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    Zonesense difficult to understand

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    • VoiGASV Offline
      VoiGAS Silver Members @luke55
      last edited by

      @luke55 I have nearly the same situation. I pushed into VO2MAX ( based on heart rate and personal feeling) and Zonesense gave me a little bit anaerobic and no VO2MAX. Maybe it takes more workouts to calibrate, I only did two with HR Belt


      Race S
      Ambit3 Vertical

      Brad_OlwinB 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • Brad_OlwinB Offline
        Brad_Olwin Moderator @luke55
        last edited by

        @luke55 said in Zonesense difficult to understand:

        @Brad_Olwin
        I let the default values for all sports in the watch settings.
        Given that my max HR value is 158 (I am 69), these zone values did not look abnormal to me, and they are coherent with how I feel during activities, for example, above 130, I am hardly able to speak fluently.

        BTW, in a previous run, in the zone screen, there was one value (125 in front of 122) in the 2nd column.
        But in the last run , no value at all, not sûre what that mean

        OK, it will vary depending on the exercise and day. If sufficient data are present you will get a value, for example my Zonesense AT has varied from 130 or below to 148. That reflects how I am feeling that day based on stress or prior workouts with AT getting lower when you are fatigued. This is exactly the benefit of ZoneSense. So, you did not have a suggestion in your last workout. It appeared mostly high zone 2 with a bit of anaerobic so should have been moderate and not easy. I am solely using Zonesense now for my training and ignoring HR.

        Vector/T6c/Ambit 3 Peak/S5 Copper/S3/S7 Ti/S9 baro Ti/S9P Ti/S9PP Ti/Vertical Ti/Race Ti/RaceS/Ocean/Wing

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        • Brad_OlwinB Offline
          Brad_Olwin Moderator @VoiGAS
          last edited by

          @VoiGAS Or you did not spend enough time near or above VO2M, which is hard to do. ZoneSense is not good for short ≤3 min intervals. I would use Power for those.

          Vector/T6c/Ambit 3 Peak/S5 Copper/S3/S7 Ti/S9 baro Ti/S9P Ti/S9PP Ti/Vertical Ti/Race Ti/RaceS/Ocean/Wing

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          • luke55L Offline
            luke55 @Brad_Olwin
            last edited by

            @Brad_Olwin

            Your max HR is quite high, how did you determine it ?
            For me, I used the formula 220 minus age, and increased it a bit, which gave me 158.
            Zone values computed by the watch derived from this value, this why you find them so low.

            Given the sensations I have at 150 bpm, I can’t imagine trying to push higher, so a max HR of 158 seems reasonable for me.

            For the moment, I just did two run with zonesense, first was very relax, 17Km in 2 hours, second was much more intensive, 10Km in 56mn.
            Definitely, I did not have similar sensations , 2nd was much more difficult, but zonesense reports almost the same result, aerobic in 97% for the first, and 89% for the 2nd, which I find hard to trust!

            Todd DanielczykT AntoineA Brad_OlwinB 3 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • Todd DanielczykT Offline
              Todd Danielczyk Gold Members @luke55
              last edited by Todd Danielczyk

              @luke55 I did two mountain bike rides (Sunday and Monday) of similar distance but of different difficulty.

              Sunday was some punchy climbs which will spike my heart rate, Monday was mostly flat gravel.

              Sunday
              1000122734.jpg

              Monday
              1000122733.jpg

              You can see that Sunday I was in anaerobic more than I was compared to Monday. That seems to correlate to the type of riding I was doing, and how winded I was.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
              • AntoineA Offline
                Antoine Bronze Member @luke55
                last edited by Antoine

                @luke55 said in Zonesense difficult to understand:

                @Brad_Olwin

                Your max HR is quite high, how did you determine it ?
                For me, I used the formula 220 minus age, and increased it a bit, which gave me 158.
                Zone values computed by the watch derived from this value, this why you find them so low.

                Given the sensations I have at 150 bpm, I can’t imagine trying to push higher, so a max HR of 158 seems reasonable for me.

                For the moment, I just did two run with zonesense, first was very relax, 17Km in 2 hours, second was much more intensive, 10Km in 56mn.
                Definitely, I did not have similar sensations , 2nd was much more difficult, but zonesense reports almost the same result, aerobic in 97% for the first, and 89% for the 2nd, which I find hard to trust!

                You can try this to define HR zones:

                https://moncoachdetriathlon.com/ressources-gratuites/calculateur-frequence-cardiaque/

                Just put your email and you will be able dowload an Excel file and pdf file to compute your HR zones.

