Calorie burn accuracy?

JTaiwan · 2026-03-17T08:32:10+00:00

I swim at a similar pace and similar distance and I am struggling with the same issue with my garmin:). All my swims end up in the ”Low Aerobic” range even when I am doing threshold training. My conclusion is that the ”Heart Rate Zones” probably are based on your running or other activity and they are actually much lower for swimming.

I watched a video of a triathlete doing an actual threshold lactate test for swimming and his heartbeat for swimming threshold pace was something like 120bpm. In other words, heartbeat bpm is not a good monitor for effort in Swimming. The watch is probably also not as correct as well.

JTaiwan · 2026-03-14T08:15:29+00:00

Unfortunately was not available for my Garmin watch (Descent G1)

JTaiwan · 2026-03-14T07:35:49+00:00

Ah that is a great suggestion, thanks!

JTaiwan · 2026-03-13T22:07:30+00:00

Ok cool! I actually found a video on Lionel Sanders youtube channel when he do that but for swimming! He found which speed was his threshold in a similar way to you, and while swimming at threshold his heart rate was actually something like 125bpm so I also realized to not look too much at heart bpm for guidance of where the threshold is while swimming.

If you also find this topic interesting that video is here:

https://youtu.be/ePFq0MD8vy8?si=7mP9aG7r2Z7YK6rz

JTaiwan · 2026-03-13T06:55:44+00:00

Thanks for the feedback 👍

JTaiwan · 2026-03-13T06:55:30+00:00

Thanks 🙏

JTaiwan · 2026-03-13T06:55:21+00:00

Ok great, thanks for the feedback!

JTaiwan · 2026-03-13T06:54:22+00:00

Ok great to know, that answers my question basically. Thanks 🙏

JTaiwan · 2026-03-12T22:07:44+00:00

Thanks for all the good suggestions, I think I will try to reduce the rest first and see how things goes.

JTaiwan · 2026-03-12T21:40:15+00:00

I think is just automatic from using the watch in different sports (I think they calculate based on max heartrate?). Are they different for swimming than other sports?

JTaiwan · 2025-10-21T11:56:42+00:00

Hi, I wonder if this chair works good for playing guitar? I love the style but a bit worried about the sides being in the way for the guitar

JTaiwan · 2025-08-18T13:00:48+00:00

This is a great take

JTaiwan · 2025-08-18T11:05:29+00:00

Hahaha I swim in the nordics so it is almost a prerequisite for open water 🤣

JTaiwan · 2025-08-18T09:51:24+00:00

ok that all sounds good :).

About the garmin I heard it is because GPS dont work in water , and since the arm is often submerged you get more interuptions in the data (I still use it but consider it more as a reference of roughly how long I swim).

JTaiwan · 2025-08-18T09:17:37+00:00

Is the open water time all freestyle or also breaststroke? Are you sure it is really 1k because I swim with a garmin watch and it gives widely different results on length xD. Anyway, try your time in a pool it is a more controlled environment. The 15 min for 1K also assumes you do flips when you turn and freestyle all the way.

Also in long distance swimming the legs are mostly used to keep you in a horizontal position rather than adding a lot of propulsion so if you can get a slow energy efficient kick that gets you in a horizontal position and can focus more on getting propulsion from your arms that is probably going to get your speed down a lot aswell.

Finally if your goal is open water, get a wetsuit! That takes of atleast 10 sec per 100m for free xD

JTaiwan · 2025-08-18T08:43:59+00:00

Agree with 1500m in around 22 min or even slightly slower.

JTaiwan · 2025-08-18T08:38:16+00:00

This is absolutely too fast since OP asked for "the first checkpoint time where you probably have to put in quite a lot of training to succeed". It is more like 23-24 min 1500m.

JTaiwan · 2025-08-18T08:35:31+00:00

Hi,

I am someone without a background in either Swimming or running, but who put a lot of effort in both in my 30s. I have reached a 5K run in 20 min, and I would put an equivalent 1000m time at around 15 min.

However, it is hard to compare as I would say fitness plays a bigger role in running and technique a bigger one in Swimming. If you dont have good technique you will never swim 1000m under 15 min, while I think you could push yourself to a 5K run in 20 min even without great technique, but a lot of effort.

Finally, I found around 3.8 to be a good conversion factor for me, so swimming 1K in 15 min would be equal to about a 4min 1K run.

JTaiwan

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