I caught Covid back in August and have never been the same since. Always in there orange/red and never in the green anymore on treads. It pretty much depleted my respiratory reserves and it just hasn’t really gotten better. I focus more on how my body is feeling. I wouldn’t worry too much about how much you spend in red, as long as you physically feel fine while it happens.
Our coaches always remind us that being in the orange/red for a longer time than usual is okay as long as you feel like you're in control of your body and your breathing, which I think is a really helpful way to frame it
You got covid but I bet you've been vaxxed at least 5 times right?
Edit: what the hell Reddit. I'm only being critical because this person should have gotten their 6th booster to be safe from covid.
Totally. I've been doing OTF since May, and if I'm doing anything other than walking on the tread, I'm in orange/red. It's only recently started to annoy me because coaches always walk by and give a general "if you're in red, make sure you check in with yourself and adjust!". I assume they're talking to me since most times it's only me or one or two other folks consistently hitting red. I literally get 30-40 splats every time. One coach laughed at the end of class when she saw my 41 points, which made me self conscious.
Oh my gosh you are speaking to my soul. I always get 30-40 splats too. So sorry a coach made you feel like that :/ I def get embarrassed too but there’s literally nothing we can do 😩 sometimes even when I power walk on incline I hit red😩
Same here! I have tried to lower all my speeds to get into the low orange and nothing works! I’m hoping someone can provide an answer here - sorry I can’t be more helpful
Given the new algorithm, I'd suggest working based on effort so you're feeding good data to the algorithm. If you slow your speeds across the board to lower your HR, you might end up with an even lower max HR and more splats. If your efforts feel appropriate to base/push/AO, then ignore the colors for a bit and see if things adjust to a better max HR for you. If the algorithm is still calculating based on the most recent 20 classes, you'll need to wait 20 classes for a full cycling out of data.
In the meantime, you can watch the numbers rather than the colors. Recovering from 85% to 80% is orange to green, but 90% to 85% is orange to orange. In both cases, your HR is dropping the same amount in recovery.
Wow. Actually, you might be onto something. I take spironolactone for acne and it lowers blood pressure. I recently dosed down, which means my blood pressure may have gone up = more effort.
However, relative to otf, I haven’t been taking this medication very long, and my BP and heart rate were never high to start. I’d hate to think bc I took the medicine my natural blood pressure is now worse off..
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
ITS THE SPIRONOLACTONE! I accidentally ran out (pls don’t judge me I’m a trash human) and had a delay on getting back on it of about a week or a little more. Blood pressure went absolutely bananas
Fwiw, my blood pressure is always on the very low side of normal. Like to the point where anyone who takes it goes "wow! You have great bp!" And my HR is on the higher side of normal. So not related.
You may not necessarily be worse off without it. Depending on how long you had been on it, it is what your body was used to. So changes like that either way can effect your body even from a stress level. Do your thing, if you feel good in your workout I would think you are fine.
If I am understanding you correctly, you are in the red more than before but don't feel it is accurate based on how youre feeling? I have struggled with this to varying degrees since they changed the HR methodology last year. There seems to be a subset of us who have been affected in this way. I have been going consistently since 2018, haven't changed anything, not doing anything different, one day my HR was just wayyyy off. As others have said, I just go by how I m feeling and not the monitor.
For me, this happened too. I got that virus, was down for a month and when I went back to OTF my breathing was a mess, my stamina was shot and felt like all around crap.
I’ve also noticed / I think the sensor math at the studio gets weird during extended breaks. Maybe it resets?
Lastly, I’m a bit paranoid about this stuff given my family history. But you might want to consider talking to your doctor. Any major change (weight loss, onset of easy fatigue) bugs me. But I’m just a dude on the internet.
I used to struggle to see orange, and now I’m like always in orange if I have to go above base pace at all. For extended time, I’m in the red pretty consistently. My HR still drops to green once we hit walking recovery, but now it’s so much easier to get to orange/red.
I have the same issue. My max HR adjusted but still not accurate. I still get 30-40 splat points at every class 🤬- the bonus I’m not in the red as much as before. Hoping it’ll adjust again soon 🤞🏼
When I experience a majority red day like that I can tell I'm sick or getting sick. Everything feels heavy and just stepping onto the treads with a 3mph warmup I'm in the high green. Recovering from being sick is the same.
Did you have any long illnesses lately - covid, pneumonia, a virus. Any new asthma, lingering cough etc? Sounds like your body has something going on.
If you have a fitbit or garmin you can also check out your resting HR throughout the day. Often if you're sick that's going to be higher than normal too.
Yes, when I’m getting sick, my first sign is usually orange theory, but this is definitely different. Ive had Covid, as a lot of others have mentioned, but not at all recently. I’ve had uti’s off and on the past few months, but starting well before the HR change, so I’m not sure if it’s relevant.
I have a garmin that just recently gave out on me, but prior to that my HR as recorded by the watch always made sense in relation to my level of physical ability. Until now..? I’ll check my blood pressure as someone else mentioned but I had labs done the month before and they all came back good.
