Difference in sport modes

elbee

Might be.

It might use other statistics and averages to calculate calories burned.

Some sportmodes might detect arm movements, for swimming, kayaking or weightlifting.

Barometer to detect changes in altitude works the same but for different sportmodes the conclusion is different. For biking and running extra effort is assumed. For skiing a skilift is assumed.

There are probably others.

Egika

@elbee I understood that with “related sport modes” not the TO did not mean all sport modes, but ones that cover similar activities.

If instead you compare cycling to swimming to climbing, then of course many things change. Like GPS modes and sensor filtering… I think this is obvious, and not part of the question

elbee

@Egika

Then the answer is, it’s just marketing. Watches with 101 sportmodes sell better than watches with 100 sportmodes, because people think more is better.

sky-runner

I think some sport modes like running may use other sensors to help with distance and speed/pace accuracy while other sport moves like cycling don’t have that. Is Fused Speed no longer a thing?

Also a few sport modes estimate VO2max while most others don’t.
Also, a few sport modes (running, cycling) use specialized intensity zones.

But in general, I think only running and cycling, and perhaps skiing are special, and most other sport modes are generic.

VoiGAS

Would be great if e.g. Trailrunning and Running would be handled different regarding VO2MAX, Power and so on. But as fas as I know its not that way…

elbee

@VoiGAS

Even stryd cannot cannot handle all circumstances for calculating power. (Do note that power is calculated, not measured directly).
And I know for sure there other factors that aren’t taken into account, like heavy rain.

sky-runner

@VoiGAS With regards to trail running VO2max, it works ok when the terrain is smooth and runnable. But yes, once the terrain gets technical or steep enough that I have to switch to hiking, my VO2max gets absolutely murdered. I wish Suunto had an option to turn VO2max off for a sport mode. That would allow me to have different sport modes for “runnable” trail running vs. “mountain” trail running - with or without VO2max estimation.

VoiGAS

@sky-runner Exactly that, or a correction factor or something. But turning it off would also help to keep the values comparable

VoiGAS

@elbee Yes, maybe - but then there could be the option to turn it off.
Other things I would like would be some XC specific values for skating ( glide time maybe? ) As a finnish company there must be some knowledge in that regard.
Snorkeling is a positiv example, I think the dive counter is very well implemented. More things like these would be nice in the sport modes

elbee

@VoiGAS

I’m not into datacollecting and I think some people try to overquantify their lives. If you want more data, maybe try a garmin some day.

VoiGAS

@elbee I think providing data is what sportwatches are about… what I don’t like at Garmin as you don’t get data, but some black magic interpretation of it. Thats better at Suunto especially the TSS logic.

But my point was not to provide more magical numbers, but maybe in some Sport Modes less(!) or different calculations - like VO2MAX. Because as far as I know they cummulate data from activities. If you mix Trekking, Running and Trailrunning its quite a mess then.

elbee

@VoiGAS

Recording my runs and rides and assisting with navigation is what sportwatches is all about, for me. I can do my own interpretation and use how my body feels. See how fast my heartrate drops when I do interval training is useful. Having a stryd that compensates for wind is useful during a race.

Suunto data is just as well black magic. For a lot, sleepscore is used. Sleep experts (the ones who studied it, not gadgetbloggers or marketers) say watches cannot detect sleep. They are pretty good at detecting if you lay still with a low heartrate. (Or sit still, it cannot detect the difference).

I really don’t get it that people need to look at their watch in the morning to see how they have slept. Or how well they have recovered.

I probably offend some people or their beloved watches, but that’s how I see it.

VoiGAS

@elbee I think this discussion is going nowhere. I am not talking about sleepscore or something like this, but explicitly values to interpret my own performance and changes to it - like the mentioned vo2max and Power.
For normal running / biking Heartrate and Pace combined ( aka vo2max) are enough, but for Trailrunning or XC Skiing it is not so easy. Thats why I wish for some metric to compare exercises also for them. If I would only do road running I also wouldn’t need it.

elbee

@VoiGAS

Vo2max on a watch isn’t that accurate. Do a coopertest. That’s more accurate. Or do a sport medical test. Then vo2max isn’t calculated but really measured.