-5 is so small if I were going by that standard and that I must be doing something wrong. But either way, Garmin is way off. And my training effect of stuff on my watch seem to hate when I reset my zones to reflect that. Garmin always seems to try to switch me back to their numbers no matter how many times I correct it. And it thinks my zone 2 is like 120-139. Which is like nothing. I guess I’m just annoyed by it’s inaccuracy and how it still seems to be calculating my training effort and work load off of its numbers, not mine. That’s why I’m saying I’d be better off using what Garmin calls zone 3 as my zone 2. TLDR: I feel like Garmin is wrong about my ranges and doesn’t like when I manually enter them. And that makes me doubt myself which is frustrating.

[@facemelter79]

Hi Dave. I done a lactate threshold test on my Garmin watch. After the test my HR zones were now reset to accompany my 153 threshold score. I am currantly 5 weeks into 80/20 training and with these new HR settings i am able to run a little quicker without going above my recommended HR zones. But the thing is my my previous zone 5 was anything above 158, now its anything above 153 thats a 5 bpm decrease. But my lower HR zones have increased so i am able to run slightly quicker and still stay inside my desired zone, if that makes sense. Also there is a change in what my HR zones say. 1 is warm up 2 is easy which then turns to low anaerobic. Does this all sound right ? And will it effect my 80/20 progress which is still in the early stages and i am not seeing the greatest improvements as of yet. Thanks for the help in advance.

[@edgaralbo6433]

Hi I made this test 30' like if it were a 5km but maybe a little slow just to keep the whole 30' at a pace. Is it ok like that? The last 20',heart rate 174 , at a pace of 5:37 per km So tell me if am ok? 174x0.95=165bpm this would be sub threshold. And 174 x0.99= 172bpm There is a zone 5a called super threshold from Joe friels from 100%-102% 174-177bpm Though running 3x10' tempo a would keep the heart rate from 165-172. Now the pace i run is 5:37 x 1.05%=5:53>from 5:37-5:04 although sometime also 5:15 when in the place I run there is 200 elevation of 3% so in this way I don't let the heart rate to go up 176 maximum

[@irunremy4567]

Great info thanks for sharing

[@yorkehunt9476]

Thanks for making the video. It explains the test well and I should have watched it before my first test. I did most of the test in Zone 5 :) Will try again in a few days.

[@joakimpalusa2887]

I had problem getting the pulse up on my first test. Gonna do another one maybe on sunday. I got 162bpm and 5:00min/km in my first test but its rather about 4:30min/km at that HR. Regarding the zones: Zone 1 is walking/warmup. Power-Walks at a tempo at 8:20-8:50min/km is in this zone. And Also when you just start running. Or when i run Very slow 6:20-6:40min/km Zone 2 is whatever i put most of my training. 6:00min/km - 5:40:min/km at 120-130bpm heartrate Zone 3 is tempo and here i do 1-2runs a week at around 12-17km long (4:50min/km tempo) Zone 4 is threshold, barely hit this Zone 5 i never run in. The zones are correct sir 😊👍

[@ericderace]

I'm going for my first 10k race in 6 weeks. In what zone would you run a 10k? between 3 and 4?

[@joakimpalusa2887]

@@ericderace if race/PR try then zon 4. Threshhold. In the end you Will be in low zon5

[@Mac_Besse]

Solid info!

[@baraklevy3344]

I bought the hrm pro plus and connected it to my swim 2.0 watch and the app. Unfortunately it doesnt show anything . The only option is to download data from the strap to the watch and then upload it to the app. That is the only way it works, and it also creates duplication of the specific workout. I ran 5.6km and it showed on the app. I later downloaded the data from the strap and uploaded again, and it shows the same freaking workout. So no idea whats going o ..

[@Alex-kr7zr]

How much off was your estimated lactate threshold from the optical sensor?

[@sethjbesse]

For some reason it didn't give me an estimated LT previous to the test. My HR zones did change about 4bpm after the test though! Hope that helps!

[@andianwar5784]

Hi i wanna ask question, does the HRM Dual able to perform lactacte threshold test if i pair it with Garmin Instinct 2X solar? the watch ask me to use garmin HRM to perform the test, thanks in advance.

[@ryanbutters4659]

Awesome Jordan Peterson poster 🦞

[@baraklevy3344]

Can someone advice how accurate or what is the regular deviation i need to calculate when looking at the garmin (swim 2.0) HR results? Also i noticed that even if i am at zone 2 (estimated) , after a while the HR will go higher despite me running at the same pace...is that harming the "zone 2 training" target?

[@aaaaa44455]

Can you do the test with a polar sensor and a Garmin fr255?

[@IamOsamaKamal]

check your settings menu in the Garmin watch to see if you can do the test, the sensor's brand doesn't matter as long as it's compatible with your Garmin's watch

[@aaaaa44455]

@@IamOsamaKamal thx

[@alelimascks]

Cool!

[@alfredkwok9239]

6km for 32mins, average pacing is 5mins20sec and this is pretty slow for your age, I am 62 now and for max effort , my 5Km now is around 25mins 20sec around, For 6 km, I think I could run under 32mins. But for your information, my best 5km is just under 20mins and best 10km is 45mins 4 sec at the age of 45 around. Therefore I think your time trail for this 6km is not your max effort.

[@jaredperez506]

This test is a complete joke. Did everything then the last one says 3 minutes @ 190+ beats per minute? Absurd. I couldn't even get my heartbeat close. There goes 34 grueling minutes. For no lactate threshold.

[@Fozzee.1970]

Garmins Zone 3 is actually Zone 2 on other measures. Eg Base runs should be Zone 3

[@formauzadaily6448]

Realy? Base lthr? Or all base?

[@ericderace]

zones were a bit off for me at first, but after a few weeks and multiple runs, zone 2 on my garmin watch is accurate to an actual zone 2 now

[@craigmessenger1513]

I also like Jordan Peterson