cardio load

[clodagh74]

My cardio load target is 157 to 217, but I never meet it, rarely get above 90. I do cardio, power walking and spinning a few times a week, along with Pilates. Am I under-training?

[KatherineNY]

hi @clodagh74 Go by how you feel, don't go strictly by the stats.  What it's going to do depending on your goal settings is to push you to do more to improve the "stats".

[YachatsMike · Accepted solution]

The Cardio Load Target is based on a couple of things.

The first is your Cardio Load of the last 4 weeks.  Your weekly average is exponentially (later scores given more weight than earlier ones) averaged and used as a base.  That is your "fitness" factor.

The second factor is your average over the last 7 days.  That is used as a measure of how hard you've been working currently  That is your "fatigue" factor.

The third factor is your fitness goal.  Do you want to maintain the fitness level you had over the last four weeks or do you want to improve it?.  (Notice that there is no standard you're shooting for..  It's just whether you want to maintain or improve.).

They calculate a ratio by dividing your fatigue score by your fitness score.  There is a sweet spot between 0.8 and 1.3 where you aren't under-training or over-training.  The target is calculated to meet your goals while staying in the sweet spot.

What affects your target a lot are recovery days.  They are rest days that add zeros to the fatigue calculation.  I think the Fitbit algorithm jacks up targets to make up for the drop in average Cardio Load those zeroes caused. I've noticed that the numbers look kind of crazy sometimes.

[clodagh74]

Thanks, makes much more sense now.

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Hi. That's good advice, thank you. Was just getting disheartened by not meeting my Fitbit load target, based on my goal of improving fitness.

[YachatsMike]

Something to remember.  Maintaining means doing the same amount you've been doing for the last 4 weeks.  If you select improve as your goal, you will be pushed into exceeding that amount.  After 4 weeks of meeting your improving targets, those targets become your new maintenance base and the algorithm will push you with even higher targets.  It only quits doing that when you change your goal to maintain.

[clodagh74]

thanks for that detailed explanation, wasn't quite sure how it worked. It's clear I have a bit to go before I can change my goal to maintain.