Discovery Health - Vitality & Team Vitality plus everything else you need to know

[HappyMartin]

These complaints are really getting out of hand hey...

The problem with people in this country is that they want everything handed to them. 

 

Free smoothies and free apple watch for manually adding workouts,  or thinking that 1 Saturday morning activity is going to get you your goal is just wrong. 

 

It would be interesting if there was stats to show who's the ones complaining the most... Couch potatoes or the fitter more active crowd.

 

I don't think that's the problem. I think the problem is the nonsensical methodology.

 

Day one of Panorama was one of the hardest days I have ever had on a bike. I got 600 points. Fair enough. Day two was a little longer but not as extreme. I got 3000 points. That's an example of what people are complaining about. It's just plain wrong.

[BarHugger]

These complaints are really getting out of hand hey...

The problem with people in this country is that they want everything handed to them. 

 

Free smoothies and free apple watch for manually adding workouts,  or thinking that 1 Saturday morning activity is going to get you your goal is just wrong. 

 

It would be interesting if there was stats to show who's the ones complaining the most... Couch potatoes or the fitter more active crowd. 

My guess it would be the latter........the fitter you become the less likely you are to max out your heart rate........can't wait to see the complaints from all the lovers when they hit 1200 target........

[cat-i]

My guess it would be the latter........the fitter you become the less likely you are to max out your heart rate........can't wait to see the complaints from all the lovers when they hit 1200 target........

 

My guess is the program wasn't designed for the fitter crowd. It's the potatoes that Discovery want to reward for getting off the coaches.

[Thor Buttox]

I don't think that's the problem. I think the problem is the nonsensical methodology.

 

Day one of Panorama was one of the hardest days I have ever had on a bike. I got 600 points. Fair enough. Day two was a little longer but not as extreme. I got 3000 points. That's an example of what people are complaining about. It's just plain wrong.

Yup, I have been doing some investigations the last few days to try help my OH as I was unaware of what she was getting her points for, and I was also a bit confused as to what the problem was. I think Disco doesn't has a friggen clue what actually drives their clients. How changing something as elementary as eliminating 50pts for 5000 steps in lieu of only having 100pts for 10,000 steps. It seems so silly for those of us who will blast 3 hours on the weekend, but it makes a difference to someone who has other priorities and responsibilities.

 

And their friggen obnoxious form letter we got as a reply to our polite query really is a kick in the teeth for a loyal long-term customer. When you have just told someone you basically don't care what they think or don't answer a simple question like 'what will my maximum points be' or 'Why did my points go up this week when last week I didn't make it?' , it really doesn't help to have some spritely drivel like 'Be active, be healthy, get your points'. Very poor form.

[BarHugger]

My guess is the program wasn't designed for the fitter crowd. It's the potatoes that Discovery want to reward for getting off the coaches.

Should they not then redesign their template to accommodate both demographics ?

Edited April 28, 2016 by BarHugger

[carbon29er]

My guess it would be the latter........the fitter you become the less likely you are to max out your heart rate........can't wait to see the complaints from all the lovers when they hit 1200 target........

 

Very interesting observation. But totally untrue. Do you really think elite athletes remain elite athletes pottering around at 70% of their heart rate during training and racing?

 

I repeat Greg LeMond's most famous quote: It never gets easier, you just go faster.

[BarHugger]

Very interesting observation. But totally untrue. Do you really think elite athletes remain elite athletes pottering around at 70% of their heart rate during training and racing?

 

I repeat Greg LeMond's most famous quote: It never gets easier, you just go faster.

Hahahahahaha.......so now the poor sods on Vitality must make every ride a race to keep Discovery happy.......for me it's easy......I can get to 1200 points in 4 x 1 hour rides whilst for others it becomes 12 x 1 hour rides.....last time I checked there was only 7 days in a week.......me personally.....I am chuffed with the way things are going........ Edited April 27, 2016 by BarHugger

[carbon29er]

Hahahahahaha.......so now the poor sods on Vitality must make every ride a race to keep Discovery happy.......for me it's easy......I can get to 1200 points in 4 x 1 hour rides whilst for others it becomes 12 x 1 hour rides.....last time I checked there was only 7 days in a week.......me personally.....I am chuffed with the way things are going........

You miss the point. The statement I quoted was that as one get fitter it's harder to achieve a high heart rate.  Which is about as much nonsense as Jacob being sorry for the confusion around the Public Protector.

