The Garmin Workout Execution Score. What is it?

Garmin has introduced something called the Workout Execution Score with the launch of the Forerunner 255 and 955 a few months ago. Here’s what this is and how to use it.

Actually the metric has existed for a while now, but only on certain Garmin bike computers. The 255 and 955 are first watches from the company with this feature. A few days ago it made its way over to the Forerunner 945 LTE via a Beta firmware update. Presumably, it will be arriving to all Garmin high-end watches in the near future.

The feature is closely related to Daily Suggested Workouts

The clue is in the name. The Workout Execution Score quantifies how accurately you followed a workout instruction.

The metric is closely linked to Garmin’s Daily Suggested Workouts feature – something that most of the recent crop of watches from the company have. Fenix 6 was the first timepiece with Daily Suggested Workouts. Whenever you head out for a run or bike ride, this spits out workout recommendations.

In order for the feature to kick in, you need to establish a Training Status value by recording at least two running or cycling activities for one week. The more training data you have recorded, the better the proposals will be.

That’s because when coming up with a suggestion, Garmin takes into account a plethora of factors, including:

• Training Status, Load and Load Focus;
• Your current Vo2Max;
• Remaining Recovery Time;
• Training Readiness (Sleep Data on watches that don’t have this);
• Profile of recent runs (bike rides);
• Any races you may have scheduled in the near future.

You can choose to accept or reject the suggested workout, view the steps in detail, or ask Garmin to come up with an alternative. If you accept, you will be guided in real-time during your run or bike ride.

Also worth mentioning is that if you have synced a specific training plan to your watch from Garmin or a third-party, this takes presidence over the default Suggested Workout feature. The training plan has priority.

During the workout, do your best to follow the guidelines. This might, for example be, staying in a particular heart rate zone. The watch will display on the screen where you currently are and where you should be. If you find yourself straying outside the recommended zone, the device on your wrist will alert you with a vibration.

The Workout Execution Score kicks in after the workout is done

Now we get to the Garmin Workout Execution Score. It only kicks in after you’ve completed the workout.

Essentially, this is a simple metric on a 0 to 100 scale that quantifies how well you followed the suggested workout instructions from Garmin. You will see it on your watch-post exercise, and it can also be found in Garmin Connect and web dashboard in the details for that particular run or bike ride.

For example, if you get a suggestion for a 55 minute Base run, you will need to do your best to stay within the recommended range. A score of 67% and above means you’ve done well. Anything below 33% is a poor score.

A detailed explanation of this can be found in Garmin Connect.

You can optionally rate your perceived effort

We’ve all had good and bad training days. Depending on your settings, you may also be asked how well you felt post exercise. This is on a scale from 1 to 5.

You can also rate your Perceived Effort with a score between 1 or “Very Light” and 10 “”Maximum”. Garmin doesn’t actually use this data for anything but it can offer more insight into your training log. Refer to it in the future to see the link between your performance and how you felt on a particular day.

Essential reading: Best fitness trackers and health gadgets

The Workout Execution Score is a simple metric that I find is useful in my daily training. Having said that, it is more a nice-to-have that a must-have. There is nothing overcomplicated about it so hopefully it will arrive to a wider selection of Garmin watches in the weeks and months ahead.

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