Cardio Fitness Score Accuracy using Inspire 2

[DaveM19]

Hey! I was wondering if there’s something going on with my FitBit that could be causing it to not accurately update my Cardio Fitness Score. For reference, I’m a 19 year old male, using an Inspire 2. I have used the device for the last 1 1/2 and am familiar with how it works.

Before I began working out in September, I had a resting heart rate of 62-68, and didn’t do much excercise outside of walking. I was given a cardio fitness score of 42-45, putting me in the ‘Fair’ category which I felt was fair.

Now after ~8 months of exercise, involving running 3/4 days a week fairly consistently, and doing weight training alongside that, I dropped my pace time for a Kilometre dropped from 6:30 down to 5:00, and my resting heart rate has dropped to 53-57. Yet in spite of that, my cardio fitness score has only increased to 44-48! 

Are the standards for young men just really high? Or is there some issue that’s preventing my score from updating? All my outdoor running (which accounted for 5 of the 8 months, with 3 months in the middle on a treadmill for winter) have all been GPS recorded, my resting heart rate has been at this lower level for 2+ months, and I wear my device everywhere expect for when I charge it while having a shower. 

Thanks in advance for the support!

Moderator Edit: Clarified subject

[alexthecat]

Hi @DaveM19 and welcome! 

I want to share this help article with you. I think you may want to take a look at the section called "How do I get a more precise estimate of my score?" That explains how to use data from runs that you've tracked with GPS to calculate your fitness score. This will give you a single score, not just a range, and you may find that you prefer that. 

[DaveM19]

 

Hi Alex!

I’m fairly certain that my GPS is enabled. I have my Data plan on, location services set to always enable on my phone, background app refresh on, and at least 30 runs that appear like this image I’ve attached, giving me location information. Am I still missing something here?

thanks in advance!

[alexthecat]

When you start tracking a run, are you doing that on your Fitbit or in the mobile app on your phone? 

[DaveM19]

 

I record on both, generally trusting the pace on the app and using the Fitbit run feature to have easy access to my heart rate and time during the run. Usually the app seems to consolidate it into one final result, unless I forget to finish the workout on the Fitbit in which case I get 2 separate workouts completed (like this example here)

[alexthecat]

I would try just tracking with your Fitbit for a few runs and see how that works for you. It should generate the fitness score automatically, if you run at least 10 minutes. 

[DaveM19]

I’ll give that a shot and see if it works, thanks for all the help!

[alexthecat]

Great! Let me know how that goes. Also, you might enjoy the Get Moving board We talk about various topics, related to exercise and fitness there. 

[DaveM19]

If anybody else has any other suggestions I’d love to hear them, if not I might just buy a fitness tracker from another company… 2 weeks worth of runs using only the Fitbit (with GPS) has made no change, and I feel like I’ve tried everything; 8 months of running 5/7 days a week, wearing my tracker everywhere, I’ve even tried running with a microfibre cloth to clean the sensor mid-run and shaved under my wrist to avoid hair getting in the way, and it still has done nothing. I don’t have crazy high standards, but it’s disappointing if the device can’t get an accurate reading after 150+ Runs