Readiness vs cardio load

[TravellingTyke]

I'm struggling with what seems to be a dichotomy between the readiness and cardio load scores I am seeing in the fitbit app. I am seeing high readiness scores, saying that my body is ready to perform, but the cardio load information states that I'm overtraining because I've increased cardio activity recently and so should slow things down to recover. These two statements seem completely incompatible with each other.

I think that the root cause of the issue is that I was invited to switch cardio load on in the fitbit app just before Christmas, and so for cardio load it is comparing my activity now with Christmas week when, to be fair, I did slow down training for a bit mainly due to the gyms being closed. But that is not a true representation of my activity levels and so it's basically comparing the wrong reference data, which is very weird because even though the cardio load function wasn't switched on fitbit essentially has a complete record of my exercise activity.

It's even weirder that there are effectively two measures of readiness telling me contradictory things about whether I should exercise or not.

Is the cardio load calibration likely to normalise if I keep up my regular training regime or am I stuck with this constant claim of overtraining as a result of the unfortunate timing when I accepted Google's invitation to switch it on? And is there any way that I can force a recalibration to current (and normal) activity levels?

[LZeeW]

@TravellingTyke   I'm seeing something similar.  My details are slightly different, but it involved a bunch of snow that wasn't going to shovel itself.  My cardio load recommendation says take it easy so I don't overtrain, but my exercise recommendations in Coach (Premium) suggest a 30 min endorphins booting cardio workout.  I'm honestly thinking about deleting all my cardio load data and starting over.  I'm going to ignore the recommendations for a week and live my normal life.  If it still gives contradictory information, I will delete it all and start over.

[SunsetRunner]

I'm having the same issue and it's driving me mad. Glad I'm not the only one. Going to persevere till the end of the month and then see if the data refreshes. 

[epresco]

Sam here. Being directed to "plan for recovery" with a low target load due to risk of overtraining (hah).But my readiness score is high. I will do what my body tells me but it's disappointing to see guidance totally at odds with itself!

[sean1lbbp]

Yes.  Same here.   Very annoying and seems very unhelpful. 

[ValFer]

I have a 15 minute active goal that I can’t find anywhere on my Fitbit Inspire 3 that I’m able to adjust this now seeing as they added zone minutes! It’s there nut not touchable! Google has gone down hill on these watches very recently. I am very curious as to who is running this dog and pony show. I keep getting daily pop-ups telling me I’m working too hard or then I get another pop-up that says I’m not working hard enough pick up the pace or then I get another pop-up that says everything’s going smoothly and the only way that Fitbit told me I could get rid of these pop-ups was to turn off my HEART tile! What a joke! 

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It is so messed up. Logic went out the window the last changes. 

[TravellingTyke]

Omg. Now I have the opposite problem. Fitbit is telling me I have a "low" readiness but a target cardio load of 213 to 285!

The two components are literally giving me diametrically opposite advice. This is worse than unhelpful.

[ValFer]

Exactly! One day I’m not good enough and the next day I over worked so I’m told to slow down. 

Here is how someone showed me how to fix it. I’m an Inspire 3 and it worked for me.

go to Fitbit settings, go to Manage data and privacy, select Manage your data: I selected Active zone minutes, cardio load and deleted todays data only on each category and the pop ups stopped. 

[LindaMtl]

I’m having the same issue. I set my cardio load target to ‘improve fitness’ during the holidays when I was less active than usual. After a week or so of my regular routine, I began getting overtraining notices and extremely low cardio load targets (1 to 39). Almost impossible for me not to exceed with simple daily activities or rest day workouts such as yoga. The result, Fitbit has been telling me to take it easy for 3 days now. I’ll continue listening to my body instead.  Hopefully this new feature will improve over time. For now, it’s no more than interesting information. 

[ValFer]

• Go to your Fitbit settings.
• Go to Manage data and privacy.
• Select manage your data.
• Select Cardio load.
• Select Delete todays data and confirm and delete.

Voila! Issues solved .

Moderator Edit: Formatting

[LinskyBeat]

Thank you! 
This has been driving me mad, hope this solves it.  Today I had cardio load at max 25 and readiness at 100! 

[LanzaVe]

Yep. It's horrible. I don't even have premium, so I don't see the readiness, but I started getting the cardio load. It has been telling t rest for days. I would be extremely annoyed and mad if I could see the contradiction with the readiness. 

[Upscwru]

Yeah, this month I've been paying attention to daily readiness and cardio load for the first time, seeing if it makes a difference.  But today?  Daily readiness low at 15, Cardio load high at 61 - 89 (this is the upper range of what I've been getting in during a good day this month).  Not sure what to do with that.  There are definitely days when I felt strong, but it was telling me to have a low Cardio Load.  I feel like daily readiness may be the better thing to follow, but it's hard to tell.  Tonight I have choir practice, though, so I won't get much cardio load except my walk to and from the bus...

[ValFer]

There is no rhyme or reason to what is methodically going on with daily readiness and cardio load. it is completely useless information because it is not accurate one bit. Sorry for your issues and know you are not alone! It’s crazy ridiculous junk! 

[Emoberg62]

I really just want to turn off the “avoid overtraining” messages.  I’m not overtraining. I had to take a few weeks off due to an injury and illness in quick succession, and now I’m exercising again at about 60% of prior, and ratcheting up. So it’s nonsensical to say I’m overtraining when I’m doing five 20 minutes aerobics sessions (moderate intensity, no intervals, low impact, no running) and  two 25 minute strength sessions a week. Also, I have turned off cardio load and recovery and all notifications but I still get these messages daily. They are just annoying and inaccurate — I was in really good shape before and I am resuming things quite carefully. I would really like to turn these overtraining messages off. 

[Nlubcke]

This has to be the single worst feature! High readiness and low cardio load or low readiness and high cardio load? And no indication of what it takes to hit the cardio load either. Mine today is 90 -120. I went for a 5k run in 30° heat and my heart rate was in vigorous and peak and I only got 50 cardio load? What? What the heck does it take to hit 90? I'm not working out for 6 hours a day, that's insane.

Im turning it off because it's actually making me feel like **ahem**.

[Charley24]

I agree. I’ve disable the cardio load because it’s inaccurate and confusing with daily readiness. i think they are over engineering the measurements.