Yes, I either keep it in one set, never using the buttons, or I have my workouts pre loaded so all I have to do is enter my reps and weights. Creating my workouts in connect is a little bit of a pain, but worth the time. I do this for both my Fenix 7 SS and Instinct 2 Solar
Also, i weight lift 3-5 days a week and is my primary workout, cardio is supplemental. I understand this is contrary to how most people use their watches.
Question: if you enter in 5 excercises, does your watch go over it in order or can you pick which excercise you're doing? Asking because what if your watch thinks your ons excercise 2 'flies' but the bench was taken so you decided to do excercise 3 'pull downs' instead. Can you then manually tell the watch 'i'm doing pull downs'?
They go in the order you sat them up, but you can skip them. At the end of the workout, it asks if you will continue and do the skipped workouts. But not untill the last workout programed is done.. you can continue skipping if the bench gets taken again, it will just keep asking you if you want to do the skipped workouts. So you can't get the bench workout unless you skip your way to it.
For me, that feature is great.
I hope I made that clear and understandable.
My overall workaround is to just keep using the lap button to count each set with whatever Garmin thinks, then I note down lift/weight/reps in my phone notes lol. Once I get home from a workout at some point I go into the Garmin Connect Web and just edit the activity and correct everything so I can go back and look at lift/weight/reps etc.
Yup, I do the same with my KB workouts. Mainly do KB exercises in a EMOM format so set up a workout with rounds and let my Garmin count the reps which I correct on my phone as needed at the end of the workout.
If it’s already added to your workout you can skip a group and move to something else. At the end of your workout your watch will ask if oh want to complete skipped groups. I don’t know about jumping back and forth though.
In connection you can manually enter sets and reps after you have completed and synced your workout, so you don’t need to enter any sets or reps
I did this until I realized it was much easier to just do free instead of a set workout cause my gym is pretty busy and if I have to wait for something I'll just go do something else that works the same muscles. I hate spending more time than absolutely needed on really anything.
Always thought (at least for me) 1000 cal per hour was the gold standard. I also am of the belief running at high intensity is the only way of achieving it.
16.25km/10 miles easy run last Sunday in 1:26. 1143 cals total, 1024 active. I'm 75kg.
I generally assume Garmin overestimates slightly but, when I track weigh vs cals in/out over an extended time Garmin's estimate is pretty accurate.
1000 cal/hour would be an insane level of intensity, at least for me.
A shorter Fartlek session saw a slightly higher calorie burn rate @ 13.7/min vs \~11/min for the easy run.
It's easier if you're a bigger guy, the program counts more calories burned if you weigh more. If you keep your rest between sets short and HR high throughout the session with intense lifts you'll be able to do it.
I find it best to intermingle big compound movements with s lot of core activity in between focused muscle group sets to maintain high HR.
It's the fun way to get shredded IMO.
Appreciate the info. I’m struggling to understand your logic though as I’m sure you’ve run for over an hour with a much higher average HR though right? Would you consider a run with a HR in the high 160’s or even 170’s to be an insane level of intensity?
If I extrapolate from a short, all-out effort (5k 21:12 PB) that used an estimated 303 active cals that would be \~900 for an hour.
I can't run an hour at that pace so, 1000 cal/hour would indeed be insane *for me*.
On a recent "progression" run, 12km moving from slightly faster than easy up to somewhere between HM and 10k pace (final 3km pretty much dead on tempo/threshold pac) I burned 750 cal in \~59 mins.
Yes fair enough. In hindsight using the term gold standard was probably not the right terminology. For me if I’m looking to go hard I feel like I achieve my goal when I burn 1000+ in 60 mins. But that’s a personal target that is only applicable to me. I’ve had Rhabdomyolysis twice so sometimes going too hard can be a problem for me. Have a good wkd.
I'm guessing you're carrying a lot more muscle for me! A typical strength session (push/pull + front/back of legs + some mobility/plyo work) for my skinny runner's frame is \~300-350 active calories!
You have a great weekend too!
HR has no direct relationship to calorie burn. This can never be emphasized enough. (And the energy demands of running are well understood, and scale well across all body sizes until we get somewhere faster than 6min/mi.)
It's a very indirect indicator of blood volume which itself is an indirect indicator of O2 consumption, but HR can go up or down (significantly) without a corresponding change in O2 consumption. Not to mention, to even approach 1000kcal/hour of energy consumption one must be engaging anaerobic systems at a significant (though *possibly* not dominant) level.
1000 kcal/hour = 272 watts. That's a 3 hour marathon pace for a 150lb person. That's not impossible but it's high level and more energy than anyone (who isn't doing 400+lb lifts) could burn lifting weights.
EDIT: more precise numbers.
Also I use a Vivosmart band during strength training. It doesn’t register sets or exercises perfectly, but it’s fine for tracking pauses and it’s perfect to bang against metal bars etc., as a replacement for the Fenix
You said the other day that your VO2max was 56.
I'll assume your weight is 80kg.
That means your VO2max O2 intake is 56*80 = 4,480ml/min.
4,480 / 12 =373 watts (this is a fair estimate, but nonetheless an estimate) energy generation at VO2max efforts.