                Watch: Suunto vertical solar

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                • Brad_OlwinB Offline
                  Brad_Olwin Moderator @luke55
                  last edited by Brad_Olwin

                  @luke55 said in Zonesense difficult to understand:

                  @Brad_Olwin

                  Your max HR is quite high, how did you determine it ?
                  For me, I used the formula 220 minus age, and increased it a bit, which gave me 158.
                  Zone values computed by the watch derived from this value, this why you find them so low.

                  Given the sensations I have at 150 bpm, I can’t imagine trying to push higher, so a max HR of 158 seems reasonable for me.

                  For the moment, I just did two run with zonesense, first was very relax, 17Km in 2 hours, second was much more intensive, 10Km in 56mn.
                  Definitely, I did not have similar sensations , 2nd was much more difficult, but zonesense reports almost the same result, aerobic in 97% for the first, and 89% for the 2nd, which I find hard to trust!

                  My max is set 3-5 bpm higher than the highest HR I had during the prior year. Since my late 30’s and early 40’s my Max has dropped from the low to mid 190’s. I do not know what your baseline fitness is. I have been training and racing ultras for the last 13 years.

                  Vector/T6c/Ambit 3 Peak/S5 Copper/S3/S7 Ti/S9 baro Ti/S9P Ti/S9PP Ti/Vertical Ti/Race Ti/RaceS/Ocean/Wing

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                  • AntoineA Offline
                    Antoine Bronze Member
                    last edited by Antoine

                    Quite strange for me also:
                    According to publication on facebook:

                    Suunto ZoneSense
                    🟢 Aerobic (green) – covering Z1–Z2
                    🟡 Anaerobic (yellow) – Z3–Z4
                    🔴 VO2max (red) – everything beyond anaerobic threshold (Z5).

                    For me SuuntoSens mesured:
                    151bpm for VO2max (provided by suuntosens)
                    140bpm for z3-24 (anaerobic) (provided by suuntosens)

                    But 170bpm during 13 minutes are considered in z3-z4 on SuuntoSens graph.

                    Over 140 is yellow : ok
                    But over 151 is not red: ko

                    Screenshot_20241001_164807_Suunto.jpg Screenshot_20241001_164753_Suunto.jpg

                    Watch: Suunto vertical solar

                    VoiGASV 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                    • VoiGASV Offline
                      VoiGAS Silver Members @Antoine
                      last edited by

                      @Antoine Looks like Zonesense just takes the HR when entering a zone. In your case the two peaks were when your heartrate was rather low (so not really in sync).
                      If that really is the way it works, then its rather useless because it will be wrong due to lag or other effects.
                      For me Zonesense looks more like a Proove of Concept than an actual working feature…


                      Race S
                      Ambit3 Vertical

                      Brad_OlwinB 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                      • A Offline
                        alebalbis
                        last edited by alebalbis

                        As far I understand, zonesense is based on HR variability between beats and and this can only be measured with a chest HR sensor (it measures milliseconds differences between beats).
                        According to Suunto/MoniCardi this variability correlates with the lactate concentration in the blood, so the DDFA index is a indirect measure of lactate.

                        If you look at the @Antoine graph above you can see that between 36’ and 48’ HR goes down but zonesense starts to show red peaks of VO2 max. This is because between 20’ and 36’ there was an intense activity and lactate started to accumulate rapidly.

                        Another example is in @Todd-Danielczyk graph, look at the end, HR goes down but zonesense shows that you are in VO2max, lactate is high and certainly Todd was exhausted at the end.

                        I have installed zonesense in my SR watch and I think this is a valuable tool but we need to get used to it.

                        Todd DanielczykT 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 4
                        • Todd DanielczykT Offline
                          Todd Danielczyk Gold Members @alebalbis
                          last edited by

                          @alebalbis Spot on assessment of how Zonesense can be used.
                          *also you are right, I was exhausted as I recovered from that one 😊

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 3
                          • Brad_OlwinB Offline
                            Brad_Olwin Moderator @VoiGAS
                            last edited by

                            @VoiGAS said in Zonesense difficult to understand:

                            @Antoine Looks like Zonesense just takes the HR when entering a zone. In your case the two peaks were when your heartrate was rather low (so not really in sync).
                            If that really is the way it works, then its rather useless because it will be wrong due to lag or other effects.
                            For me Zonesense looks more like a Proove of Concept than an actual working feature…

