Just bought a Garmin 920xt and tend to get lost in the features and not make the most of these fine pieces of technology. So for those of you who have and love this watch, what are the features I need to make sure to most take advantage of. Save normal stuff from the 910. I’m good with pace/distance/duration on run, swolf in pool and tend to use my 510 more on the bike than the watch. But I def didn’t maximize the possibilities of the 910 and don’t want to make the same mistake with the 920!
Use heart rate and hr zones in your training It’s revolutionized my training and allowed me to build my running without getting injured. A lot of people here will tell you it’s crap, but I love the recovery functions. Both during excercise where it tells you how recovered you are and also the function that tells you how much recovery time you need before performing a similar effort. I’m a huge fan of these features of the watch.
Use heart rate and hr zones in your training It’s revolutionized my training and allowed me to build my running without getting injured. A lot of people here will tell you it’s crap, but I love the recovery functions. Both during excercise where it tells you how recovered you are and also the function that tells you how much recovery time you need before performing a similar effort. I’m a huge fan of these features of the watch.
Def was looking forward to this and have dabbled a bit in the past. How exactly does it work on the 920? Didn’t find a ton of info on the use of the HR Zones and Recovery functionality in DC Rainmaker’s review.
Use heart rate and hr zones in your training It’s revolutionized my training and allowed me to build my running without getting injured. A lot of people here will tell you it’s crap, but I love the recovery functions. Both during excercise where it tells you how recovered you are and also the function that tells you how much recovery time you need before performing a similar effort. I’m a huge fan of these features of the watch.
By ‘how recovered you are’ do you mean the little thing that pops up 10 minutes in? For me, 98% of the time it says ‘good’, so I just ignore it. I’ve seen ‘fair’ a couple of times after long rides where I would do a short run after. I just learned a mile into an ironman run this weekend that ‘poor’ is also an option (which did feel pretty accurate). But all in all, I don’t think this is helpful.
The HR zone function, on the other hand, is great. Especially during long runs when I lose the ability to calculate how far out of my ‘zone’ I have drifted.
How does it determine your HR zones? Manual input or does it calculate based on a series of runs that will then set thresholds?
How does it determine your HR zones? Manual input or does it calculate based on a series of runs that will then set thresholds?
You need to input your own zones based on whatever testing method you’ve used to derive them. Easiest place to enter them is in Garmin Connect and send them to your 920 via Garmin Express.
How does it determine your HR zones? Manual input or does it calculate based on a series of runs that will then set thresholds?From the manual:
Select Preference > Set Custom > Based On.Select an option:
Select BPM to view and edit the zones in beats per minute.Select %Max. HR to view and edit the zones as a percentage of your maximum heart rate.Select %HRR to view and edit the zones as a percentage of your heart rate reserve (maximum heart rate minus resting heart rate).Select Max. HR, and enter your maximum heart rate.Select a zone, and enter a value for each zone.Select Resting HR, and enter your resting heart rate.
I was wondering the same, I don’t let the watch in multiple mode when doin bricks and it only put “fair” on once. “Poor” I only saw after IM doin an hour easy spin at recovery heart rate the next day. but doubt to put in same effort after the recommended 4 days recovery.
A lot of people here will tell you it’s crap, but I love the recovery functions.
The “recovery advisor” functions (in-activity feedback and post-activity recovery time estimate) do not help me. I think of an “advisor” as someone who tells you something you didn’t know already, and on event also corroborates with the thoughts you already had. I have been training by heart rate from well before recovery advisor existed. I input HR zones because I train by HR. I have the recovery advisor enabled in order to detect any changes in algorithm that may cause it to start being helpful in the future. So far, it has never told me something that later on I thought “hmmm… that little recovery advisor was right, and I was wrong, I should have waited to do today’s speed workout tomorrow…” That has most definitely never happened in my training.
I really like the tracking feature. Really nice on those long rides and runs so that family can track you and not worry that you have gotten into trouble way out in the middle of nowhere.
How does it determine your HR zones? Manual input or does it calculate based on a series of runs that will then set thresholds?
