Cardio Fitness

[Howard2k]

Hey folks,

I have a new Apple Watch SE and my Cardio Fitness score is reporting as "Below Average". I'm not running since it's winter, but I am in better than average shape. 46 years old, BMI is excellent, resting heart rate is 44 BPM. I'm not adonis but I'm certainly not "below average".

Does it take a while for the watch to baseline? I was using a Fitbit but that died so I cannot compare, but my vo2max scores from Fitbit were showing we well above average.

It seems unlikely that in my 3 month gap between smart watches I've gone from being above average to below average.

I've had the watch for coming up to a week but the cardio fitness metering has only been on for two days (this is the second day actually).

Again, not running or cycling right now though I have been out for a couple of brisk walks.

I did double check my personal details and medication information.

 

[Monkswhiskers]

It only seems to update the vo2 reading after a run.

 

[sixtydashone]

You have to go for a brisk outdoor walk or run. Possibly you didn't get your heart rate up high enough for long enough. I want to say I read somewhere that it needs to be a good 20 minutes or so but I could be wrong. I've given up on this useless feature as outdoor cycling is my workout of choice along with weight training, so I'm left to look at this feature label my cardio fitness as "below average" when I cycled 20 miles on Valentines Day and 15 the day before that.

 

[Howard2k]

Thanks for the feedback folks. I’ll try and get out for something a little more strenuous and see if it changes.

 

[Aspasia]

Quoting from Apple:

Your Apple Watch will passively track your VO2 max over time. However, it will also take a measurement every time you complete an outdoor walk, run, or hike that lasts longer than 20 minutes using the Workout app.

If you want to get a more accurate measurement of your VO2 max, perform a gentle warm-up, then open the “Workout” app on your watch and select the workout you want to do. Go for at least 20 minutes at a steady pace and, once you finish, there’ll be a new VO2 max reading.