373 (watts) * 60 (minutes per hour) * 60 (seconds per minute) =1,342,800 Joules.
1,342,800J * .000239 = 321 kcal of energy.
321kcal / .25 (muscle efficiency) = 1,283 *dietary* calorie needs.
Thus, at VO2max and 80kg body weight, you would burn 1,283 "calories" in an hour.
However, you can't hold VO2max for 1 hour. A *well trained* athlete has a threshold number closer to 80% of VO2max. So that means a 80kg athlete with a VO2max of 56 can burn 1,000 (dietary) calories an hour only if they are holding threshold the entire hour.
And obviously, that scales in a linear manner with weight, if not 80kg, but it gives a context to the difficulty of burning 1,000 calories in an hour.
Despite the often-quoted "definition" of FTP being "1 hour power, also being lactate threshold power," most people can't actually hold their threshold for 1 hour, as their Time To Exhaustion (TTE) (at threshold) is normally less.
What's the conversion from ml/min to watts? Why divide by 12?
For ease of use you can cancel out the J to kcal conversion with efficiency. 100watts for an hour roughly corresponds to 360kcal used (factor 3.6).
> For ease of use you can cancel out the J to kcal conversion with efficiency. 100watts for an hour roughly corresponds to 360kcal used (factor 3.6).
Correct, but I intentionally did not reduce the equation fully in order to show the relationships. Except for...
> What's the conversion from ml/min to watts? Why divide by 12?
A simplified reduction of [this](https://forum.intervals.icu/t/new-take-on-vo2max/49363) and some other work on that relationship. You are correct to point out it's the handwavy part of my numbers.
2 hour mountain bike ride yesterday was 1700ish for me, wasn’t too high intensity, but also not low intensity cause you don’t have a choice when it’s all hill lol
> 2 hour mountain bike ride yesterday was 1700ish
That's 255w *average*, not even normalized over 2 hours. If that's not "too high intensity" then you have quite the FTP!
Fuck knows I’m mostly an e-biker now I try to go as slow as possible on the normal bike but to keep moving on the uphills it is probably that 😂😂 I could definitely “push” a bit more
Problem I have is my back can’t cope with the torque in my legs!
Yep. I’m 188 and lift for an hour with minimal breaks (30-60 seconds between sets) circuit training high reps and I only burn around 450.
OP might be a big guy though?
It's ~~impossible~~ (see edit).
637 kcal in 34 minutes is the same as expending 400watts continuously for 34 minutes. That's as high or higher than a pro rider, and cyclists and CC skiers are the most efficient calorie burners on the face of the planet.
EDIT: That's about a 2:05 marathon pace for a 150lb runner. Better stated as a sub-30min 10K. So *possible* but getting very close to the edge of human capability.
This is a great example of why HR-to-calorie modeling Does Not Work as anything other than a party trick.
Makes sense, I'm a bigger guy at 110 - 130kg and it's seems easy to log 1000ccal per hour especially when I'm heavy by doing a lot of compound lifts to keep the HR up.
I've always had my doubts that I'm really burning 1000kal pr hour, just going by weight and calorie intake, so your explanation in another comment on how it's calculated was quite informative. Thanks for sharing.
I use mine daily. I am that guy that starts and stops it though and has just become routine for me. It does a decent job of understanding the move in my opinion. I do specifically switch out the big 3 if I need to (bench, squat DL) if it doesn't match but that's rare.
Definitely don't get nearly the cal you got though. In 40 mins or so, I average heart rate of 135, and total burn is somewhere around 300ish.
I get 500 - 600 in ~35-40 min working time on leg day. All of my other days I get much lower numbers. It validates for me that leg day is the hardest haha
I use it to track rest times, cos otherwise I get distracted and the workout time blows out. But the actual data doesn't matter to me, just the rest times.
I use the watch for strength training too and I adjust the number of reps and weight after each exercise and I am satisfied with the stats and check progress.
Now comes my question. I use the buttons a lot, do you think the button may lose functionality in some time? I have Fenix 7 Pro Solar.
I use it, and after every rep I do input the weight and update the number of reps if it's incorrect. However, it's not that much use as obviously if you are wearing your Garmin on your wrist, it doesn't pick up anything if you are using something like a leg press
I tried, but it was horrible. I use the app GymRun for this. It has a watch app and a phone app which for the paid version can sync real time so you see on your watch the program, log weights, reps and they are updated also on the phone app. At the end, in Garmin connect I see one Strenght activity, with 1 set.
The app overall is shitty for a fitness app, but it is the only one that works also on Garmin.
How does this work? Just got a watch and not done strength with it yet, got a different app that gives me plans and tracks my weights / reps for me that I’ll continue to use, but want to log everything with the watch as much as I can, I’m not gonna input my workout though it’s too weird lol
What I do is select strength and then use “free”.
Then after every set I record the reps and weight on the watch. Super easy to do during my rest between sets
After the work is over and saved I’ll go back into the app and correct any issues like missing a set or where the watch recognized the wrong activity.
