Cardio Fitness doesn't have Apple Watch as a data source

I am a 58 year old male who has been a lifelong endurance athlete. That lone VO2Max data point recorded in December 2019 pegged my VO2Max at 50. Nowadays, my typical outdoor walk pace is 16 minutes per mile and my typical outdoor run pace is 9 minutes per mile, for periods much greater than 20 minutes. My average heart rate over the course of a typical outdoor running workout varies between 100 and 130 beats per minute, with the average per workout between 105 and 115 bpm. I fully understand that laboratory derived VO2Max data is based on maximal efforts, but Apple has made it pretty clear that this is not the case for its Cardio Fitness feature, and people have reported that they are getting data recorded at slower paces than mine. I doubt that I have a defective watch since two of them have failed to record this data. The series 5 recorded VO2Max data one time with pretty minimal physical effort on my part. I also have done numerous anaerobic (intense effort) outdoor runs with both the series 5 and the new series 6, all for sessions greater than 20 minutes, yet NO DATA was recorded for any of those efforts either. That is what has me frustrated and confused (recorded data for one minimum effort workout, but not for any other workout regardless of effort). I am ready to write the Cardio Fitness feature off as a feature that works for some people but not for all.

" I fully understand that laboratory derived VO2Max data is based on maximal efforts, but Apple has made it pretty clear that this is not the case for its Cardio Fitness feature"

Yes, that is true for the new algorithm but not for the older one which was requiring a more intense effort (i.e. anaerobic threshold). It's not really possible to say whether your workouts were intense enough without knowing whether or not you were hitting the required percentage of maximum heart rate given your age. Anyway, with the new algorithm it would seem unlikely that intensity is the issue since they have lowered the intensity requirements.

So ruling out intensity as an issue as well as hardware based on the two different watches, the only possibly left is software corruption that has followed you from one watch to the other. "Just not working for some people" doesn't really make sense. If the hardware is working, then you should be getting readings particularly on your new watch with the new algorithm. If not, software corruption is the only available answer.

There is however one other outside possibility which is that your VO2 Max is outside the maximum for which it is calibrated. I once hit 55 and I am older than you but not sure how much hire us can go.

I think you already said you tried resetting your watch and re-pairing as new so the only other option is something you're not gonna want to hear nor is it something I would look forward to doing. That is, you would need to re-set up your phone as new because I'm pretty sure the calculations for the health metrics happen. on the phone. I haven't fully investigated but I'm almost positive there is a way to export your health data to iCloud so you could sync with that when you set up the new phone installation.

Only you can decide if this is worth doing because there are no guarantees and you could still end up with no data which would mean likely that your VO2 Max is outside the range of the Apple algorithm. That's all I can come up with.

Of course, as a serious athlete, you could always ditch the Apple Watch entirely and go with one of the dedicated running watches. There may be reasons why you don't want to do this but it is an option.

Good luck.

Thanks for the advice. Resetting me phone as a new phone is something I have already done, in addition to doing the same with my watch (numerous time). I think I am going to give up on this feature. Thanks again.

Have you ever tried to get an estimate of your VO2 Max in any other way? For example, the Polar fitness test does that And I would think as. an endurance athlete you would already have or would want to have a heart strap:

https://www.polar.com/us-en/smart-coaching/fitness-test

They are not very expensive and once you got the estimate you might get an idea of what the issue was. I don't think it's impossible that your VO2 Max is over 60 which is the upper limit I believe for apples algorithm.

I’ve used various Polar (beginning when they first came out in the 1980s) and later Garmin HRM devices (always with the chest strap). I don’t compete any more and liked the idea of NOT having to use a chest strap. Overall I am happy with the exercise metrics I get from the Apple Watch and generally am much more satisfied with it than with any device that requires a chest strap. I just wish that I would have gotten more VO2Max/Cardio Fitness data from the Apple Watch than just that one mysterious day in 2019 when it actually recorded data. I was outside for a 7 mile run today (just over an hour, 105bpm average with134bpm max) and still no Cardio Fitness data. Either the algorithm doesn’t like me, or there is a software issue. I have read every entry in this particular blog, as well as other blogs in the Apple Community pages, and elsewhere on the Internet. I see other people having similar issues and I have tried every suggestion I can find that others say worked for them, but nothing seems to work for me. I am just so confused by the fact that it DID work, ONCE, but not before or since, and with two different watches. Oh well. As I said, I will just forget the fact that Apple advertises this feature and present that it does not exist.

