The cardio readings on my Apple Watch are inconsistent

Actually, it hints at this right in the description in the health app

Been having the same thing and decreased significantly since sept. 41 to 18.

I’ve been doing more cardio recently so it doesn’t make sense.

Yeah it makes no sense! Following for resolution

Mine keeps on dropping to from 43 to 13 over the past six months, during which I have been exercising regularly. Quite alarming and annoying at the same time..

“The higher the better” part is disturbing but I’m thinking about your theory and hope you’re right. I researched reasons it might increase with better workout and some things that came up are dehydration, heart issues, and blood sugar issues.

I noticed the same thing in my health data as well, recovery dropping from the 40s down to the 20s. I just started using Apple Fitness+ in January, so my first theory was that maybe it was calculating the recovery rate from the end of the AF+ workouts, which generally have a minute or two of cooldown already baked into them. Meaning my heart rate had already recovered by the time the workout officially ended, so it was seeing a much smaller difference.

Then, when I drilled down into the data on my iPhone, I saw that it hadn't been collecting ANY heart rate recovery data since the end of December. No clue why it stopped collecting data or what I might do to fix it....

Mine stopped recording fitness last June and the recovery been dropping sharply since September (40.1 to 15).

I unpaired watch from phone and now both don’t record any data 😂

don’t think that’s the case with garmin

remember to stop workout tracker immediately after your max heart rate. In other words don’t record recovery, slow down or stretches after a run. If you do not stop the fitness trackers immediately it will under estimate your recovery.

say you run and peak heart rate was 150 and you stop running, immediately stop the app and just sit/rest and let HR drop. If you keep walking or cooldown, it will underestimate your recovery time.

An absolute disgrace knowing I've been using Apple Watches since 2018 and my readings are a mess. The thing I just don't get is why it can record VO2 max when walking, but nothing when it comes to cycling. For some reason the times it did work in 7 years it read around 42 then 35 then nothing. All this - Even if I cycle for thousands of kilometres - absolutely no reading from my iOS setup that includes the watch and my iphone when riding in cycle mode... I will not upgrade anymore until Apple makes something more serious at that price point...

I too found this thread by searching for the same issue. Right before the pandemic I felt like the injuries that had plagued me for years had healed enough where I could take control of my fitness again. When I started this journey according to my Apple Watch my Heart Health (sudo-VO2 max) was above average/average cusp. Now I have lost over a hundred pounds. Run of hike over hilly terrain 4-5days a week 10-15km. If hiking I carry an extra 35 pounds in a pack. I also lift and do calisthenics 2-3 times a week. When I started on steep hills I almost felt like I could pass out I was so out of shape. Now I charge up 45 degree inclines. Somehow according to health my heart health is almost low and barely in below average. How in god’s name is this even possible. I feel better than ever. My fitness is the same I have when I was in my early twenties. I eat healthy. I can literally watch my health health decline slowly over the last 2 years. It’s a joke.