Been recording on my Fenix 6 to also get a Training Status on Garmin Connect. I did Carson (60 minute, sweet spot) but only got a TE of 2.6 (maintaining aerobic capacity). How much work is needed to Improve Aerobic Capacity (ie 3.0 +). Realise these are different tools, and the accuracy of Garmin TE can be challenged, but I would have thought an hour long sweet spot would be expected to improve capacity, not just maintain.
That usually tends to be enough, looking at previous rides. I’ve done Carillon and Tallac thus far this week, and they’re reporting 3 and 3.2 respectively.
When I did Carson at the end of October it reported a TE of 3.4, so looks like you found that easier than I did!
FTP setting all present and correct?
Should be. Haven’t retested for a while but it’s the off season, not been riding much, Garmin has suggested it might even be a watt or two high. That said, I noted to myself after that it didn’t feel as tough as expected and was maybe time for a retest. Will do just that!
Garmin training effect really needs you doing some anaerobic work or for the algorithms to think there is an anaerobic contribution to show improvements rather than maintaining.
Also the TE wont care what your have your FTP set to. None of the firstbeat features are relying on information you have entered. However many of them rely on a decent VO2 calculation which can take a while for your new watch to learn if it’s your first time with that particular set of features in a garmin device.
I have fenix 5 plus and have experienced the same kinds of issues. My problem with them is they don’t seem to compare the training affect to your current level of fitness, but instead the best level in your recorded history. I had to take a couple months off due to injury and now every ride I do has a low training effect even if I’m doing VO2 Max or anaerobic. I lowered my ftp (had to 
), but it doesn’t take that into account. I think Garmin’s VO2 Max levels are the culprit, if that number is high, then your workouts will always seem like you’re underachieving. I haven’t looking into whether or not there is a way to “reset” that.
@SexyCoolguy the VO2 number should have decayed while you were off. I know mine has been bouncing around a bit during ssb1
“should” being operative word, i couldn’t agree more… I’d love to think my fitness hasn’t dropped that much while I was off the bike, but my FTP dropped 20-30 and Garmin’s VO2 number only dropped a couple.
Often firstbeat have whitepapers to tell you how they are doing things but not in the case of VO2. Link here: Firstbeat Analytics
The text implies this number relies on having a decent quantity of workouts so it may all trend together into a sensible place for you over the next few weeks.