We’ve had running dynamics on our watches for some time now collecting tons of data, storing it, charting it … but has anyone ever used it?
Assuming that I don’t have any gross imbalances is there anything to do with this data?
If your cadence is abnormally low then it is probably good to get it into a normal range.I guess a smaller ground contact time is always a good thing but at what point do you need to work on it? How do you work on it?Same for vertical oscillation, presumably it should be minimized, but at what point does it become something that you need to work on? How do you change it?
I would recommend working on cadence if it’s crazy low, I’ve done that with a tempo trainer. The way to change everything else is to just run more, and sometimes run fast. Your body is incredibly good at finding the appropriate form for your current state of fitness, technique will improve as your fitness does.
95% of run “form†problems resolve themselves through proper, well structured, run training over time.
I would recommend working on cadence if it’s crazy low, I’ve done that with a tempo trainer. The way to change everything else is to just run more, and sometimes run fast. Your body is incredibly good at finding the appropriate form for your current state of fitness, technique will improve as your fitness does.
Cadence is very subjective to the individual.
Running dynamics, specifically? No. (cadence is not part of that category, as it is included without having a RD capable device). And a slight (barely perceptible) elevation in cadence (<5% or so) is generally beneficial for most normal people.
I can’t think of anything anyone should do with RD data directly. Ie, you shouldn’t work on your L/R balance. You should absolutely NOT try to directly alter your gate to “even out” the L/R imbalance. That would more than likely lead to injury. Your running gate (and implied dynamics) are the **result **of a complex set of interactions between your biomechanics, and run pace, and run surface, etc.
If you have a significant abnormality (60/40 L/R imbalance or something), perhaps you should understand why, and discuss with an Ortho/PT if the underlying cause should be dealt with in some way. But, that would be through strengthening, flexibility, coordination, stability work that might eventually result in a change to your gate. Ie, work on the cause, and let the effect handle itself. But, only with qualified, professional help.
I just got a new Garmin HR strap, more to accurately track HR vs getting the dynamics. The dynamics were good to see, but no surprises as to what affects the numbers. When you run faster ground contact time decreases, cadence increases, vertical oscillation decreases, vertical oscillation % decreases. Not surprises! I only purchased it to have more reliable HR data than my watch based Garmin 735xt, which it definitely does. I would never pay just for the dynamics itself, just common sense what the numbers do. I haven’t changed anything because of the dynamics that I see. The only ones that would cause me to focus on change would be cadence and ground contact balance.
I just got a new Garmin HR strap, more to accurately track HR vs getting the dynamics. The dynamics were good to see, but no surprises as to what affects the numbers. When you run faster ground contact time decreases, cadence increases, vertical oscillation decreases, vertical oscillation % decreases. Not surprises! I only purchased it to have more reliable HR data than my watch based Garmin 735xt, which it definitely does. I would never pay just for the dynamics itself, just common sense what the numbers do. I haven’t changed anything because of the dynamics that I see. The only ones that would cause me to focus on change would be cadence and ground contact balance.
OT: ** I wish you luck.** I’ve had a total of 10 Garmin straps (HRM-TRI, HRM-RUN, HRM-PRO, and several hard and soft straps). Only the very first first one (a HRM-TRI that came with my 920XT, circa 2016) lasted more than a year. Many have lasted less than 3 months before starting to read erratically. I have switched to a Wahoo TICKR—too soon to tell if that’s better. But, at least it is half the price.
What I’ve been told is that these metrics are largely useless, in that they’re not actionable.
As for cadence, I did try to “artificially” increase my cadence. I succeeded in raising it to 180 steps a minute in a zone 2 run (which was my completely pointless goal). Also, I shortened my stride length, because you know, simple arithmetic. As a result, I was running slower than before at higher intensities, basically looking like a hamster or a hen and moving at a snail’s pace. Do not do this.
Wow, I hope I have better luck with reliability and durability than that. I assume if you went through that many before shifting brands that you were given replacements? I just had my 3 year old Garmin 735xt replaced at no charge because it was foggy around the screen and starting to have flickering numbers. I was really impressed with Garmin’s customer service, but would prefer to just have a product that is consistently reliable and durable for a long life! Fingers crossed!