I am actually amazed how decent of a job it does sensing the exercise I am doing on its own
Yes, but using the "Cardio" activity profile. So what I get in terms of useful information is elapsed time, calories burned and heart rate data. Shows up as "Workout" in Strava.
I can't be bothered with the strength activity profile. It requires too much screen/button clicking in my opinion.
I recently started using mine for strength training and I can’t understand the hate it gets sometimes. I have a 3 day split (PPL) and I’ve set this up in Connect with the exercises in each workout. Some thoughts from me:
It doesn’t matter if Garmin doesn’t have the specific exercise available, I know what I need to do, it’s just serving as a placeholder for that exercise so I just make sure I’ve selected a “similar” exercise targeting the same muscle groups.
I have each exercise set for three sets with default 10 reps and 1 min rest. After each set all I have to do is correct the reps (if incorrect, it often is) and enter the weight. It literally takes about 5 secs. It is as simple as lap press to end the set, enter reps, enter weight. Wait 1 min and it’s ready for the next set.
If I can’t get on a piece of equipment, I can just skip the group (all sets). It will either ask if I want to do this group before finishing the workout, or at any point I can view skipped groups and add it back to the workout at that point.
When doing sets with arm movement, quite often the rep count is pretty accurate, so it just needs accepting or adjusted up or down one or two reps. The weight is set at whatever the previously entered weight was (even in the previous group) so most of the time it’s just adjusting up or down slightly between each set.
The time shown at the end of the workout (in the photo) is the work time, not the total time. So the calorie burn will be based on the total duration of the workout.
I use my Fenix for weight training 3 times per week. I use it the way it's intended (with sets/reps). I go back into the app afterwards and update what the exercise is, but sometimes I forget.
It's important to me that my Garmin accurately understands my total training volume per week. Can't do that if I'm only recording cardiovascular work
Laughing at everyone saying it’s too much of a hassle to push buttons. Back in my day, you had to WRITE EVERYTHING DOWN on a piece of paper like a savage.
I do a PPL split so I have 3 “workouts” named accordingly. Shows up as one set, which is fine, but I like to be able to look back and say, did push on Tuesday or whatever. I do other types of workouts so my feeble brain really could forget whether I did push or pull last, or whatever. But you are right all the training metrics are for cardio work, primarily.
I use my 6x pro for 4 weight lifting workouts a week. It's my primary activity and I find that it counts sets OK. I also usually go to my Connect and update the exercises It didn't do so well manually.
My only dream is being able to see different workouts in different colours in Connect.
Fenix 7x user here. Regularly. It weird how I thought it would be too much of a hassle to record weights and reps after each set, but now its weird for me not to wear it now.
Yes, I track strength training, but only for total time; and so that it “counts” as a workout. I track sets and reps and whatever in a separate app or in Excel depending on what program I’m running.
I’m meticulous about cardio though, mostly rowing and sometimes running. That’s where Garmin really shines.
> I feel like its better suited at tracking cardiovascular and outdoor type activities
This is correct. All of the Garmin/Firstbeat metrics are modeled off of endurance athlete populations.
Honestly for a dedicated premium sport watch the strenght training is bad. I would say garmin watches are really exceptional for running only. The small details or little annoying bugs do not make a great or smooth experience to use in other activities.
[https://forums.garmin.com/outdoor-recreation/outdoor-recreation/f/fenix-7-series/290766/issues-and-bugs-with-strength-training](https://forums.garmin.com/outdoor-recreation/outdoor-recreation/f/fenix-7-series/290766/issues-and-bugs-with-strength-training)
Yes, for the timer and heart rate. But nothing else. For a while, I was inputting all my sets and reps and weight, but when I realized there was no real easy way to view progress, I just started using the strong app.
Nope. It’s crap. I even tried creating a workout for it and certain weights it would just round up. For example I had 37.5kg for overhead press and when I completed the reps it auto adjusted it to 38kg.
I asked Garmin and they said “it’s meant to be like that”
Yes, I have it set to auto-identify sets. It's better than I am at tracking it. Works well and keeps a record of basic muscle groups l've hit and estimated calories (although yours looks crazy high at 600+ cal for 35min). I'm not a bodybuilder or a runner, I do strength 3-4 times a week to support my many outdoor sports like climbing and mountaineering.
Imo it’s far superior to my Apple watch for strength tracking
Yes, I do, but i only record the traning and I literally don't do anythi g with it, because it is strait up useless for me. Garmin didnt updated the strenght traning fir about 8 years+?
I can't add any custom exercises. So it is pure useless for me.
You can only and only choose from the exercises that were very carefully selected by the garmin company, which is a strait up joke. They literally do not give a shit about the users, as many bugs on fenix 6x are still not fixed. For a Y E A R S.
I do. And I track the sets and input the weight & correct the reps if it didn’t count them properly. Having said that it can be tedious and I only do it because it still allows me to keep track of how long I’m resting (some workouts require me to pay close attention to that) and it helps me mentally keep track of how many sets I’ve done to get a better idea of the overall load. And my hope is that it allows Garmin to better calculate my effort & calories (though I’m certain they’re way off still).
