Cardio Load Feature is Nonsense?

[Freebic]

I'm convinced this new (ish) cardio load feature is daft. I mean, what does it even mean? Some weeks I exercise every day and it tells me I'm 'in danger of under exercising" and other weeks I sit too much due to work or menopausal fatigue and it tells me to "take it easy'! 

Furthermore, if you log an activity that never seems to get taken into consideration, so it's like you never did it as far as 'cardio load' is concerned. I'm told this is linked to 'daily readiness' but no idea what that is either. Gimmicks? 

[LZeeW]

@Freebic   I moved your post to the Get Moving forum, because I think it will reach a wider audience.

[RiekoC]

Hello @Freebic 

This help page (<-- click) provides more information on Cardio Load & Cardio Target Load, including how the values are calculated. This page (<-- click) explains the Daily Readiness Score & how it is calculated. 

These are recommendations that you are free to follow or ignore. There are plenty of days that I ignore the target load, especially when I'm not feeling well. 

[YachatsMike]

One of the things I have come to understand is that Fitbit measures CARDIO metrics.  Things like Cardio Load, Zone Minutes, and Readiness are calculations based on your heart and lungs.  They do not take into account muscle fatigue and recovery.  Those you have to judge for yourself.  If your body is telling you that you need to rest, believe it.  Cardio metrics aren't likely to pick it up 

[Cluckinghen]

It is utterly ridiculous. Some days it tells me to basically not move at all, then it tells me I need 269(??!!??).  I set it to maintenance after reading some of the comments here, but it's suggested load doesn't look like maintenance? Do nothing, then go CRAZY?? That seems pretty unhealthy to me. (The day where I 'hit' my cardio load is because I didn't wear the **ahem** watch as it was charging 🤣).  FITBIT - SORT IT OUT PLS!

 

[worldtraveler27]

I've been extremely frustrated with this feature. Yesterday I got 168 zone minutes but for some reason my cardio load was only 133 which didn't meet the goal my fitbit set of 178 to 278 (which seems insanely high anyways). I gave up when I couldn't figure out why it was so low in spite of the exercise I'd achived. I realy have no clue how it's even calculated and what I need to do to meet it without totally exhausting myself. It's asking for 170 today... isn't the goal usually 150 minutes of moderate exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous a week? This just seems absurd.

I've moved it down to maintaining instead of improving because I am getting discouraged with what seem like exorbidant daily goals as someone who isn't super active. I really wish this feature could come with some better explanation and more easy to meet goals, especially for someone just trying to get a little better at being active. I'm not trying to run a marathon, I just want to be a little healthier and improve my minimal cardio.

[RiekoC]

Hello @worldtraveler27 

Although I'm not sure that this will be helpful to you, this page (<-- click) provides more details about Fitbit's Cardio Load and Cardio Target Load. 

Based on your post, it looks to me that you are confusing Active Zone Minutes and Cardio Load. It's the Active Zone Minutes goal for 150 minutes moderate exercise or 75 minutes of vigorous exercise per week, which is in line with the World Health Organization's recommendation for adults. 

Since you switched your Cardio Load fitness goal to Maintain, you should see a more reasonable target range. Keep in mind that even the Target range is a suggestion. Listen to your body and how you feel. 

Personally, I look at the Your past 7 days training bar graph to see where my dot is. If it's in the Maintain section, I don't stress out when my Cardio Load is less than the Target range. I also check my Cardio Fitness score on the Heart page. As long as it's in the Excellent range, I'm comfortable with where I'm at.