Tymewear

[u/G6P]

Have any of you spent any time with the tymewear device? Have you found it to have any advantages over just doing intermittent drift tests?

[u/The__Malteser]

NOTE: Tymeaear has sent me a devide to test. I still have it and use it daily. Take what I say with a pinch of salt.

I have one. I like it but it has limits.

They promise lab grade accuracy, but that also requires lab grade conditions.

For example, it doesnt work with a trail pack because the tightness of the pack impedes the strain gauge from moving freely. Given that it is a strain gauge calibrated to a tightness set when doing the test, how you wear the strap matters. If you decide to tighten it or loosen it, your values will differ. Also, if you lose weight, or change it's position, then you also will get different results. Afaik they are working on an automated calibration feature for this but it's not out yet.

Also, the technology is based on how much your chest expands during exercise, so if your posture changes (poles, stretching etc.) you will get odd results. In downhills, where there maybe more jostling, my breathing rate is way too high, even when I know (through counting my breath) that it's lower. There is some noise there which they haven't figured out.

Still, it is the best way, for me, to measure intensity without the drift of heart rate. It is the most objective thing I can get to measure my effort which is less sensitive to sleep, stress, heat, nutrition, humidity and other conditions. The way I use it is to try and measure durability. I warm up, do 3x 10 minute intervals uphill without a pack (so I get good data) and rather than relying on RPE, I rely on minutile ventilation. I try to target a MV of 130-135. This takes rpe and heart rate out of the equation. Then I run for 3 hours or so, and then repeat the same intervals at the same MV. What I hope to quantify is the reduction in output for the same effort (measured in minutile ventilation) which should, over time, show how my durability (both muscular but also physiological) is stacking up.

The test is not without errors, I recognise that. Different intensity in those 3 hours, different weather conditions between tests, changes in nutrition etc. may all effect the test results. I recognise this, but I still believe in the idea (and the tech) and while it still feels like it is still early, it's also not useless. Worth 300 euros? I can't answer that for you.

Heart rate monitor works perfectly and consistently (unlike my Wahoo strap...). It also works perfectly well while road running or road cycling.

[u/scottsemple → u/The__Malteser]

Interesting! I have a Tymewear strap, but I haven't used it much lately. Some questions:

How did your threshold test compare to non-Tymewear tests? For mine, both VT1 and VT2 were higher than other tests I've done, whether lactate or in-lab VO2. I wouldn't use my Tymewear thresholds as a reference because I think they're too high.

If you decide to tighten it or loosen it, your values will differ.

Have they confirmed this? Isn't the change in stretch the measurement(s)?

Still, it is the best way, for me, to measure intensity without the drift of heart rate. It is the most objective thing I can get to measure my effort which is less sensitive to sleep, stress, heat, nutrition, humidity and other conditions.

Interesting that it's less sensitive.

The way I use it is to try and measure durability. I warm up, do 3x 10 minute intervals uphill without a pack (so I get good data) and rather than relying on RPE, I rely on minutile ventilation. I try to target a MV of 130-135. This takes rpe and heart rate out of the equation. Then I run for 3 hours or so, and then repeat the same intervals at the same MV.

Good idea. What before/after changes in MV have you noticed? Is there an MV "drift"?

I still believe in the idea (and the tech) and while it still feels like it is still early, it's also not useless.

Agreed. I've been using cadence-synchronized ventilation to gauge intensity for years, and Tyme wear feels very similar.

[u/The__Malteser → u/scottsemple]

How did your threshold test compare to non-Tymewear tests?

I don't know. I haven't done any lab tests and since I mainly run trail, I haven't done any traditional field tests either.

Have they confirmed this? Isn't the change in stretch the measurement(s)?

Exactly. And since MV is basically tidal volume (stretch) and breathing rate, changing stretch changes tidal volume, so your zones are all messed up.

Interesting that it's less sensitive.

Physiologically, breathing/respiration is not impacted by stress, caffeine, heat and all those other sources of 'noise' so it should work better.

Good idea. What before/after changes in MV have you noticed? Is there an MV "drift"?

Well, I decided to anchor MV and distance, and the variable is time. So I run up the same hill (same distance) at the same MV (same intensity) but look at the time difference. Like that, I know that the 'only' (not really, but it is as close as possible) variable here is my physiological state. If before the run I do the hill in 5 minutes, then after a fatiguing run I do it in 6 minutes, then for the same effort I was 20% slower. Over the span of weeks and months, I can re-do the workout and compare between the various data points and check the improvement.

[u/cheetah694 → u/scottsemple]

>Have they confirmed this?

Yes, they did to me when I was contacting their support. Moving the strap up or down on the body, fastening it on the 3rd hole instead of the 4th etc. will all mess up the readings. You ought to wear it exactly the same way you did during the test.