Cardio Fitness Score

[speno1981]

Has anyone had any problems with their cardio fitness score decreasing?

I had a fitness score of approx. 46 ( v.good to excellent range ) then after doing a run ( 3 miles in 30 mins) it decreased saying that i had a poor fitness for my ages .. down to 24!

I currently train 2- times a day .. running for 30 minutes and 2 spinning classed for 120mins.. so surely this must be wrong?

Can it be reset?

[Markmole]

Thanks for posting this as it is almost identical to my recent experience with the Cardio Fitness score. It is a useful measure but I hope there is a way of improving the methodology. It is quite demoralising when the reading inexplicably drops significantly despite working hard over a sustained period and all other fitness parameters are improving. 

[Gillian94]

I know exactly what all of you mean because I have the same problem. 

I'm a 23 year old female, work out at least 5 times a week, eat, live and breathe a healthy lifestyle and am about 130 lbs with 15,6% of body fat. I regularly go for: HIIT, runs, martial arts, weights, yoga and don't have a sedentary lifestyle.

Still no matter how fast or how long/short I run my VO2 max is inaccurate... it switches between very good, to good, to average whenever I go for a run or delete it afterwards... I hate the fact that it is so inaccurate and that body fat percentage is not taken into account (because then the app would never suggest that I need to lose weight... or at least I hope it would not). 

Conclusion: I share your frustration with this particular feature and hope that they improve the methodology. Meanwhile, I am happy to say that everyone here has made me feel better and I proudly join the club of ignoring VO2 max scores... 

[SReuschle]

I've been running 3x per week, while linked to my iPhone, for the last 8 weeks and my fitness score hasn't changed at all during this time. 

Whats going on?

[Kaufman859]

The exact same thing happened to me. So frustrating. 

[SReuschle]

Yup, my score STILL hasn't changed any.  Very disappointed.

[Pparonett1]

Same here, what I have also noticed is my heart rate has increased from 40bpm base to 60bpm base. I have no idea why my base HE would jump so much in a week?

[Jimmy713]

My score just dropped from 40-33.  Something isn’t right.  Help!

[Magic28]

Hi there

I train 7 days a week and most days i do a 12k run plus other things. Ive had same problem with my fitbit charge 2. I was right high when i first started using it and ive noticed today its poor🤔

I train really hard and and find this disheartening...wonder if there is issues along the way.

Just keep doing what your doing..you know how hard your working out.😊😊

[bbarrera]

@Magic28 There might be a problem with Fitbit‘s estimates,  however keep in mind that VO2max (“cardio fitness”) is mostly genetic, and will not change much if you are fit and weight doesn’t change. 

On the other hand, you can easily raise lactate threshold, or improve your running form, and that will result in faster  run times (with no changes in VO2max!). 

[SReuschle]

The problem is the value doesn’t chance AT ALL, regardless if weight changes, or heart rate changes over time. 

Its bascially bricked, and provides ZERO value. The worst part is FitBit doesn’t give a **ahem** and won’t do anything to address the issue that many people are seeing. 

[Magic28]

I was going to upgrade to the new fitbit but think i will give it a miss.

I bought the charge 2 after thinking it would be great to see daily just how hard i do train. Think my money is safe. I also dont like the list of exercises that are programmed in. Only allowing 7 different ones is pointless. All the things i do i cant let the fitbit give me a reading because its not in the list.🤔 might invest in a apple one next..

[bbarrera]

@Magic28 Fitbit doesn't have anything for training load/status/stress/recovery, I suggest you give this page a look as it has a lot of great information. As a cyclist I've got an Apple Watch, because my bike computer collects the info to feed into training load/status/stress/recovery tools. If I took up running or signed up for a triathlon, would go with a device like Forerunner 945 to feed running/swimming/cycling data into training status tools. The key to improving performance is to manage both recovery and training.

[Rowlover]

I have a charge 2 and mine dropped from 42-46 to 33 today. I’ve tracked runs through the app (that include gps and HR data) a couple times a week over the past couple months. My resting heart rate remains around 60 which is normal for me. Only thing I did differently today is start the run via the charge 2 instead of directly from the app. It’s demoralizing to see this after a run:(

[retiredultra]

Amen. Workouts vary from day to day, week to week. If it truly is saved to see progress, then it should track your PR ( personal record) and give you an indication of your fitness against that same distance PR.

[FBMum]

I am newly started on this exercise game and have acquired a Charge 2.  I am older than many that might have posted, but I have very gratified to see the cardio score gradually climb, 33.6-33.9-34 (Excellent yay!)-35-36!!   I am not convinced that my score should be described as 'excellent for my age' (you should see the state I sometimes back home in), but I find the upward trend to be very encouraging.  Something I've been wondering is whether the Fitbit takes recovery time into consideration.  I wonder this because my score has been increasing, but my times have not.

[Connie40023]

This happened to me, as well.  I agree that those already in the excellent category have probably maxed out their genetic potentials, but if I do a slow 3-4 miler and don’t see a drop it makes me think the algorithm is not working as expected.