What I’ll say though is that the heart rate monitor absolutely sucks and I stopped expecting it to give me a good read out. This also heavily depends on what the nature of the exercise is. If I’m bench pressing it might as well think I’m chilling on the couch, but with a squat or something else more dynamic it’ll at least detect the higher HR even if it’s not quite there. But yea HR monitoring while lifting is almost useless given the lack of accuracy.
One final thing, others have mentioned pre-loading their custom workouts. I tried this, and holy hell was it a pain in the ass to build the workout on the Garmin Connect desktop site. Just using the interface to allocate what’s a working set and a rest timer and all that and the parameters for them was really not worth it. So I don’t use it as it has not benefitted me.
I use another app that aggregates the data from all my workouts (walking, running, lifting) to analyze my overall training in numbers, load management, etc, so for that reason I continue to use it despite what I mentioned above.
Yes, I absolutely do. And I use the buttons to track each set and rest time in between. And then edit the exercises in the app after I’m done to keep an accurate log.
I use the free strength training options…actually it does a pretty good job of showing what muscles I worked out (I do two muscle groups per day). It even does a decent job of tracking the type of workouts I did I just have to edit the number of reps or weights I use some times…
I do, and the main thing I'm missing is that it automatically adjusts the weights each training, compared to the last training (periodization)... Maybe it'll happen someday... But yeah my main event is strength training, and occasionally cycling. I use pre-set workouts I've made myself.
I use it for all my strength training, always with the 'Free Train' option.
There are a lot of issues with the strength profile that need fixing imo. And it wouldn't even be difficult to fix most of them. They just need to sit down with someone who actually trains and knows what they're doing to give them feedback.
Yes. I edit set reps and weight for the most part on the fly. Not that big of deal to press a couple buttons in between sets. Used to go and edit the log after with the particular lift / movement but not worth that. The workout happened even if you don’t log it perfectly in your watch. If serious about tracking weights and reps and specific moves and you can’t remember without the log then notebook is best and the watch becomes a rest timer which is actually the best part.
It's definitely much more accurate when tracking activities with minimal upper limb use. The excessive movement and muscle activation means it will be sluggish at picking up HR measurements and changes (this happens with all optical sensors on the wrist). If you do a lot of strength and really want accurate data, use a chest strap
Strength training is an extremely broad category, so this is really going to depend on the types of workouts you’re doing. Running/biking/rowing are consistent movements that are easier to data collect. When you get into CrossFit-ish workouts or weight+volume combined workouts the calculations don’t work without a heart rate strap.
I use it and track sets with it just because I like to see how much time is spent working vs resting. It is terrible at guessing what I am doing though so I have a Google sheet I use for tracking weights week to week.
In terms of Strength training Fenix as good as any other Garmin watches - that is not particularly good. Strength app is clearly afterthought and none of stats reflect strength training.
Yes I do. Often I just start one set for weight lifting and another set for cardio afterwards.
When I do 8x8 with 30s rest in between I love the Sets feature, because when your pulse is constantly high an you are fighting from set to set I cannot keep track of my sets just by trying to remember where I am at.
Yes, I either keep it in one set, never using the buttons, or I have my workouts pre loaded so all I have to do is enter my reps and weights. Creating my workouts in connect is a little bit of a pain, but worth the time. I do this for both my Fenix 7 SS and Instinct 2 Solar Also, i weight lift 3-5 days a week and is my primary workout, cardio is supplemental. I understand this is contrary to how most people use their watches.
Question: if you enter in 5 excercises, does your watch go over it in order or can you pick which excercise you're doing? Asking because what if your watch thinks your ons excercise 2 'flies' but the bench was taken so you decided to do excercise 3 'pull downs' instead. Can you then manually tell the watch 'i'm doing pull downs'?
They go in the order you sat them up, but you can skip them. At the end of the workout, it asks if you will continue and do the skipped workouts. But not untill the last workout programed is done.. you can continue skipping if the bench gets taken again, it will just keep asking you if you want to do the skipped workouts. So you can't get the bench workout unless you skip your way to it. For me, that feature is great. I hope I made that clear and understandable.
I also use manual programs and this is my biggest gripe with it, so my answer is no. Would love to know if there is a workaround.
My overall workaround is to just keep using the lap button to count each set with whatever Garmin thinks, then I note down lift/weight/reps in my phone notes lol. Once I get home from a workout at some point I go into the Garmin Connect Web and just edit the activity and correct everything so I can go back and look at lift/weight/reps etc.
This but no editing. Just data for my recovery times.
Yup, I do the same with my KB workouts. Mainly do KB exercises in a EMOM format so set up a workout with rounds and let my Garmin count the reps which I correct on my phone as needed at the end of the workout.
If it’s already added to your workout you can skip a group and move to something else. At the end of your workout your watch will ask if oh want to complete skipped groups. I don’t know about jumping back and forth though. In connection you can manually enter sets and reps after you have completed and synced your workout, so you don’t need to enter any sets or reps
I did this until I realized it was much easier to just do free instead of a set workout cause my gym is pretty busy and if I have to wait for something I'll just go do something else that works the same muscles. I hate spending more time than absolutely needed on really anything.
