Garmin Edge 530 Owners Manual - Page 11

indication of athletic performance and should increase as your level of fitness improves. VO2 max. estimates are provided and supported by Firstbeat. You can use your Garmin device paired with a compatible heart rate monitor and power meter to display your cycling VO2 max. estimate. Getting Your VO2 Max. Estimate Before you can view your VO2 max. estimate, you must put on the heart rate monitor, install the power meter, and pair them with your device (Pairing Your Wireless Sensors, page 15). If your device was packaged with a heart rate monitor, the device and sensor are already paired. For the most accurate estimate, complete the user profile setup (Setting Up Your User Profile, page 18), and set your maximum heart rate (Setting Your Heart Rate Zones, page 14). NOTE: The estimate may seem inaccurate at first. The device requires a few rides to learn about your cycling performance. 1 Ride at a steady, high intensity for at least 20 minutes outdoors. 2 After your ride, select Save Ride. 3 Select Menu > My Stats > Training Status > VO2 Max.. Your VO2 max. estimate appears as a number and position on the color gauge. NOTE: The heat acclimation feature is available only for GPS activities and requires weather data from your connected smartphone. Full acclimation takes a minimum of 4 training days. Training Load Training load is a measurement of your training volume over the last seven days. It is the sum of your excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) measurements for the last seven days. The gauge indicates whether your current load is low, high, or within the optimal range to maintain or improve your fitness level. The optimal range is determined based on your individual fitness level and training history. The range adjusts as your training time and intensity increase or decrease. Getting Your Training Load Estimate Before you can view your training load estimate, you must put on the heart rate monitor, install the power meter, and pair them with your device (Pairing Your Wireless Sensors, page 15). If your device was packaged with a heart rate monitor, the device and sensor are already paired. For the most accurate estimate, complete the user profile setup (Setting Up Your User Profile, page 18), and set your maximum heart rate (Setting Your Heart Rate Zones, page 14). NOTE: The estimate may seem inaccurate at first. The device requires a few rides to learn about your cycling performance. 1 Ride at least once during a seven day period. 2 Select Menu > My Stats > Training Status > Load. Your training load estimate appears as a number and position on the color gauge. Purple Blue Green Orange Red Superior Excellent Good Fair Poor VO2 max. data and analysis is provided with permission from The Cooper Institute®. For more information, see the appendix (VO2 Max. Standard Ratings, page 26), and go to www.CooperInstitute.org. Tips for Cycling VO2 Max. Estimates The success and accuracy of the VO2 max. calculation improves when your ride is a sustained and moderately hard effort, and where heart rate and power are not highly variable. • Before your ride, check that your device, heart rate monitor, and power meter are functioning properly, paired, and have good battery life. • During your 20 minute ride, maintain your heart rate at greater than 70% of your maximum heart rate. • During your 20 minute ride, maintain a fairly constant power output. • Avoid rolling terrain. • Avoid riding in groups where there is a lot of drafting. Heat and Altitude Performance Acclimation Environmental factors such as high temperature and altitude impact your training and performance. For example, high altitude training can have a positive impact on your fitness, but you may notice a temporary VO2 max. decline while exposed to high altitudes. Your Edge 530 device provides acclimation notifications and corrections to your VO2 max. estimate and training status when the temperature is above 22ºC (72ºF) and when the altitude is above 800 m (2625 ft.). You can keep track of your heat and altitude acclimation in the training status widget. Orange Green Blue High Optimal Low Training Load Focus In order to maximize performance and fitness gains, training should be distributed across three categories: low aerobic, high aerobic, and anaerobic. Training load focus shows you how much of your training is currently in each category and provides training targets. Training load focus requires at least 7 days of training to determine if your training load is low, optimal, or high. After 4 weeks of training history, your training load estimate will have more detailed target information to help you balance your training activities. Below targets: Your training load is lower than optimal in all intensity categories. Try increasing the duration or frequency of your workouts. Low aerobic shortage: Try adding more low aerobic activities to provide recovery and balance for your higher intensity activities. High aerobic shortage: Try adding more high aerobic activities to help improve your lactate threshold and VO2 max. over time. Anaerobic shortage: Try adding a few more intense, anaerobic activities to improve your speed and anaerobic capacity over time. Balanced: Your training load is balanced and provides allaround fitness benefits as you continue training. My Stats 7