Does anyone actually know how accurate this metric is?
I’ve had people i know test at uni’s and there score being similar to Garmins but would like to hear what other peoples knowledge or experiences are like?
I ask because I broke through a new barrier today that I had been up against for at least 9-10 months. It was quite high before and I just broke through that score which makes me question its legitimacy.
Many thanks
Sorry not too familiar with how accurate it is. I haven’t been able to compare scores between that and scores you would get in a lab. I feel the lab would be quite a bit more accurate as it’s a controlled environment and can actually measure the amount of oxygen. Everything else is just an estimate based on averages.
Sorry for responding to an old topic, it just pops up at the bottom for some reason as a suggested topic of interest.
Garmin VO2 is just an estimate of your fitness. I’ve found that when I FtFP the number would just constantly increase, I once hit a high of 70 (totally irrelevant as the highest VO2 is not always the best cyclist out there). Now I know this was never accurate but it was a good tool to measure progression in fitness for the laymen who don’t have a coach or Training Peaks, etc. The number correlated closely to my own lab results of a couple of years earlier. We would often get University students conducting studies for their Thesis and needed subjects for their studies. I regularly volunteered in exchange for the free VO2MAX lab test (I hate that mask), the free training programs if it was for a specific study, free bike setups and once had a muscle biopsy which provided valuable information on how to fuel for racing & training. This was also the only other time I got financially compensated for a study. It was always nice to read the report and outcome for the studies and even better when it was accepted into medical journals. In essence the suggested VO2max test was not far off my own lab results and this was further backed up with 2 great seasons of countless podiums.
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