                            That is not how ZoneSense works. Have you watched the video? Have you read the peer-reviewed manuscripts published in scientific journals? Have you read the white paper? Please stop speculating on what you think is happening. Perhaps educate yourself instead of making statements that are completely incorrect. I have replied to you many times stating this is not a measure of HR, so have others. It is not meant to follow HR nor is the measurement based on HR. It is based on relationships between IBI and in this manuscript, has been tested far more scientifically than anyone on this forum including me is likely to do. You refuse to acknowledge this. I am fine with you being skeptical of using it but understand how the feature works prior to continuing to assume it is synced to HR!
                            Kanniainen et al. - 2023 - Estimation of physiological exercise thresholds based on dynamical correlation properties of heart r.pdf

                            Vector/T6c/Ambit 3 Peak/S5 Copper/S3/S7 Ti/S9 baro Ti/S9P Ti/S9PP Ti/Vertical Ti/Race Ti/RaceS/Ocean/Wing

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                            • Stefano M64S Offline
                              Stefano M64 Silver Members
                              last edited by

                              Hi, I started using the ZS some months ago and I quite intrigued by this new kind of analysis of the HR data. However, I find difficult to understand the results I get. The following graphs refer to the cardio activities I usually performed at the gym: I wear the Suunto smart HR belt at home and walked to the gym and back, so the “real” activity is the central part where the HR goes up. I wonder why in my case the ZS seems to be nearly anticorrelated to the HR data, going usually down during the more intense part of the recorded activity. Maybe the initial part il too long or too easy to correctly trigger the ZS detection? Any hint?

                              Screenshot_20250218-100401.png
                              Screenshot_20250218-100521.png

                              At least, over 16 similar activities, I got 3 times consistent determinations of the Aerobic Threshold (133, 136 and 137 bpm)

                              Suunto Vector . Vector HR . Core . Race & Race S

                              Jan SuchánekJ 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                              • luke55L Offline
                                luke55 @Brad_Olwin
                                last edited by

                                @Brad_Olwin
                                How did you determine your max HR, it seems quite high at 67 !!
                                For me, I just applied the formula 220 minus age, and increased a bit the result, and all zone values computed by the watch are based on that, this is why they seem so low.

                                luke55L Brad_OlwinB 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                • luke55L Offline
                                  luke55 @luke55
                                  last edited by

                                  @luke55 sorry, wrong post, cant delete

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                                  • Brad_OlwinB Offline
                                    Brad_Olwin Moderator @luke55
                                    last edited by Brad_Olwin

                                    @luke55 said in Zonesense difficult to understand:

                                    @Brad_Olwin
                                    How did you determine your max HR, it seems quite high at 67 !!
                                    For me, I just applied the formula 220 minus age, and increased a bit the result, and all zone values computed by the watch are based on that, this is why they seem so low.

                                    I add a few bpm to my max for the last few months. Last set of uphill intervals I did the max was 178 bpm three days ago. Been routinely hitting 177 on these so 180-183 is probably about right. That is how I determine my max.

                                    BTW I am 68 now.

                                    Using age calculations is a bad idea IMHO, they are usually way, way off.

                                    Vector/T6c/Ambit 3 Peak/S5 Copper/S3/S7 Ti/S9 baro Ti/S9P Ti/S9PP Ti/Vertical Ti/Race Ti/RaceS/Ocean/Wing

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                                    • Steven LimmerS Offline
                                      Steven Limmer
                                      last edited by

                                      Out of coincidence, does Zonesense only work for long, steady efforts? I do a lot of HIIT and Hyrox training, and I find that my feelings and regular BPM correlate, but Zonesense will show me as working mainly aerobically.

                                      Equipment: Suunto Race Titanium
                                      SA: Android (Beta)

                                      Stefano M64S 2 2 Replies Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                      • Stefano M64S Offline
                                        Stefano M64 Silver Members @Steven Limmer
                                        last edited by

                                        @Steven-Limmer said in Zonesense difficult to understand:

                                        but Zonesense will show me as working mainly aerobically.

                                        that happens to me too (see my previous post)

                                        Suunto Vector . Vector HR . Core . Race & Race S

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                                        • 2 Offline
                                          2b2bff @Steven Limmer
                                          last edited by

                                          @Steven-Limmer said in Zonesense difficult to understand:

                                          Out of coincidence, does Zonesense only work for long, steady efforts?

                                          Yes. ZoneSense needs about 2 minutes to catch up with reality.

                                          Suunto Race S
                                          Garmin Epix Pro

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                                          • Jan SuchánekJ Offline
                                            Jan Suchánek @Stefano M64
                                            last edited by

                                            @Stefano-M64 I have a similar experience. Big acceleration in the last kilometer and a drop in Zone sense.
                                            1000055238.png

                                            Brad_OlwinB 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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