Just got myself a Tymewear VitalPro breathing/HR strap that records ventilatory data.
Anyone else use one and seen good fitness improvements using the ventilatory threshold information they track?
No - but Iām very interested to see what people think about them.
I have one and been using it for about a month. So far I have mixed reviews and want to hold off for a few months to give a thoughtful opinion. I will say that for anyone that buys one the strap needs to be tighter than a typical heart rate strap. If not the readings will be worthless and the work put into testing will be a waste. At this point their app needs a lot of work and more integrations for it to be really viable as a standalone training platform but I think it will get much better. I am using it as a confirmation point more than anything else. Doubt this helps but all I have for now! 
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This is my stance too, almost using it as more validation as to whether I am training the right areas. Iāve done the threshold test, just had the data back and it says I have a balanced profile so I am in a good place to do some VO2 work 
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I quite liked the strap needing to be tight, I often run my normal HR strap that tight anyway. Totally agree that the app needs a bit of work, or at least the data needs to be more easily shareable/usable with platforms such as intervals and on Coros and Wahoo head units. Having to go back to Garmin, really hurt. Felt like going back 30 years to the days of mobile phones with keypads having to figure out how to use Garmin 
Would be awesome if Trainerroad could pull through the data too one day.
When i emailed Tymewear, they suggested emailing Wahoo and Coros to highlight the demand with those companiesā head units.
Iāve had one for a couple of weeks.
Initially I couldnāt get the strap to connect to the app but there was an update to the firmware which sorted it.
I did a submax test just to see if everything was working and went off to be analysed before I could stop it so their system thinks I hit VO2max ay 189W and has set my zones accordingly.
It pairs perfectly with the their Garmin App so I did a proper test using that and have interpreted the results myself (hopefully correctly) and have set then up in Intervals.icu where @IƱigo Tolosa has produced a great chart for looking at the data.
As someone earlier has said the strap has to be tighter than a HR strap and has to be positioned as close as possible in the same position every time. I got some very low readings whist doing a maximal effort the other day and only realised that the breathing sensor at the back had got caught on the slats of the chair at the coffee shop and dragged it down quite a lot for the rest of the ride.
Iām finding it very spiky out on the road and it it reacts quite markedly to changes in position, getting out of the saddle etc. It does however return very quickly to where it should be. Having said that Iām finding it very useful to set and help me control my intensity during intervals outside.
Overall Iām quite pleased with it. Whether itās worth the money only time will tell. Itās already confirmed what I thought was my major limiter and itās nice to get some numbers that back up my feelings. If it helps me get off my 2/3 year plateau then it will have been worth it.
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@carytb so tell me more about how I look at the data in intervals??? My intervals looks to my Strava for the rides and sessions I record on my Garmin, do I need to do something else (as I assume the ventilation data wonāt pass through Strava to intervals?
It does feel like the strap will be inherently fragile or sensitive to the correct position each time. I have marked the holes on the strap with a blue pencil so that itās the same tightness every time. Unless my weight changes.
Youāve got to get the data straight through from Garmin, you are correct taht Strava is no good for that.
There are a few threads on the Intervals forum where it says what to do if you look for Inigo Tolosa he has some good info about how to go about it. The information is mixed up in a few post about Tymwear and AlphaHRV.
You then find the Chart in Activity Charts in an activity. After youve enabled it you have to Reprocess any old activities you want to be included.
You can also construct your own activity charts in the usual way using the data from the Custom Streams you have set up
Youāve got to enable some Custom Streams to get the data from your Garmin as its in the fit file if you are using Tymewears Garmin App.
Hope this helps
I have been using the TymeWear Vital Pro for a few months now. Initial reaction: I like it!
I have done a couple of step tests to determine the various zones. Outcomes are similar to lab tests I have done in the past.
I started using the device with my iPhone to capture the breathing data and then used other devices to capture, power, cadence, pace, etc. I was a bit of a pain. Itās possible to merge FIT files so everyone is to get, but not optimal. When I started running everything through my Garmin 1050, life got a whole lot easier. All my data in one place. Data goes to all my apps including TrainingPeaks, Strava, TrainerRoad, Garmin Connect, WKO and the TymeWear app. With WKO I can now analyze the data myself, either each event or rolling up data over time. What I see myself doing most is the step tests monthly and then watching how I accumulate time in each of the zones. I can do it during the ride or after.
Tech support has been excellent. Iāve posted up multiple questions and I get a response back, typically within 24 hours.
Happy I bought the product.
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Hi folks from Australia.. again. In October 2023 I started a topic regarding a request for integration of the āCOREā body temperature sensor into TR. Had a little look back at that topic and some very smart people along with the usual naysayers from the peanut gallery seemed unreceptive to the prospect.
ā¦.. fast forward two years. Have been using a core sensor for regular heat sessions. It works. I think thats been established by far more accomplished minds than mine.