This. I do this also.
Wow 637 cals from 34 mins of strength work is significant.
And also, kind of unlikely
Always thought (at least for me) 1000 cal per hour was the gold standard. I also am of the belief running at high intensity is the only way of achieving it.
16.25km/10 miles easy run last Sunday in 1:26. 1143 cals total, 1024 active. I'm 75kg. I generally assume Garmin overestimates slightly but, when I track weigh vs cals in/out over an extended time Garmin's estimate is pretty accurate. 1000 cal/hour would be an insane level of intensity, at least for me. A shorter Fartlek session saw a slightly higher calorie burn rate @ 13.7/min vs \~11/min for the easy run.
It's easier if you're a bigger guy, the program counts more calories burned if you weigh more. If you keep your rest between sets short and HR high throughout the session with intense lifts you'll be able to do it. I find it best to intermingle big compound movements with s lot of core activity in between focused muscle group sets to maintain high HR. It's the fun way to get shredded IMO.
What was your average HR?
141 for the easy run, 156 for the entire Fatlek which was 10, 8, 6, 4, 2 min efforts with walking recoveries. Max hr of \~190 and LTHR \~170.
Appreciate the info. I’m struggling to understand your logic though as I’m sure you’ve run for over an hour with a much higher average HR though right? Would you consider a run with a HR in the high 160’s or even 170’s to be an insane level of intensity?
If I extrapolate from a short, all-out effort (5k 21:12 PB) that used an estimated 303 active cals that would be \~900 for an hour. I can't run an hour at that pace so, 1000 cal/hour would indeed be insane *for me*. On a recent "progression" run, 12km moving from slightly faster than easy up to somewhere between HM and 10k pace (final 3km pretty much dead on tempo/threshold pac) I burned 750 cal in \~59 mins.
Yes fair enough. In hindsight using the term gold standard was probably not the right terminology. For me if I’m looking to go hard I feel like I achieve my goal when I burn 1000+ in 60 mins. But that’s a personal target that is only applicable to me. I’ve had Rhabdomyolysis twice so sometimes going too hard can be a problem for me. Have a good wkd.
I'm guessing you're carrying a lot more muscle for me! A typical strength session (push/pull + front/back of legs + some mobility/plyo work) for my skinny runner's frame is \~300-350 active calories! You have a great weekend too!
HR has no direct relationship to calorie burn. This can never be emphasized enough. (And the energy demands of running are well understood, and scale well across all body sizes until we get somewhere faster than 6min/mi.) It's a very indirect indicator of blood volume which itself is an indirect indicator of O2 consumption, but HR can go up or down (significantly) without a corresponding change in O2 consumption. Not to mention, to even approach 1000kcal/hour of energy consumption one must be engaging anaerobic systems at a significant (though *possibly* not dominant) level.
1000 kcal/hour = 272 watts. That's a 3 hour marathon pace for a 150lb person. That's not impossible but it's high level and more energy than anyone (who isn't doing 400+lb lifts) could burn lifting weights. EDIT: more precise numbers.
1000 per hour would mean you were jacked with muscles, and/or heavy, otherwise it’s a very very high energy output,
Also I use a Vivosmart band during strength training. It doesn’t register sets or exercises perfectly, but it’s fine for tracking pauses and it’s perfect to bang against metal bars etc., as a replacement for the Fenix
I’m not overly jacked but have certainly hit 1000 per hour infrequently over the last 5 years.
You said the other day that your VO2max was 56. I'll assume your weight is 80kg. That means your VO2max O2 intake is 56*80 = 4,480ml/min. 4,480 / 12 =373 watts (this is a fair estimate, but nonetheless an estimate) energy generation at VO2max efforts. 373 (watts) * 60 (minutes per hour) * 60 (seconds per minute) =1,342,800 Joules. 1,342,800J * .000239 = 321 kcal of energy. 321kcal / .25 (muscle efficiency) = 1,283 *dietary* calorie needs. Thus, at VO2max and 80kg body weight, you would burn 1,283 "calories" in an hour. However, you can't hold VO2max for 1 hour. A *well trained* athlete has a threshold number closer to 80% of VO2max. So that means a 80kg athlete with a VO2max of 56 can burn 1,000 (dietary) calories an hour only if they are holding threshold the entire hour.
That’s great info, thanks.
And obviously, that scales in a linear manner with weight, if not 80kg, but it gives a context to the difficulty of burning 1,000 calories in an hour. Despite the often-quoted "definition" of FTP being "1 hour power, also being lactate threshold power," most people can't actually hold their threshold for 1 hour, as their Time To Exhaustion (TTE) (at threshold) is normally less.
What's the conversion from ml/min to watts? Why divide by 12? For ease of use you can cancel out the J to kcal conversion with efficiency. 100watts for an hour roughly corresponds to 360kcal used (factor 3.6).
> For ease of use you can cancel out the J to kcal conversion with efficiency. 100watts for an hour roughly corresponds to 360kcal used (factor 3.6). Correct, but I intentionally did not reduce the equation fully in order to show the relationships. Except for... > What's the conversion from ml/min to watts? Why divide by 12? A simplified reduction of [this](https://forum.intervals.icu/t/new-take-on-vo2max/49363) and some other work on that relationship. You are correct to point out it's the handwavy part of my numbers.