 

But why would I expect that to be understood when all training seems to have been reduced to Vitality points.

 

I despair.

[BarHugger]

You miss the point. The statement I quoted was that as one get fitter it's harder to achieve a high heart rate. Which is about as much nonsense as Jacob being sorry for the confusion around the Public Protector.

.

Nonsense you say..........you must be a medical expert........also don't forget we are taking ov an average here not a max heart rate......

Edited April 27, 2016 by BarHugger

[Bub Marley]

These complaints are really getting out of hand hey...

The problem with people in this country is that they want everything handed to them.

 

Free smoothies and free apple watch for manually adding workouts, or thinking that 1 Saturday morning activity is going to get you your goal is just wrong.

 

It would be interesting if there was stats to show who's the ones complaining the most... Couch potatoes or the fitter more active crowd.

agreed.

 

There's a woman on their Facebook page blaming discovery because she can't afford to pay off the watch. Why on earth would you take out a watch if you can't afford it? There is absolutely no guarantees that you would have achieved your target.

 

Everyone is jumping on the bandwagon now. Getting a bit ridiculous.

[Harryn]

There's RECOVERY (sitting around doing nothing) and then there is ACTIVE RECOVERY (riding in one's recovery zone).

 

For many years I thought it was only RECOVERY and never did ACTIVE RECOVERY. Since then, I've noticed an improvement in my ability to push the hard sessions harder much sooner - if that makes sense.

Sorry if this a stupid question, but How long, time-wise, should the active recovery ride be?

['Dale]

Sorry if this a stupid question, but How long, time-wise, should the active recovery ride be?

Depends on how much recovery you need

Anything from 20-60 mins

[Frosty]

Sorry if this a stupid question, but How long, time-wise, should the active recovery ride be?

The program I'm following has 2x 60 mins sessions of recovery per week, for 10-12 hours worth of riding:

2.5 hours of HIIT, 4-6 hours of endurance riding. The rest of the time is warm up and down.

 

I think the active recovery duration also depends on the amount of time one spends above the threshold (FTP or LTHR).

 

Recovery (no workouts) is 1 day per week, and 3 days every 4 weeks.

[dracs]

Very interesting observation. But totally untrue. Do you really think elite athletes remain elite athletes pottering around at 70% of their heart rate during training and racing?

 

I repeat Greg LeMond's most famous quote: It never gets easier, you just go faster.

 

 

You miss the point. The statement I quoted was that as one get fitter it's harder to achieve a high heart rate.  Which is about as much nonsense as Jacob being sorry for the confusion around the Public Protector.

 

But why would I expect that to be understood when all training seems to have been reduced to Vitality points.

 

I despair.

 

 

You are quite cocky for someone who is completely wrong.  Have a look at some actual data from cyclists who shared their data on Strava from the recent Liege Bastogne Liege.   One of toughest classics around and it looks like maybe 2 out of 14 with HR data would have gotten any extra points...

 

The only time these guys go above 80% is when doing interval training or a really hard effort for a very small % of a race...

 

All that said, I do agree the hysteria against vitality is getting a bit out of hand - but that doesn't change the fact that their HR requirements are unrealistic to achieve other than on the hardest day for someone really fit.  As many have said, there should be a tiered system, and I would guess that Discovery will eventually see the light.

 

Edited April 27, 2016 by dracs

['Kaze Pete]

Lawson Craddock is turning 24 later this year, so he would have averaged 78%

Nobody else averaged 80%

 

Most of the heart rates posted will only hit 80% for people over an age of 50.

Robert Gesink's average will only hit 80% for somebody of age 66!

[carbon29er]

You are quite cocky for someone who is completely wrong.  Have a look at some actual data from cyclists who shared their data on Strava from the recent Liege Bastogne Liege.   One of toughest classics around and it looks like maybe 2 out of 14 with HR data would have gotten any extra points...

 

But as a timed event each rider would have received 3,000 points?

 

My response had nothing to do with the allocation of points but more to the statement made quite often in this thread that the fitter one gets the harder it is to have a heart rate above 80%.

 

Which is plainly rubbish. Although due to training and racing regimes few riders would choose to ride for 210+ minutes above 80%.

 

Why not post some time trial data where the effect of the peloton is less pronounced?