Low Cardio Fitness Score

[bennyb16]

I've had my Fitbit Inspire HR for over a year now and it has always had me at 36-38 for my fitness score, straddling the Poor/Fair line for men my age. My understanding is that this is supposed to be my VO2 max, so this score is far too low.

I tried doing a reset on the device as recommended in other posts but did not see any change over the last few days. Any other recommendations?

[LZeeW]

Hello @bennyb16 and welcome to the Help forums.  You cardio fitness score is calculated using your heart rate's response while exercising.  This is independent of the type of tracker used.  Resetting your Inspire HR won't make a difference.  If I came across a post recommending this, I would say, "Don't bother.  That's not how this stuff works."

If you want to know how thus stuff does work, read on.  Like I said, Fitbit uses your heart rate during exercise.  Fitbit gives you your best estimate from a GPS connected Run when you can run on level ground for at least 10 minutes.  If you have two people, identical in every way except for their VO2max, running side by side, the person with the higher VO2max will have a slower heart rate while running.  The person with the slower heart rate can deliver more oxygen to the body with each heartbeat.

You can't change your VO2 max in a few days.  It takes more time than that, weeks or more for a small change.  If you are overweight, lose weight.  Adding interval training to your regimen can improve your VO2max.

There are other equations and ways to estimate your VO2max, without running on a treadmill with a mask on your face.  If you want to estimate your VO2max from a different site, try this one: https://www.worldfitnesslevel.org/#/    I compared my Fitbit Cardio Fitness Score to the one calculated on this site.   They weren't just close, they were scary close.

I hope this helps.