Suggested recovery time - Edge 520

[mecheng89]

Hi Hubbers!

 

To those of you who have been blessed with ownership of the wonderful Edge 520, have you noticed that a little screen pops up after your workout, stating the suggested recovery time before the next ride/training session?

 

This morning I had quite an intense WO on the IDT, and it told me to recover for 72 hours  , which isn't going to happen .

 

So, who relies on this suggestion that the little machine spits out? Is the rest period based solely on your avg HR throughout the workout/ride, or what other things play a part?

 

 

[Donovan Le Cok]

I have the 520 and love that feature, but always take the recovery time with a pinch of salt. After the epic prologue last year it gave me a recovery time of 72 hours and I hadn't pushed that hard, for the first few stages it would give me a "fair" recovery reading and then for day 4 and 5 it said my recovery was "good" which doesn't make sense. At a recent XC race where I did not perform well at all it gave me a recovery time of 72 hours and then a week later at TOGH after really smashing a stage it would say only 31 hours... So sometimes it doesn't add up.

I am no expert at all all, but I think it takes the following into account:

• Your cycling / fitness ability (that feature you set with the initial setup, something like beginner / average / good / superior)
• Your FTP / weight etc that have been correctly setup
• Your HR for the ride
• Your Power for the ride (I think this is very NB)
• Your recovery time from previous rides

I am going to follow this thread closely as I am quite interested in this. 

[Schnavel]

I'm also interested to see people's reactions and responses as I don't believe that it is very accurate.

 

My coach told me to ignore it...

[Francis1]

I have had my 520 for 18 months and totally ignore the recovery time. I would only be able to two rides a week if I followed the suggestions.

 

Wish I could remove the feature.

[shaper]

I train for Ironman and both my fenix 3 and 520 give recovery times which I ignore, else would never be training!!

[V12man]

It gets more accurate if you give the app some good resting hr data to work with..... not sure how it works on the 520, but on my D2 there is a process to follow after a couple of days of rest.

 

I find it tracks quite well with the level of intensity of a workout - and it's interesting..... then I ignore it completely....

 

You can google the studies it is based on - "Polar + heart + rate + variability" - there is some good science on HRV out there.

 

Google "Garmin + heart + rate + variability" will give you links to more info and how to set up the app on the 520.

[Jono Waddell]

Ignore it, its rubbish. 

[Frosty]

The technology on the Garmin (and other) units is provided by Firstbeat. Their website provides some additional information currently not available on the Garmin website.

 

I've read a bit about the Training Effect (T.E.) that shows up on the workout summary - and stumbled across this website.

 

edit:

This page explains a lot of the features... https://www.firstbeat.com/en/consumer-products/features/

[J Wakefield]

After a Stochastic set of just over 2 hours it told me I needed 52hrs recovery. I knew I was in bad shape but that was taking the piss a little.

 

Personally I would ignore that feature totally unless you want a good laugh after riding.

[Eugene Brown]

The Fenix3 HR has the same feature, and yes, it does seem ridiculous sometimes! I wear my watch almost constantly, so I'm sure the thing is in tune with my chassis/ticker, but the numbers are still silly. Or I'm just plain unfit-as-f@#$

[CASSIE1975]

Started using my 520 2 weeks ago and also saw that feature pop up.

Also just thought of ignoring it as it would only mean training 2 or 3 times a week...

 

Maybe after 6, or 12 months of actual data it might have the desired result.

[Thor Buttox]

I think it's from the period when guys put their Apple watch on their dogs to get Disco points. I have always assumed it to be dog-hours! ????

[TALUS]

Started using my 520 2 weeks ago and also saw that feature pop up.

Also just thought of ignoring it as it would only mean training 2 or 3 times a week...

 

Maybe after 6, or 12 months of actual data it might have the desired result.

I use mine for every workout (including IDT) and after more than a year - still nonsensical. The Recovery indicator that comes up about 10 min after starting a training session seems to be more accurate.

[Mongoose!]

mmm... but the most important question was not raised yet...

 

How do you switch it off?

[CASSIE1975]

I use mine for every workout (including IDT) and after more than a year - still nonsensical. The Recovery indicator that comes up about 10 min after starting a training session seems to be more accurate.

 

Yip I normally wait for mine (just after 12 minutes since starting ride / IDT)   LOL...only 2 weeks using it now, but always had a "GOOD" recovery...will see once I hit the road on a 3 to 4 hour ride what it will say the next day 

[Frosty]

mmm... but the most important question was not raised yet...

 

How do you switch it off?

Which device do you have?

 

Here's how you turn it on, so switching off should be the same process 

 

520 - Select Menu > My Stats > Recovery Advisor > Enable

920XT - Select  > My Stats > Recovery Advisor > Status > On

Fenix 3 - Hold UP > Select > My Stats > Recovery Advisor > Status > On

735XT - Select Menu > My Stats > Recovery Advisor > Status > On.