As a back story Im an old guy and love my gadgets. Ive been racing since the early 80s and had one of the first very big clunky polar heart rate monitors. Here I am in my 60s still racing and embracing personal improvement after some health challenges. We are in a consumer driven society and TR is in a competitve marketplace and is selling a product. I prefer numbers to video games so thats why Ive stuck with it. Accordingly Ive purchased a few of the gadgets out of curiosity to crash test them on myself. To date Ive used all the power meters, the core sensor as already stated and have recently been playing with the following toysā¦. A Tymewear breathing sensor; (only had it a few weeks but Im impressed); A āCalibre bioā breath analysis mask (very interesting and informative) and also played with AeroSensor as well. Oh and also playing with an āIsocapnicā respiratory trainer.
ā¦ā¦ So did a TR session the other day and it did upload into my Garmin Connect but didnt push across to the Tymewear sensor. So I emailed tymewear they are very receptive and suggested I ask Trainer Road for some type of functionality to push my sessions into their platform, as we know many of the competing companies collaborate.
As an old guy I simply got these toys are they are relatively inexpensive for what they represent i.e. physiological and performance information, definitely dont take myself too seriously but find the info keeps me interested and motivated. While Im a bit shy about my numbers as they sadly suck (compared to my 20ās and 30ās) I have seen very significant improvements in some key markers, seen confirmation across several platforms of numbers like V02 (in Tymewear, Garmin and Calibre) and commensurate substantial increases in my blood HCT after some solid work with the Core sensor.
ā¦.. so over to the cheap seats for some thoughts a few years on and asking the TR brains trust for some thoughts on functionality over some of the other gadgets coming on line. All with the underlying caveat of it is getting me off the couch and Im in the old man trying to laugh at myself category.
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Thanks @carytb will see if I can follow it all when I get a spare moment!
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I always dual record my TR sessions on my Garmin so that I get the data that not included in the TR fit file. I started doing it to get the AlphaHRV data. Like you Iām just interested all this stuff
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Thanks for the information. Can you please let me know how how you set up WKO to see the data. Im recording now my sessions with my garmin 1040 but the data is not visible in WKO e.g. ventilation, ā¦. is not visible.
You need to connect the Vital Pro equipment to your Garmin device. It requires a Connect IQ field. Itās a bit complicated, but Tymewear has a post on it here: Garmin Bike Computers ā Tyme Wearā¢. The part I stumbled on for a while was making sure the sensor ID is changed from the default 0000 to your deviceās ID. Once that is complete, you should see the Tymewear info in the WKO Channels.
Thanks will set up the channels in WKO as Garmin is all set
I just started using one and I havenāt done the testing yet. My sense, and Iām posting because I am open to being corrected, is that the data should be compared to an FTP test. If the breathing sensor gives different actionable data then itās worth saying people should buy it. If the FTP test gives essentially the same zones then thereās no point since you already get the info from an FTP test. Am I missing something or does that track?
Until you have done a test, Iām not sure what the data tells you?
To me, it has been useful to know when to change my type of training. The first test suggested my VO2 was a little low. That is, zone 2, zone 3 and zone 4 were all well within the supposed % range of my VO2. Doing a VO2 block has elevated my VO2, and thereby it happens that my zone 2 is now lower as a percentage of my new VO2 number. So I now head for some zone 2 training to try and elevate my zone 2 back into the āoptimalā range.
Without one of these straps, you might typically do a VO2 block and then do some threshold, or vice versa. You might end a block of training when you stop seeing improvement in the area you have been training, or you might just not be able to face the same sort of training mentally and need a change regardless. The strap confirms that training has done itās thing and itās time to train a different zone.
Iād liken it to a number of sliders on a scale, and sometimes you can only move the lower sliders once you have moved the upper sliders.
FTP is a nice number to know but for (say) ultra distance, itās much more useful to have a zone 2 all day pace that is maxed out as a proportion of VO2 than something like FTP which says well done you got a great 1 hour (ish) power. When youāre riding for hours and hours and days, 1 hour power (threshold or thereabouts) is only useful so far as how it allows your other physiological zones to be higher.
Every communication I have had with the Tymewear guys has suggested I should train to the VE numbers and not to power any more. Which has been a hard shift of mindset. Training at a threshold that is significantly lower than TrainerRoad AI FTP, is sobering, but if it does the job then we all want easier training for better results, donāt we???!
Without the test I know nothing. I have to recover before I do that but I like to have an idea of direction if I am going to write about it. Somewhat randomly my interest is ultra-endurance and all day zone 2 but thatās probably not all that important to any potential article. I do suspect that this is going to reveal why the AI FTP is wrong for me but again, that might not be the best angle for a wider audience.
Mostly i want to nail down a clear angle where I say, yeah buy it or donāt bother. Power is the gold standard so what problem is being solved by shifting? I like your use case. That seems smart to me but I think it would still be revealed in my scenario? The zones based on the new sensor would be more accurate so I could see deficiencies I didnāt know were there.
Is that all making logical sense based on your experience?
I have one and use it. Iāve had some issues with it and my Garmin. The service has been top notch in helping me solve my issues. Theyāve released a few updates which have fixed my issues.
I havenāt done any of the testing protocols. Right now Iām recording it on the app while I do TR workouts to see breathing rate and ventilation while correlating with heart rate.
HR monitor is great. Probably best Iāve had.
I am so confused. Why wouldnāt you do the test with it? Thatās the entire point of the device.