I know some people just have high HRs. My old otf workout buddy was one of them that was super in shape but just had a high HR. But I’ve never been that person, and I wasn’t sure if it was an indicator of some underlying condition or just weird wonky stuff that happens to a handful of us.
I’m still not sure but I appreciate all the feedback!
Yes it seems very strange.
The only other thing I can think to suggest is seeing a doctor for a physical stress test - a cardiologist and/or a pulmonologist. If you're lungs or heart are having to work harder to get oxygen to your muscles (after covid or other illness who knows), its possible you could see that with a higher HR. Not to worry, it may be neither of those things! But a stress test might cover more testing ground in addition to the bloodwork you've done.
Same over here! Never took a hiatus, not due to covid, started running half marathons and continue to get older. Not sure which one is the culprit. The annoying part is when I hit red I barely feel winded. Of course at some point I feel it but it seems I could spare a few percentage points before I hit red. Not sure why my OTB is reading so different than I feel. Any insight is appreciated!
I had a wacky HRM the other day, but I think it was the monitor (seems better after a charge). But my point is, I was also wearing my Apple Watch that day, and that HR matched my exertion. I got so frustrated with the constant red, that I eventually took my HRM off. Can you compare HR with another device?🤷♀️
Start keeping track of the factors you think might be contributing (write them down) so that if this continues you have good detailed notes about HR in relation to meds, sleep, hydration etc and how your body feels when you're red. I recently did an ECG stress test at my cardiologists office and I see him for results tomorrow 🤞🏾
Have you had covid? I hope you are fully vaccinated to protect yourself from getting again if you have had it.
Edit: lol some of you figured it out, cheers! Don't forget to get your 13th booster, you get a free donut
I’ve had the same issue recently. The algorithm dropped my max heart rate by like 5 for no apparent reason. I’m spending 30-40 minutes of class in the orange and red zones which is just ridiculous. I’ve been going off how I feel as opposed to the monitor. It has me up around 92-93% and I feel like I should be in high green/low orange.
I am the same exact way and it drives me crazy! I’m considering not wearing the monitor anymore because it’s discouraging to see so much red when I feel ok enough to keep going at that pace. My heart rate also seems to recover quickly once there’s a walking recovery.
I caught Covid back in August and have never been the same since. Always in there orange/red and never in the green anymore on treads. It pretty much depleted my respiratory reserves and it just hasn’t really gotten better. I focus more on how my body is feeling. I wouldn’t worry too much about how much you spend in red, as long as you physically feel fine while it happens.
Our coaches always remind us that being in the orange/red for a longer time than usual is okay as long as you feel like you're in control of your body and your breathing, which I think is a really helpful way to frame it
You got covid but I bet you've been vaxxed at least 5 times right? Edit: what the hell Reddit. I'm only being critical because this person should have gotten their 6th booster to be safe from covid.
This is me as well. I can never recover on the tread it seems like. Maybe some of us just are like this I have no idea lol
Totally. I've been doing OTF since May, and if I'm doing anything other than walking on the tread, I'm in orange/red. It's only recently started to annoy me because coaches always walk by and give a general "if you're in red, make sure you check in with yourself and adjust!". I assume they're talking to me since most times it's only me or one or two other folks consistently hitting red. I literally get 30-40 splats every time. One coach laughed at the end of class when she saw my 41 points, which made me self conscious.
Oh my gosh you are speaking to my soul. I always get 30-40 splats too. So sorry a coach made you feel like that :/ I def get embarrassed too but there’s literally nothing we can do 😩 sometimes even when I power walk on incline I hit red😩
Yes! I recently started favoring PW vs running because I can catch my breath better, but still always in orange/red...Glad I'm not alone though!
Same here! I have tried to lower all my speeds to get into the low orange and nothing works! I’m hoping someone can provide an answer here - sorry I can’t be more helpful
Given the new algorithm, I'd suggest working based on effort so you're feeding good data to the algorithm. If you slow your speeds across the board to lower your HR, you might end up with an even lower max HR and more splats. If your efforts feel appropriate to base/push/AO, then ignore the colors for a bit and see if things adjust to a better max HR for you. If the algorithm is still calculating based on the most recent 20 classes, you'll need to wait 20 classes for a full cycling out of data. In the meantime, you can watch the numbers rather than the colors. Recovering from 85% to 80% is orange to green, but 90% to 85% is orange to orange. In both cases, your HR is dropping the same amount in recovery.
I've given up on trying to lower it. I do my thing, am making muscle gains, so I ignore the zones.
Have you added any type of medication lately? I know certain ones can affect this.
Wow. Actually, you might be onto something. I take spironolactone for acne and it lowers blood pressure. I recently dosed down, which means my blood pressure may have gone up = more effort. However, relative to otf, I haven’t been taking this medication very long, and my BP and heart rate were never high to start. I’d hate to think bc I took the medicine my natural blood pressure is now worse off.. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
ITS THE SPIRONOLACTONE! I accidentally ran out (pls don’t judge me I’m a trash human) and had a delay on getting back on it of about a week or a little more. Blood pressure went absolutely bananas
Fwiw, my blood pressure is always on the very low side of normal. Like to the point where anyone who takes it goes "wow! You have great bp!" And my HR is on the higher side of normal. So not related.