You need to input your own zones based on whatever testing method you’ve used to derive them. Easiest place to enter them is in Garmin Connect and send them to your 920 via Garmin Express.
The watch will automatically set your zones based of your maximum heart rate, which I believe is estimated based off the 220 - age. But don’t use this. As he said you need to input them yourself. And if you’ve never trainer with HR before you need to do tests to figure it out. I suggest the Friel Lactate Threshold Heart Rate (LTHR) test. That’s what I used and it has been incredibly helpful.
In regards to the recovery advisor. The part that tells you how recovered you are after a few minutes of running…yes, it almost always says good. But I’ve definitely had it say ‘fair’ a good amount and ‘poor’ a few times. I’m new to HR training so I have found it helpful, maybe others are experts and know their body better than I know mine. But if I ever see the poor of fair I know I need to take it easy that day.
I really like the recovery advisor function that tells you how long you have to wait before you are full recovered. You need to realize something though…this is not saying you need X amount of hours before doing your next workout. It is saying you need X amount of hours before repeating that effort. So if you do a speed workout and the watch tells you 40 hours of recovery it means wait 40 hours before replicating that effort. It does not mean you can’t do anything for 40 hours.
One more thing regarding setting up your zones…if you set them on Garmin Connect, which I recommend, make sure you actually send them to your watch! I thought I did and for about 3-4 months was very frustrated and confused by what the watch was telling me. I finally found out I never actually sent the numbers! After sending them and having things set up correctly, my training took a hugely positive turn in the right direction.
I’ve said this on another thread regarding this watch; by training with HR and using the correct zones and recovery functions of this watch, I have really turned my running around. I was running 20mpw consistently during Aug/Sept. It might not sound a lot, but that’s a big deal for me. Because of injury, I wasn’t even running that much during my IM training. I’m now up to 30mpw and I’ve never felt better. And I’m seeing my times drop. I owe a lot of this to using the watch and training by heart rate. It’s entailed a lot of slower running but it has worked and the watch has helped me stay within my zones and not over do it so I can come back the next day and go again.
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I really like the recovery advisor function that tells you how long you have to wait before you are full recovered. You need to realize something though…this is not saying you need X amount of hours before doing your next workout. It is saying you need X amount of hours before repeating that effort. So if you do a speed workout and the watch tells you 40 hours of recovery it means wait 40 hours before replicating that effort. It does not mean you can’t do anything for 40 hours.
So is that recovery time determined by your current heart rate at a certain pace? Watch basically determines if you are capable of exerting a certain effort based on a comparison of your heart rate at the current effort to your heart rate during a past effort?
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I really like the recovery advisor function that tells you how long you have to wait before you are full recovered. You need to realize something though…this is not saying you need X amount of hours before doing your next workout. It is saying you need X amount of hours before repeating that effort. So if you do a speed workout and the watch tells you 40 hours of recovery it means wait 40 hours before replicating that effort. It does not mean you can’t do anything for 40 hours.
So is that recovery time determined by your current heart rate at a certain pace? Watch basically determines if you are capable of exerting a certain effort based on a comparison of your heart rate at the current effort to your heart rate during a past effort?
I think it is actually based on the amount of time you spend in each zone. At the end of each run, one of the metrics you can analyze is how much of your run was spent in each zone. I have found that running in Z1/Z2 will generally give you 24 hours of recovery or less if the run is under 50 mins or so. If you’re running over 60 mins then you’re adding recovery time on, even at easy efforts. If you’re spending time in Z3/4/5 then your adding recovery hours a lot more quickly.
Awesome. Anyone using it as a daily watch? The activity tracker and sleep monitor? Any value in those tools?
Here are my list of noteworthy features from my perspective:
- VO2 Max Estimates - I’ve done the actual testing and this comes within 3-5 points of that after it’s got enough data. I also like how it separates Running and Cycling VO2 Max figures
- Race Estimates - I love knowing that with all this data collected and all the numbers crunched my potential is displayed to me. It’s helped me push harder because I know theoretically the watch says I can go faster so it must be true right?
