October 30, 2020

Runners are always in pursuit of their personal best, and Garmin’s new on-device daily workout suggestions are a great way to prepare for an upcoming race or training cycle. This new feature was first introduced on the Garmin Forerunner® 745 and aims to improve fitness levels while building a foundation for future performances.

While this article specifically talks about running with the daily suggested workout feature, cyclists can find a similar system of suggested workouts on these same watches and on the Garmin Edge® 1030 Plus. Note that you will need a power meter mounted on your bike in addition to your watch or cycling computer to utilize daily suggested workouts for cycling.

The science behind daily workout suggestions comes from the Firstbeat Analytics engine, which interprets performance data to understand the intensity and impact of your efforts. These elements are placed into the context of your current fitness level, training history and recovery state. Personalized suggestions are made with this information based on the latest sports science.

At the core of this program is a well-known and widely utilized understanding of how different workout structures stimulate and develop specific aspects of your performance.

Evenly paced runs at various intensities and durations are smartly mixed with interval-type workouts.  What’s right for you today is determined by what you’ve been doing lately. Been taking some time off? Expect to find yourself working to build your endurance base right off the bat.

There are benefits to sticking with the program. Perform the daily suggested workout regularly, and you will discover a built-in periodization schedule. This means harder training weeks are mixed with more modest ones to avoid stagnation and help you shatter performance plateaus. 

Training means regularly challenging yourself with the goal of improving performance over time. It is a process of sparking physiological adaptation. Tackling varied challenges is the key to constructing a solid foundation for your performance, forging strengths and minimizing weaknesses along the way. 

You can’t push yourself to the max in every direction every day and expect long-term results. Successful athletes typically concentrate on improving a single aspect of performance at a time. In the weight room, you can focus on leg strength one day and upper body strength the next. Strive to apply the same principle when you lace up your running shoes by focusing on different efforts when you hit the road.

As you discover the training run structures suggested by this program, keep in mind that categorization of workouts is based on the primary benefit or role played in your development. Below the surface, however, your physiology works across a continuum to support performance. That means, for example, that a run designed to build your anaerobic capacity can still have a significant aerobic element to it.

There is a total of seven different workout structures that can be recommended. There will also be days when the best option is for you to

rest up for your next challenge. The specifics of your daily run will vary somewhat based on your situation. For example, the duration of an endurance-building run will be longer or shorter based on what you can handle today.

If you are already familiar with the Load Focus screen in the Training Status widget, you will probably notice that these runs map neatly onto the Anaerobic, Low Aerobic and High Aerobic bars that help guide your Training Load toward the right balance.

Low-intensity Aerobic Training Runs

Active “Recovery” Runs

The easiest runs you will ever do are recovery runs. Some have described the proper pace for recovery runs as “embarrassingly slow.” Performing an active recovery workout correctly and gaining the intended benefit, however, requires great discipline. It’s easy to let your intensity and speed drift upwards as you go along.

Metabolic byproducts accumulate in your muscles during harder, more-intense workouts. The goal of recovery runs is to gently increase circulation, flushing cellular waste out of your muscles in the process. Overdo it during your recovery run and you are likely adding to the problem not clearing it away. There are no rewards to be earned by pushing the limits of your recovery runs.

You are simply adding stress to your body, disrupting potential gains triggered by the other workouts in your program.

Many runners take pride in never missing their daily run. This level of commitment is key to the success of any training program. With that in mind, an often-overlooked benefit of recovery runs is that they allow you to maintain your routines without counterproductively overloading yourself.

Endurance “Base” Runs

These longer endurance-focused runs will likely represent the bulk of your low-intensity training. And like recovery runs, part of the challenge comes from keeping the intensity of your…