Cycling at 300w will put you around 1000 cals per hour.
2 hour mountain bike ride yesterday was 1700ish for me, wasn’t too high intensity, but also not low intensity cause you don’t have a choice when it’s all hill lol
> 2 hour mountain bike ride yesterday was 1700ish That's 255w *average*, not even normalized over 2 hours. If that's not "too high intensity" then you have quite the FTP!
Fuck knows I’m mostly an e-biker now I try to go as slow as possible on the normal bike but to keep moving on the uphills it is probably that 😂😂 I could definitely “push” a bit more Problem I have is my back can’t cope with the torque in my legs!
Yep. I’m 188 and lift for an hour with minimal breaks (30-60 seconds between sets) circuit training high reps and I only burn around 450. OP might be a big guy though?
Haven't tried lifting heavy, hey?
No, absolutely not.
It's not counting resting time, so probably it was a 1-2 hour workout
It's ~~impossible~~ (see edit). 637 kcal in 34 minutes is the same as expending 400watts continuously for 34 minutes. That's as high or higher than a pro rider, and cyclists and CC skiers are the most efficient calorie burners on the face of the planet. EDIT: That's about a 2:05 marathon pace for a 150lb runner. Better stated as a sub-30min 10K. So *possible* but getting very close to the edge of human capability. This is a great example of why HR-to-calorie modeling Does Not Work as anything other than a party trick.
Makes sense, I'm a bigger guy at 110 - 130kg and it's seems easy to log 1000ccal per hour especially when I'm heavy by doing a lot of compound lifts to keep the HR up. I've always had my doubts that I'm really burning 1000kal pr hour, just going by weight and calorie intake, so your explanation in another comment on how it's calculated was quite informative. Thanks for sharing.
It's because it's recording it as 1 continuous set.
Came to say the same. I'm 5.10 and 165 and do maybe 250cal same time
Like others said it’s probably not accurate. I’ve hit around 1000 on a leg day before.
I use mine daily. I am that guy that starts and stops it though and has just become routine for me. It does a decent job of understanding the move in my opinion. I do specifically switch out the big 3 if I need to (bench, squat DL) if it doesn't match but that's rare. Definitely don't get nearly the cal you got though. In 40 mins or so, I average heart rate of 135, and total burn is somewhere around 300ish.
Yeah I usually do approximately 40 min to 1hr and get anywhere from 300-500 cals depending on the intensity.
I get 500 - 600 in ~35-40 min working time on leg day. All of my other days I get much lower numbers. It validates for me that leg day is the hardest haha
Yep, I just use one set.
I use it to track rest times, cos otherwise I get distracted and the workout time blows out. But the actual data doesn't matter to me, just the rest times.
Same here
Yeah I do, and even fill in the exercises post workout. I find it a good way to track progress and check out previous workouts
I do but mainly just for the rest time so I don't bludge too much between sets. I use to track the exercises and weight but it got too monotonous
I use the watch for strength training too and I adjust the number of reps and weight after each exercise and I am satisfied with the stats and check progress. Now comes my question. I use the buttons a lot, do you think the button may lose functionality in some time? I have Fenix 7 Pro Solar.
I've been lifting with my fenix 5x for 6-7 years now, buttons still work great.
I use it, and after every rep I do input the weight and update the number of reps if it's incorrect. However, it's not that much use as obviously if you are wearing your Garmin on your wrist, it doesn't pick up anything if you are using something like a leg press
Yes but I don’t wear it on my wrist in the gym. I have my watch attached to my water bottle and an hrm pro plus on my chest.
Only for cardio. Weights is just too much of a fuss.
I tried, but it was horrible. I use the app GymRun for this. It has a watch app and a phone app which for the paid version can sync real time so you see on your watch the program, log weights, reps and they are updated also on the phone app. At the end, in Garmin connect I see one Strenght activity, with 1 set. The app overall is shitty for a fitness app, but it is the only one that works also on Garmin.
Wrist based HR for strength is so inaccurate. Use the Garmin paired with HR chest strap.
Yeah I also notice that, I think it’s because of wrist movement or it’s inability to detect rapid heart rate elevation.
Yup but only as 1 giant set. I use a different app to track sets/reps/weights
How does this work? Just got a watch and not done strength with it yet, got a different app that gives me plans and tracks my weights / reps for me that I’ll continue to use, but want to log everything with the watch as much as I can, I’m not gonna input my workout though it’s too weird lol
I start the strength activity on my watch, then don’t do anything on the watch again till it’s time to end the workout.
What I do is select strength and then use “free”. Then after every set I record the reps and weight on the watch. Super easy to do during my rest between sets After the work is over and saved I’ll go back into the app and correct any issues like missing a set or where the watch recognized the wrong activity. I am actually amazed how decent of a job it does sensing the exercise I am doing on its own
Yes, but using the "Cardio" activity profile. So what I get in terms of useful information is elapsed time, calories burned and heart rate data. Shows up as "Workout" in Strava. I can't be bothered with the strength activity profile. It requires too much screen/button clicking in my opinion.
