Interval training with different durations?

Tino Ehrlich

thanks all for your fast response.

From my perspective, it’s a pity.
I like the design and the menu. The S9 feels of high quality to an acceptable price.
Unfortunately this is / was the key criteria, why I bought a smart sports watch.

Zdeněk Hruška

@Tino-Ehrlich I understand but I don’t think it should be a dealbreaker. I mean there is more to training than overcomplicated interval sessions. You can achieve the same results with intervals that have simpler structure. Or there are some workarounds on how to track those structured intervals with what we have available now (for example using manual laps instead).
I am not defending Suunto’s decision to get rid of structured workouts. I just think that the real training is about something else. I would say you could consider other features that Suunto9 can offer you. If you don’t like it I understand - then you probably should look at some other watch or different brand. I am not trying to convince you or to change your opinion. It’s just my point of view. So I hope you are not offended it was not purpose of this post:)

@Zdeněk-Hruška said in Interval training with different durations?:

I mean there is more to training than overcomplicated interval sessions. You can achieve the same results with intervals that have simpler structure.

This!

If your intervals are too complex for Suunto (and Polar’s) ad-hoc intervals setup, they are probably too complex for your body to comprehend. The purpose of training is to force an adaptation to a stimuli. What are you adapting to? Does your body know it? I used to be a big proponent of structured workouts, but nowadays I use them only as shortcuts for setting up intervals or a simple series of intervals on the watch when I feel lazy to toggle menu options. Whether you are targeting VO2 Max, alactic/aerobic/anaerobic pathways, lactate buffers, that semi-mythical glycogen regeneration, you name it – there are simpler protocols to accomplish this.

Brad_Olwin

@Tino-Ehrlich I thought I would comment here. I run with a coached group of whom most have Garmin devices. We meet every Tuesday and Thurs to do intervals. NO ONE in the group sets up the complex intervals on their Garmins even though they can. Once you are locked into an interval set you cannot have any discrepancies or your interval is trashed. We all use our lap buttons and remember what to do. One reason no one sets up all of the complex intervals is because they are a pain to set up, even on a Garmin. I have TrainingPeaks and they are a pain to set up there too. Not worth my time. I use the simple intervals on the S9 when they apply to the workout, they are fast and easy to set up.

I would be willing to bet that few individuals that want complex workouts actually use them. I tried them on my A3P and again, found it was just simpler to remember the workouts. All of our manual laps are effectively shown on SA and transfer perfectly to TrainingPeaks.
My 2 cents worth too.

amasidlover

FWIW I use TrainingPeaks and do between 3 and 8 structured workouts a week (much of it done with copy and paste and tweaking previous workout designs); the bike workout transfer automatically to my Wahoo ELEMNT and I can just focus on doing the bike workout. The run workouts I either have to copy to Movescount App (which I sometimes do) or I do something close to what was intended using the simple interval timer on the A3P or I go from memory - in the latter case I definitely find it harder to focus on getting the workout done and my paces and form are definitely less consistent.

All my swim workouts are coached as a group and there it is much easier as a group to do the workout because you share the mental load of remembering where you’re up to.

I know not everyone trains like this and I also know that some athletes achieve very good results without training like this, but, some of us do and I personally find it a bit frustrating to keep seeing our concerns dismissed on this forum.

Personally I think the home screens and comments and feelings in the new SuuntoApp are totally pointless (they replicate what I have in TrainingPeaks already and I don’t use them much there…), BUT I accept that some people find that useful and I don’t keep trying to belittle and dismiss those people who do appreciate those features.

Mff73

@amasidlover

All opinions are good, and each feature may be usefull (or just fancy) for each of us.
I really think noone is dismissing this structured workout feature, but, and it is only a fact now : Suunto (and noone here in this community user forum) has decided not to implement it anymore.
Those who wants or need this workout feature are angry, for sure, and those who don’t care, or have just understood they must do without in Suunto System, are now eventually taking pleasure to see new fancy home screen stuff.
At least, some are just taking what is coming like new nice things (and try to debug it, to debate on it for sure, to complain eventually, to request).
But after posts and posts about the eternel same questions and comments : one just try eternally to convince for workaround than complaining for a pure Suunto decision.

Also, Suunto may have analyzed that these abandonned features are used by few people (not to say they are wrong to use it), thus, investment is not worth (or any other concerns). When i say “few” i mean few in regards to whole users : because you are numerous to “complain”, but we only see who is complaining, and not those who don’t.

So, it is my philosophical day this week :), hope my english and my purpose well translated

Saketo Nemo

@Mff73 said in Interval training with different durations?:

Inoltre, Suunto potrebbe aver analizzato che queste funzionalità abbandonate sono utilizzate da poche persone (per non dire che sono sbagliate nell’usarle), quindi gli investimenti non valgono (o altre preoccupazioni).