- Personal Records - I love to be able to showcase the times all my hard work has resulted in for those who are genuinely curious to know. Not to be mistaken for having a tool to brag to everybody and their mother about your glorious triumphs in endurance sport.
- Alerts during activities - After doing a lot of experimenting with this I’ve found these to be really great for me, especially in open water. I can set a time interval and know what distance I can cover and then focus on hitting those targets like a pace clock in the pool. Just be sure you set it to vibrate so you feel it because it’s near impossible to hear while in the water.
- Health & Wellness Tracking - I don’t care so much about the steps but I do find the sleep information very intriguing. I’ve estimated my sleep patterns before but now I have a historical view on those days leading into an event which are critical.
- Notifications - I get a lot of people asking me “What watch I have” when they catch me checking a notification for an email or phone call. This isn’t on the radar of even the geekiest of tech nerds out there and I have found it’s a great ice breaker to get into a good conversation about the future of sports technology. Yes I am a nerd at heart
- Styling - If you’ve seen the 910 and the 310 it’s safe to say that being able to wear the $700 watch you’ve purchased full time is a bit of a luxury but a welcomed addition to the 920. I don’t think I ever take mine off longer than it takes to charge the battery up again.
- Add New Activity Types - Last but not least is the ability to add your own custom “Mode” to the options available. For me I’ve added 3 Extra ones: a. Recovery/Stretch b. Strength Training c. Stopwatch
There are a ton of other interesting features but for me these take the cake. I came from a 3 device setup FR220/SWIM/EDGE 510 and now I only use the Edge and the 920 for EVERYTHING. It’s so much nicer not to worry about 3 batteries being charged.
Awesome. Anyone using it as a daily watch? The activity tracker and sleep monitor? Any value in those tools?
I think it’s hugely valuable. Lack of sleep might be the greatest thing that affects your mood and energy day to day. You can try to log it by hand all you want, but having it done automatically is way better. And you can look at the graph and see how many times you woke up in the night. Proof for your S.O. that you sleep better with the TV in the other room, dog indoors, or whatever changes you want to make. (Cat in a straight jacket).
I use it as a daily watch. My wife has a fitbit and the steps on the fitbit seem really high or the Garmin is really low. The sleep sensor function is good. I like the Garmin App and love how everything syncs up immediatly. I have it linked to my training log on Beginnertriathlete.com (been using it for years and don’t want to change). It also automatically updates to Strava, mapmyrun etc. I love that you can change the watch faces through the App. Some of the little apps you can download such as the Weather and calander I use on a daily basis as well. As for the SBR functions go I really appreciate the swimming automatic lap counter and notification when you hit a determined distance or time. It saves my brain power to focus on my form and not counting laps. The bike is pretty straigtforward with power, heart rate, speed cadence but i like that it has an indoor training mode so you don’t have to mess with the GPS settings. Same with the Run and treadmill run. I would buy a screen protector for the face though. It scratches pretty easily. Just buy those cheap cell phone protectors and cut it out. The watch also serves as an automatic visualization of my arrogance as a triathlete.
How does it determine your HR zones? Manual input or does it calculate based on a series of runs that will then set thresholds?
You need to input your own zones based on whatever testing method you’ve used to derive them. Easiest place to enter them is in Garmin Connect and send them to your 920 via Garmin Express.
The watch will automatically set your zones based of your maximum heart rate, which I believe is estimated based off the 220 - age. But don’t use this. As he said you need to input them yourself. And if you’ve never trainer with HR before you need to do tests to figure it out. I suggest the Friel Lactate Threshold Heart Rate (LTHR) test. That’s what I used and it has been incredibly helpful.
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I use pace (run) and power (cycling) to train. It is nice to see how heart rate correlates on different days and at different points in the training cycle. I just memorize my zones because, please correct me if I am wrong, I haven’t found a way to change from the 5 zones to 7. I use Friel’s 7 zones for HR and it seems you are stuck with 5 which if true, is really lame that you can’t customize your number of zones.