I just got a new Garmin HR strap, more to accurately track HR vs getting the dynamics. The dynamics were good to see, but no surprises as to what affects the numbers. When you run faster ground contact time decreases, cadence increases, vertical oscillation decreases, vertical oscillation % decreases. Not surprises! I only purchased it to have more reliable HR data than my watch based Garmin 735xt, which it definitely does. I would never pay just for the dynamics itself, just common sense what the numbers do. I haven’t changed anything because of the dynamics that I see. The only ones that would cause me to focus on change would be cadence and ground contact balance.
OT: ** I wish you luck.** I’ve had a total of 10 Garmin straps (HRM-TRI, HRM-RUN, HRM-PRO, and several hard and soft straps). Only the very first first one (a HRM-TRI that came with my 920XT, circa 2016) lasted more than a year. Many have lasted less than 3 months before starting to read erratically. I have switched to a Wahoo TICKR—too soon to tell if that’s better. But, at least it is half the price.
I had the same issues as you. Garmin straps would die after ~1 year and would require a new strap (electronics were good). Electronics would die after a battery change no matter how much care was taken during it. After going through a couple, I switched to a Tickr back in 2017 and it’s still going strong.
I just got a new Garmin HR strap, more to accurately track HR vs getting the dynamics. The dynamics were good to see, but no surprises as to what affects the numbers. When you run faster ground contact time decreases, cadence increases, vertical oscillation decreases, vertical oscillation % decreases. Not surprises! I only purchased it to have more reliable HR data than my watch based Garmin 735xt, which it definitely does. I would never pay just for the dynamics itself, just common sense what the numbers do. I haven’t changed anything because of the dynamics that I see. The only ones that would cause me to focus on change would be cadence and ground contact balance.
OT: ** I wish you luck.** I’ve had a total of 10 Garmin straps (HRM-TRI, HRM-RUN, HRM-PRO, and several hard and soft straps). Only the very first first one (a HRM-TRI that came with my 920XT, circa 2016) lasted more than a year. Many have lasted less than 3 months before starting to read erratically. I have switched to a Wahoo TICKR—too soon to tell if that’s better. But, at least it is half the price.
I had the same issues as you. Garmin straps would die after ~1 year and would require a new strap (electronics were good). Electronics would die after a battery change no matter how much care was taken during it. After going through a couple, I switched to a Tickr back in 2017 and it’s still going strong.
They aren’t all bad. I had an HRM-Tri give me 26 months of almost daily use (October 2020 to December 2022, 4 batteries replaced, 2 Ironman builds). Previous to that I had the HRM-Run that I got two battery replacements before it got too funky to wear.
Yea, I’ve had very good luck with them too. That being said, I have had to replace quite a few over the years. However, that is a piece of equipment that takes a lot of wear and tear. As such, I expect to replace it from time to time. It is similar to the Garmin watch bands for me.
They aren’t all bad. I had an HRM-Tri give me 26 months of almost daily use (October 2020 to December 2022, 4 batteries replaced, 2 Ironman builds). Previous to that I had the HRM-Run that I got two battery replacements before it got too funky to wear.
Yes, they pretty much are. I have had multiple copies of every HRM strap Garmin makes. Just because one serial-number or another lasts longer than a year, doesn’t mean they don’t suck. My first HRM-tri lasted 3 years with 15 hours a week of tri training. Then it died. I bought another to replace it. Failed in 6 weeks. Warranty replacement. Died in 4 weeks. Garmin Warranty replaced that with an HRM-RUN (basically same features as HRM-tri but in a revised design). Died in 3 months. Warranty replaced that with an HRM-PRO. Lasted 10 months.
I had two hard straps from other Garmin purchases that came with a strap. Each lasted less than a year. I bought a soft strap as part of troubleshooting the HRM-* straps above. It died in 4 months. Warranty replaced. Died in 2 months.
The above is not just “bad luck” with a well designed family of products. I’ve spent decades designing commercial and industrial electronic products for a living. This type of issue is clearly indicative of poor design practice, poor mfg quality control, or probably both. When you couple the fact that Garmin straps are ~2x the price of everyone else, and don’t last more than a year in numerous cases, and in most of their designs the electronics are integrated into the strap (so every failure is a complete replacement)…that’s just poor engineering.
For reference, I had 3x Polar analog HR straps that I bought back in 1999 (for the S710 if anyone remembers that device) or so, that still worked in 2018 after I replaced the batteries. I don’t necessarily expect every strap to last 19 years. I gave them away to a guy with a Computrainer a few years ago. 3-5 years would be fine.