I agree with you. Statistics also came out on the forum, but let’s not bring them to light, for heaven’s sake. This is probably true: it is possible to do it, but it is not worth it.
I myself used them very little on ambit3. Today I have 4 suunto watches, including the ambit, but I never choose it for structured training. The simple interval, in a running session, is enough and advances (when I use it). But it’s obviously just my experience

Brad_Olwin

@amasidlover I used to bike race and on a bike it would be much easier to have the intervals programmed on the bike. I totally understand how it makes workouts easier to focus on. I don’t think anyone here is trying to belittle anyone else. As @Mff73 said, this has been hammered to death and it is unlikely to happen. I would advise those who need structured workouts on a watch to weigh what they need in a wrist device and purchase the product that works for them.

amasidlover

@Brad_Olwin The problem is that, that is what I did - I bought the Ambit3 because I could set-up structured intervals in the Movescount App and sync them to the watch… As much as I’d like Suunto to offer a new generation product that has structured intervals and that I can put on my list of ‘possibles’ for an Ambit3 replacement, I’m not ‘angry’ about it.

On the other hand I will be annoyed if we get to the point where my careful saved Movescount App stops working due to some server side change of Suunto’s and I can no longer use one of the key features I bought the Ambit3 for.

Although I’m happy to concede this is off topic since this was in response to the owner of a Suunto9 - I only weighed in to try and balance the number of people telling him he is ‘training wrong’.

jsuarez

I would say that telling someone he is training wrong is not the way to go. What if he/she is choosing that structure so that it is also a bit more fun?

What if the next FW only allowed to customise simple intervals to the mile/km or the minute? Would we stop training 1/4mi or 400m? Telling someone to do things differently because a feature is removed or unimplemented is not right, specially when other brands allow to do that.

Not everybody has the privilege or the time to train with a group. I usually have to train alone and sometimes at night because my job does not allow me to do otherwise. That’s why to me custom intervals are good. No need to remember what stage you were in.

Just my two cents.

andrewglipman

While on my interval run this morning I found a few things that I did not know before (mainly because I had not tried it)

I set duration, recovery and number of reps before setting off.
On the warm up I could still change those values (wanted more recovery), presumably as I had not started the reps.
Did the workout.
Once complete, long middle press again, I could then set another set of reps with different duration etc.

Having come from Garmin 310 where I could set different elements, I thought that this is a good way round.
I expect that you could add more intervals again?

isazi

@andrewglipman yes you can long press the middle button and change your intervals mid activity. Along many other options.

andrewglipman

@isazi I knew that you could change some options, but didnt realise I could change the intervals, and add new ones, so for those wanted a bit more flexibility for interval workouts, this might be a way to help?

I will certainly give this another go.

freeheeler

@isazi
long time no hear about complex intervalls

@TELE-HO said in Interval training with different durations?:

@isazi
long time no hear about complex intervalls

When I saw the notification about this thread I thought it was black friday gift, Suunto Gives Complex Intervals!

Dimitrios Kanellopoulos

@André-Faria but they are 50% done, like for the next 10 years

freeheeler

@Dimitrios-Kanellopoulos
they are coming?
I never used intervalls at all, but I’ve heard it’s healthy and effective

Dimitrios Kanellopoulos

@TELE-HO nope that I know of

freeheeler

@Dimitrios-Kanellopoulos
ah, then I got you wrong sorry!

vinay

I come from a Polar S810 before I moved onto the Ambit 2S back in 2014 or so (because there was no way to synchronize this old Polar on a new Windows 8.1 computer… ). The Polar gave you different phases with each a number of repetitions. So when you wanted to program a pyramid interval, you had a lot of sets of one interval each. A hassle to set up, but it was possible. The Ambit series allow you to program it in some sort of code, the latest Suunto models don’t allow this currently it seems. How useful it is? I honestly don’t know. For ramping isometric strength training you work with constant intervals but ramp up the intensity so the fixed intervals of the the latest models are fine. But for running I actually like variable intervals and/or recoveries. When intervals are supposed to be all out, it is just easier to work with intervals decreasing in length (like the second half of the pyramid intervals). I think you’d otherwise end up preserving energy for the last few sets whereas otherwise you will actually always go all out the way you’re supposed to. But maybe the experts will tell me here that this makes zero sense from a training perspective ;). Indeed all training exercises I’ve been given by actual coaches have been with fixed length intervals.

Either way, what the Suunto 5 and Suunto 9 seem to have is SuuntoPlus with the “sprint” option. I haven’t tried this yet (have the Suunto 5) but it is supposed to recognize when you perform the interval. So if you have a separate interval timer (like the Gymboss unit, an old Polar watch, or a coach, or a training partner, or landmarks etc) you can just let that/those trigger you to perform the interval and the Suunto watch will register this as such. This function only works for running with GPS or footpod though, so for other sports you might need something else.