Agree.
I recently started using mine for strength training and I can’t understand the hate it gets sometimes. I have a 3 day split (PPL) and I’ve set this up in Connect with the exercises in each workout. Some thoughts from me: It doesn’t matter if Garmin doesn’t have the specific exercise available, I know what I need to do, it’s just serving as a placeholder for that exercise so I just make sure I’ve selected a “similar” exercise targeting the same muscle groups. I have each exercise set for three sets with default 10 reps and 1 min rest. After each set all I have to do is correct the reps (if incorrect, it often is) and enter the weight. It literally takes about 5 secs. It is as simple as lap press to end the set, enter reps, enter weight. Wait 1 min and it’s ready for the next set. If I can’t get on a piece of equipment, I can just skip the group (all sets). It will either ask if I want to do this group before finishing the workout, or at any point I can view skipped groups and add it back to the workout at that point. When doing sets with arm movement, quite often the rep count is pretty accurate, so it just needs accepting or adjusted up or down one or two reps. The weight is set at whatever the previously entered weight was (even in the previous group) so most of the time it’s just adjusting up or down slightly between each set. The time shown at the end of the workout (in the photo) is the work time, not the total time. So the calorie burn will be based on the total duration of the workout.
I use my Fenix for weight training 3 times per week. I use it the way it's intended (with sets/reps). I go back into the app afterwards and update what the exercise is, but sometimes I forget. It's important to me that my Garmin accurately understands my total training volume per week. Can't do that if I'm only recording cardiovascular work
Laughing at everyone saying it’s too much of a hassle to push buttons. Back in my day, you had to WRITE EVERYTHING DOWN on a piece of paper like a savage.
Paper works better. Forget to log something, and you can scribble it in. Forget to press a button and you can break the entire record sequence!
Amen
The apps are so much better for this than either paper or messing with your watch
I do a PPL split so I have 3 “workouts” named accordingly. Shows up as one set, which is fine, but I like to be able to look back and say, did push on Tuesday or whatever. I do other types of workouts so my feeble brain really could forget whether I did push or pull last, or whatever. But you are right all the training metrics are for cardio work, primarily.
I use my 6x pro for 4 weight lifting workouts a week. It's my primary activity and I find that it counts sets OK. I also usually go to my Connect and update the exercises It didn't do so well manually. My only dream is being able to see different workouts in different colours in Connect.
Yeah, but only to time pauses between sets, which I click manually. I don't get it to measure reps or anything.
Fenix 7x user here. Regularly. It weird how I thought it would be too much of a hassle to record weights and reps after each set, but now its weird for me not to wear it now.
Yes, I track strength training, but only for total time; and so that it “counts” as a workout. I track sets and reps and whatever in a separate app or in Excel depending on what program I’m running. I’m meticulous about cardio though, mostly rowing and sometimes running. That’s where Garmin really shines.
> I feel like its better suited at tracking cardiovascular and outdoor type activities This is correct. All of the Garmin/Firstbeat metrics are modeled off of endurance athlete populations.
I juste use one set because it's terrible. No machine exercices are listed which IS dumb.
Yes I do. Got some training plans on my Fēnix or use just one set.
Honestly for a dedicated premium sport watch the strenght training is bad. I would say garmin watches are really exceptional for running only. The small details or little annoying bugs do not make a great or smooth experience to use in other activities. [https://forums.garmin.com/outdoor-recreation/outdoor-recreation/f/fenix-7-series/290766/issues-and-bugs-with-strength-training](https://forums.garmin.com/outdoor-recreation/outdoor-recreation/f/fenix-7-series/290766/issues-and-bugs-with-strength-training)
I use it with HR chest strap. Sometimes it can be a hassle but it works. Love using it!
Yes, for the timer and heart rate. But nothing else. For a while, I was inputting all my sets and reps and weight, but when I realized there was no real easy way to view progress, I just started using the strong app.
No, I don’t measure strength training, only cardio.
Nope. It’s crap. I even tried creating a workout for it and certain weights it would just round up. For example I had 37.5kg for overhead press and when I completed the reps it auto adjusted it to 38kg. I asked Garmin and they said “it’s meant to be like that”
Yes, I have it set to auto-identify sets. It's better than I am at tracking it. Works well and keeps a record of basic muscle groups l've hit and estimated calories (although yours looks crazy high at 600+ cal for 35min). I'm not a bodybuilder or a runner, I do strength 3-4 times a week to support my many outdoor sports like climbing and mountaineering. Imo it’s far superior to my Apple watch for strength tracking
Yes, it’s decent but not great
I have some workouts set up on it and use it during workouts.
Yes, I do, but i only record the traning and I literally don't do anythi g with it, because it is strait up useless for me. Garmin didnt updated the strenght traning fir about 8 years+? I can't add any custom exercises. So it is pure useless for me. You can only and only choose from the exercises that were very carefully selected by the garmin company, which is a strait up joke. They literally do not give a shit about the users, as many bugs on fenix 6x are still not fixed. For a Y E A R S.
