Hey everyone,
I couldn’t find the respiratory rate (coming from my Garmin Edge 830) to be displayed on charts. Have I missed something or is it something not implemented yet?
Seiler has been tweeting about it. He got me interested and I came to similar conclusions: just before to blow up, my respiratory rate is almost always the same. Also, during Z2 ride, I kind of notice that I’m leaving the Z2 above a certain respiratory rate, pretty well correlated with the DFA Alpha 1 by the way! So it could be a nice metric to monitor, and it is easier to implement than DFA Alpha 1, since it is “just” an import from Garmin.
Cheers
Florent
1 Like
Can you display this live on your Garmin Edge?
Yeap, it is a datafield for the x30 series (530, 830, 1030). I believe you find it in cardiac frequency and it is the last data field if I remember correctly.
Thanks, I’ve got a 530.
Up until now I use my heart for POL Z1 and ask myself “could I have a conversation whilst riding?”
But I’ll look further into respiratory rate…is there any guidance as to what we should be targeting/staying below for Z1’s?
Thanks
Be careful with this measurement because the way Garmin measures the breathing rate is by analysing the HRV. HRV goes down by inhaling and rises by exhaling. We all know that HRV becomes quite noisy and difficult to interpret during exercise. The value provided by Garmin 530, 830 isn’t considered very accurate.
I thought that relation of the aerobic threshold and respiratory threshold is well-known 
I used the respiratory threshold (the moment when breathing is becoming markedly heavier) for a long time before I got tested in a lab.
Is there anything new on this topic?
@MedTechCD:
Interesting, I didn’t know the way they calculate it. I guess it also depends on what type of sensor you use then. Using a HRV ready strap (such as the Polar H10) should then theoretically ensure a better accuracy. Agree with that?
Looking at previous data where I was at or above my limits (or even blew up completely), the respiratory rate was consistently 4-5 points above what it is for a sustainable (but very hard) effort.
@Andrii_Magalich
But yeah basically, the concept is not new, I just think it might another metric that allows to “calibrate” your RPE and make sure you keep it easy enough for low intensity sessions, but also allows you to throttle a bit during hard effort if you exceed a certain value.
@JV_Dobboy
About the first ventilatory threshold, I don’t think an absolute value would make sense here. It must be individual and correlated with other metrics (RPE, able to speak, absolute HR, ? DFA Alpha 1?).
1 Like
the study that got me more interested to the topic
Here is a comparison done by Bruce Rogers from muscleoxygentraining.com:
https://forums.garmin.com/sports-fitness/running-multisport/f/forerunner-945/162625/accuracy-of-garmin-derived-respiratory-rate
I read something more detailed a while ago but can’t find the source anymore.
1 Like
Interesting. I asked him what chest strap he was using, because I think if HRV is used for this calculation, then it is very important to have a good sensor.
Found the detailed article. From Bruce himself:
http://www.muscleoxygentraining.com/2019/05/firstbeat-vo2-estimation-valid-or-voodoo.html
1 Like
Looking at trends, say over 7 days (linking it to ATL) is always better than looking at an absolute value.
Tim Cusick (on a WKO webinar last week) spoke about tracking HRV together with your ATL. Respiratory rate, too could differ depending on the variable factors, eg. elevation changes, wind, heat, etc
1 Like
Dr Seiler uses https://www.tymewear.com/ for tracking RR. I’m not sure how data is synced to analysis platforms but it’s clear that this tech is coming. Is there a way to track RR in Intervals? I don’t see it as an Field option when viewing an activity.
Why RR is important and therefore will spawn tech to better track it,
I know that both RR and BG add dimension to lactate profile tests.
Thats interesting. I don’t know if there is a way to get that data into the .fit file via a Garmin Connect IQ field or something? If so it would be very easy for me to add RR.
1 Like
This is the reply from Tymewear about their shirt and pod that record RR.
The Pod gathers data from the shirt and sends it to the Tyme Wear app which relays it to the Tyme Wear web app dashboard. We automatically pull in Garmin activity files and time sync it with the data from the shirt. Pulling in Polar and Wahoo activity files is in the works. We currently dont push data automatically to any platforms, though that is also in the works.
From the web dashboard, you can export all your data, processed at 1-second sampling frequency, as a .FIT and .CSV formats.
I just got a Fenix 7 and noticed that Garmin connect reports a RR. I believe they use the First Beat analytics to determine it from HRV - but not sure if it’s encoded in fit file at all.
On an Edge 830 it is in the FIT file under EXTRA as Field 108.
Field 90 is the Performance Condition displayed on Garmin Connect.
My guess is that Fenix uses exactly the same.
Golden Cheetah can read those fields
Respiratory Rate is derived from HR/RR data and not realy accurate.
2 Likes
If you want a good metric on breathing, then have a listen to this podcast.
We often overlook the unconscious act of breathing, yet mounting evidence points to the significant effect this activity has on our health and performance. I have wanted to delve into this on the podcast for some time, but we needed to find the right expert to interview.
I am thrilled to have Mike Watts on the podcast for this episode! Mike is an Oxygen Advantage Master Instructor and serves as the Director of Global Athlete Performance at Under Armour. He has worked in the English Premier League, as well as at the national team level for China and England. He is a wealth of knowledge on all things performance! This conversation was a great one!
1 Like
Ummm…was there doubt about this? You know, because when it doesn’t happen, we die and stuff like that.
[Kidding, long time tai chi practitioner just couldn’t not respond to that set up]
4 Likes