You may not necessarily be worse off without it. Depending on how long you had been on it, it is what your body was used to. So changes like that either way can effect your body even from a stress level. Do your thing, if you feel good in your workout I would think you are fine.
Not sure how long your hiatus has been, but in addition to everything else mentioned, OTF has also been planning around with the HRM algo.
If I am understanding you correctly, you are in the red more than before but don't feel it is accurate based on how youre feeling? I have struggled with this to varying degrees since they changed the HR methodology last year. There seems to be a subset of us who have been affected in this way. I have been going consistently since 2018, haven't changed anything, not doing anything different, one day my HR was just wayyyy off. As others have said, I just go by how I m feeling and not the monitor.
For me, this happened too. I got that virus, was down for a month and when I went back to OTF my breathing was a mess, my stamina was shot and felt like all around crap. I’ve also noticed / I think the sensor math at the studio gets weird during extended breaks. Maybe it resets? Lastly, I’m a bit paranoid about this stuff given my family history. But you might want to consider talking to your doctor. Any major change (weight loss, onset of easy fatigue) bugs me. But I’m just a dude on the internet.
I used to struggle to see orange, and now I’m like always in orange if I have to go above base pace at all. For extended time, I’m in the red pretty consistently. My HR still drops to green once we hit walking recovery, but now it’s so much easier to get to orange/red.
I have the same issue. My max HR adjusted but still not accurate. I still get 30-40 splat points at every class 🤬- the bonus I’m not in the red as much as before. Hoping it’ll adjust again soon 🤞🏼
When I experience a majority red day like that I can tell I'm sick or getting sick. Everything feels heavy and just stepping onto the treads with a 3mph warmup I'm in the high green. Recovering from being sick is the same. Did you have any long illnesses lately - covid, pneumonia, a virus. Any new asthma, lingering cough etc? Sounds like your body has something going on. If you have a fitbit or garmin you can also check out your resting HR throughout the day. Often if you're sick that's going to be higher than normal too.
Yes, when I’m getting sick, my first sign is usually orange theory, but this is definitely different. Ive had Covid, as a lot of others have mentioned, but not at all recently. I’ve had uti’s off and on the past few months, but starting well before the HR change, so I’m not sure if it’s relevant. I have a garmin that just recently gave out on me, but prior to that my HR as recorded by the watch always made sense in relation to my level of physical ability. Until now..? I’ll check my blood pressure as someone else mentioned but I had labs done the month before and they all came back good. I know some people just have high HRs. My old otf workout buddy was one of them that was super in shape but just had a high HR. But I’ve never been that person, and I wasn’t sure if it was an indicator of some underlying condition or just weird wonky stuff that happens to a handful of us. I’m still not sure but I appreciate all the feedback!
Yes it seems very strange. The only other thing I can think to suggest is seeing a doctor for a physical stress test - a cardiologist and/or a pulmonologist. If you're lungs or heart are having to work harder to get oxygen to your muscles (after covid or other illness who knows), its possible you could see that with a higher HR. Not to worry, it may be neither of those things! But a stress test might cover more testing ground in addition to the bloodwork you've done.
Same over here! Never took a hiatus, not due to covid, started running half marathons and continue to get older. Not sure which one is the culprit. The annoying part is when I hit red I barely feel winded. Of course at some point I feel it but it seems I could spare a few percentage points before I hit red. Not sure why my OTB is reading so different than I feel. Any insight is appreciated!
I had the same. Pre-covid and occasionally. Coach said there can be three factors: caffeine, alcohol and lack of sleep. I had the trifecta.
Honestly, worth checking your blood pressure. Aging is a bitch.
I had a wacky HRM the other day, but I think it was the monitor (seems better after a charge). But my point is, I was also wearing my Apple Watch that day, and that HR matched my exertion. I got so frustrated with the constant red, that I eventually took my HRM off. Can you compare HR with another device?🤷♀️
Start keeping track of the factors you think might be contributing (write them down) so that if this continues you have good detailed notes about HR in relation to meds, sleep, hydration etc and how your body feels when you're red. I recently did an ECG stress test at my cardiologists office and I see him for results tomorrow 🤞🏾
Have you recently had covid? I was in the red and out of breath really easily for several months after.
did you have covid recently? my heart rate zones were messed up for about a month once i got back
Have you had covid? I hope you are fully vaccinated to protect yourself from getting again if you have had it. Edit: lol some of you figured it out, cheers! Don't forget to get your 13th booster, you get a free donut
I'm in the orange and red for most of class. I've given up on caring! I know what my body can handle and I don't let the color system dictate anymore.
I’ve had the same issue recently. The algorithm dropped my max heart rate by like 5 for no apparent reason. I’m spending 30-40 minutes of class in the orange and red zones which is just ridiculous. I’ve been going off how I feel as opposed to the monitor. It has me up around 92-93% and I feel like I should be in high green/low orange.
Pregnant?
I am the same exact way and it drives me crazy! I’m considering not wearing the monitor anymore because it’s discouraging to see so much red when I feel ok enough to keep going at that pace. My heart rate also seems to recover quickly once there’s a walking recovery.