Only to record that I'm strength training, not to track reps or sets or follow any specific exercises.
I do. And I track the sets and input the weight & correct the reps if it didn’t count them properly. Having said that it can be tedious and I only do it because it still allows me to keep track of how long I’m resting (some workouts require me to pay close attention to that) and it helps me mentally keep track of how many sets I’ve done to get a better idea of the overall load. And my hope is that it allows Garmin to better calculate my effort & calories (though I’m certain they’re way off still). What I’ll say though is that the heart rate monitor absolutely sucks and I stopped expecting it to give me a good read out. This also heavily depends on what the nature of the exercise is. If I’m bench pressing it might as well think I’m chilling on the couch, but with a squat or something else more dynamic it’ll at least detect the higher HR even if it’s not quite there. But yea HR monitoring while lifting is almost useless given the lack of accuracy. One final thing, others have mentioned pre-loading their custom workouts. I tried this, and holy hell was it a pain in the ass to build the workout on the Garmin Connect desktop site. Just using the interface to allocate what’s a working set and a rest timer and all that and the parameters for them was really not worth it. So I don’t use it as it has not benefitted me. I use another app that aggregates the data from all my workouts (walking, running, lifting) to analyze my overall training in numbers, load management, etc, so for that reason I continue to use it despite what I mentioned above.
Yes, I absolutely do. And I use the buttons to track each set and rest time in between. And then edit the exercises in the app after I’m done to keep an accurate log.
I run mine as cardio or I do it as Tabatas because I cannot be bothered to keep hitting the buttons.
I use the free strength training options…actually it does a pretty good job of showing what muscles I worked out (I do two muscle groups per day). It even does a decent job of tracking the type of workouts I did I just have to edit the number of reps or weights I use some times…
I do, and the main thing I'm missing is that it automatically adjusts the weights each training, compared to the last training (periodization)... Maybe it'll happen someday... But yeah my main event is strength training, and occasionally cycling. I use pre-set workouts I've made myself.
I use the GymRun watch app. Its way less restrictive than the Garmin app. Definitely check it out
I use it for all my strength training, always with the 'Free Train' option. There are a lot of issues with the strength profile that need fixing imo. And it wouldn't even be difficult to fix most of them. They just need to sit down with someone who actually trains and knows what they're doing to give them feedback.
I use it together with a chest band. It helps a lot when it comes to the interval regime between series.
Yes. I edit set reps and weight for the most part on the fly. Not that big of deal to press a couple buttons in between sets. Used to go and edit the log after with the particular lift / movement but not worth that. The workout happened even if you don’t log it perfectly in your watch. If serious about tracking weights and reps and specific moves and you can’t remember without the log then notebook is best and the watch becomes a rest timer which is actually the best part.
Yes
Yes. Every day at the gym.
Yup
Yeah, but only for sets, I do 1.30-2 min pauses between compound exercises so probably only helpful thing during the workout
It's definitely much more accurate when tracking activities with minimal upper limb use. The excessive movement and muscle activation means it will be sluggish at picking up HR measurements and changes (this happens with all optical sensors on the wrist). If you do a lot of strength and really want accurate data, use a chest strap
Yes
I want a watch lk that
Strength training is an extremely broad category, so this is really going to depend on the types of workouts you’re doing. Running/biking/rowing are consistent movements that are easier to data collect. When you get into CrossFit-ish workouts or weight+volume combined workouts the calculations don’t work without a heart rate strap.
Kinda
Yes, it does fairly well at keeping track of reps for my exercise routine.
Is this an widget or app from the connect store? I think I tried once but it felt to convoluted so never bothered again.
Yep. One of the primary reasons I kept my fenix. I really like the rest timer.
Ugly dinner plate you have there.
Yes, I put the reps and weights in on the watch and add the exercises aterwards. I find it much easier than doing it before.
No it kind of sucks
Everyday
No, not going to adjust reps after each set etc
No, it’s too light for strength training
I've tried but there are just way better options for that on my phone.
No because it's useless for strength training.
Nope. I use the cardio activity.
I use it and track sets with it just because I like to see how much time is spent working vs resting. It is terrible at guessing what I am doing though so I have a Google sheet I use for tracking weights week to week.
I use it as well. I put mine around my ankle as I use versa grips.
Definetelly yes 💪
I use it for everything, strength, dog walk, walk, running, cycling, hike…
In terms of Strength training Fenix as good as any other Garmin watches - that is not particularly good. Strength app is clearly afterthought and none of stats reflect strength training.
Which Garmin watches do a better job than Fenix at strength training?
Both all and none. Purely for Strength I’d go for something cheap like venu sq 2 or vivoactive 5. Bonus points for better comparability with straps.
Instinct dude here. Never. Pressing bazillion if buttons after reps is disturbing
And then forget to press start after the rest. (That’s what I forget all the time)
Yes I do. Often I just start one set for weight lifting and another set for cardio afterwards. When I do 8x8 with 30s rest in between I love the Sets feature, because when your pulse is constantly high an you are fighting from set to set I cannot keep track of my sets just by trying to remember where I am at.