I am going to try this one more time in case I wasn't clear. I am NOT suggesting you use the polar heart strap for running but only for the one-time fitness test. All you need to do is wear it for I think about five minutes while lying down and it gives you a predicted VO2 Max. If it's over 60 then you have your answer. A five minute investment to get an insight into a months long problem does not seem excessive. Did you look at the link I gave you?

https://www.polar.com/us-en/smart-coaching/fitness-test

https://www.polar.com/blog/lets-talk-polar-polar-fitness-test/

"All other data tracks except Cardio Fitness."

What does that mean exactly. Is this a new watch or one you have been using for a while. If it is one you've been using for a while did you get VO2 Max readings before the update which incorporated "Cardio Fitness?"

i have owned this watch since June 2020. I use it to track my power walks which are now up to 5 miles with an average pace of 14:09 per mile. I have never had one cardio fitness reading yet. All other health readings occur after each walk. I have unpaired and repaired as well as recalibration. Bottom line no readings. No data source. As I’m not the only one having this issue I believe it requires a software or IOS fix from Apple.

" I have never had one cardio fitness reading yet. "

I asked because it's not clear with a lot of people here if they are talking about the new feature or about the VO2 Max readings in general. I assume you mean you have never gotten any VO2 Max

readings since you got the watch?

"average pace of 14:09 per mile"

The algorithm isn't going to care about your pace. The only thing important, particularly before the latest update, was the intensity of the work out. If it didn't reach a fairly high intensity, no reading. It was my experience prior to the update that only pretty intense running generated a reading, not walking.It appears however that this is changed and Apple says readings will be generated from lower intensity activities

"No data source. "

There's a lot of confusion about this year. If you don't have data the watch won't be listed as a data source. That only appears after the first reading.

Just to be clear, according to Apple’s press release dated December 14, 2020:

“watchOS 7 also allows Apple Watch to take cardio fitness measurements as users walk throughout the day, whether or not they are tracking a workout.”

This clearly isn’t happening for me. It would be nice to hear from someone at Apple regarding this.

The VO2max data was displayed until 31 december, after that it stopped.

For another reason I had to reconnect the watch on 1st Jan, after that, there was no V2Omax Data until I renamed the watch and went out for a run.

Falk23 wrote:

•

Is this a new watch or a watch you have had before the cardio fitness update?

• Its a older Watch4

When you say "symptoms", what do you mean exactly?

• Just I was not able to get the V2Omax data displayed, did enough runs, outdoor, gps enabled, maps app installed, restarts, latest updates etc.

I saw 3x same watchname in data source, that why I tried to rename the watch.

When you say "recorded again" do you mean you previously had measurement

The VO2max data was displayed until 31 december, after that it stopped.

For another reason I had to reconnect the watch on 1st Jan, after that, there was no V2Omax Data until I renamed the watch and went out for a run.

Given this, it is highly likely that it had nothing to do with renaming the watch as it is normal for duplicate names (eg Apple Watch 4) to be listed as data sources. It normally takes a few days for VO2max data to show up after a new watch is installed/re-paired so this was the right amount of time. Probably just a coincidence.

Finally!!! Mine started working, went for a short run today only 15 minutes Then have just finished a 17 minute walk. It’s now showing data :) hang in there guys I’m sure yours will all show up eventually

Hello, i had a same issue, no data source etc. so i did the following, 1. Made My current watch as priority source 2. Recalibrated my watch 3. ( standard setting on watch) i had by default power saving mode on, which resulted into no continuous heartbeat tracking but sporadic( which is used to calculate VO2max) i switched it off in Watch app dock> Settings> workout> power saving mode 4. Then 2 outdoor walking workouts of approx 40 min each and today after 2nd workout vo2 max appeared and data source got updated.

hope it will help!

Hi swapnil303. Glad you got it to work. I do have a question regarding your post. If you had “same issue, no data source etc”, how did you make your watch the “primary data source”. My watch is not listed as a data source VO2Max/Cardio Fitness, so I cannot make it the “primary source” without it first being a “source”. If you know of a way to get the watch to show up as a data source, please share your method. Thanks in advance!