Hone in on the small print of your working type with assist from Garmin.
Garmin’s assortment of ‘Operating Dynamics’ metrics could present unparalleled perception into the finer particulars of your type, however utilizing them successfully isn’t all the time simple.
Except you educate your self on what every function truly means—and perceive how monitoring it throughout your coaching will help you enhance—the running-focused insights part of your Garmin watch can go unused.
Under, then, we’ve offered a fast round-up of what every function is and what they may point out.
Which watches provide native Garmin Operating Dynamics?
Garmin continues to supply its Operating Dynamics Pod and HRM chest straps for many who wish to add these metrics to their present watch, and the checklist of gadgets suitable with these equipment is just about countless.
Nonetheless, there’s additionally now a rising variety of Garmin watches that don’t require an adjunct, giving customers Operating Dynamics immediately from the wrist. They will’t natively observe floor contact steadiness (GCB) as a result of, after all, that’s just about unimaginable from one wrist.
Nonetheless, they’ll log floor contact time (GCT), cadence, stride size, vertical oscillation, and vertical ratio with out an adjunct.
Right here’s the present choice as of Could 2025:
- Enduro 2/3
- Epix (Gen 2) & Epix Professional (Gen 2) sequence
- Fenix 7 & Fenix 7 Professional sequence (and Quatix 7, Tactix 7, D2 Mach, Descent Mk3)
- Fenix 8 sequence (and others from the eighth-gen outside watch household)
- Fenix E
- Forerunner 255/265/570/945 LTE/955/965/970/
- Intuition 2/3 sequence
- MARQ (Gen 2) sequence
Garmin watches that ONLY provide wrist-based Operating Dynamics
Curiously, a few of Garmin’s extra trendy watches don’t permit for sensor pairing to achieve further insights. This can be a moderately new quirk inside Garmin’s function stacking. And whilst you do obtain some metrics, it means there’s no skill to achieve insights into GCTB or metrics launched in 2025, similar to Step Velocity Loss (that is solely obtainable by way of the Forerunner 970/HRM 600).
- Forerunner 165
- Venu 3
- Vivoactive 6
Defined: Garmin Operating Dynamics
In complete, Operating Dynamics consists of seven completely different metrics, though Garmin additionally contains its Operating Energy function and Hill Rating as a part of the group. Under, we’ll define what you possibly can anticipate from every.
New for 2025: Step Velocity Loss
On the time of writing, the provision of Step Velocity Loss (SSL) is minimal; it’s solely obtainable on the Garmin Forerunner 970 when paired with the Garmin HRM-600.
Nonetheless, in some early exams of the brand new metric, we’ve discovered it to be fairly useful in enhancing our understanding of our working economic system. Initially, we weren’t clear on whether or not this would offer a lot past what GCT (under) reveals, however there are strong use-cases for the perception.
Step Velocity Loss measures the distinction between your ahead velocity when your foot first hits the bottom and your minimal ahead velocity. In cm/s, the HRM 600 basically measures how a lot you placed on the brakes with every step. As somebody who can are likely to overstride at slower paces throughout marathon coaching—and who has the lateral knee and hip accidents to show it—this might show invaluable in guaranteeing I maintain a handy guide a rough, constant glide and stay environment friendly.
I’ve arrange the Garmin information subject above on the 970 to indicate my reside SSL on a gauge, in addition to my common for the session, and my final lap SSL (nice for understanding if my SSL is declining as my legs tire, and a superb reminder to not linger on every step).
Curiously, Garmin additionally signifies that SSL is intelligent sufficient (by way of the 970’s barometer) to regulate your SSL primarily based on the grade of your run. Nonetheless, this doesn’t work on a treadmill, and Garmin additionally cautions the effectiveness of the metric on mega variable surfaces like technical trails (or when strolling, because it’s programmed to gauge your efficiency towards different runners).
Floor Contact Time (GCT)
Floor contact time (GCT) is the period of time your foot spends on the bottom with every step. Garmin averages this out on the finish of a exercise, however you’re additionally given an in depth graph in Join of the factors at which it diverse. It’s also possible to arrange information screens to view this in real-time.
In Garmin Join (or on the GCT gauge information subject choice), it will present completely different colours relying on how your GCT pertains to completely different percentiles of fellow runners, which you’ll be able to view by urgent ‘Assist’ subsequent to the graph.
Elite runners are likely to have contact occasions nearer to 200ms than 300ms, although it’s necessary to understand that this metric does range rather a lot whenever you issue in numerous paces, stride lengths, and stride strategies.
Floor Contact Time Stability
A extremely useful perception for many who wish to guarantee effort is evenly unfold between every leg, floor contact time steadiness (GCTB) displays the symmetry of your steps.
For apparent causes, it’s not obtainable with out an exterior Garmin sensor, however after getting one connected, you’re ready so as to add a real-time gauge to your watch and assess this steadiness.
We discover this significantly useful for managing our steadiness throughout hills, intervals and when managing niggling accidents, when our GCTB usually tends to go awry.
Cadence
A metric a lot extra customers might be acquainted with, cadence is the measure of what number of steps are taken per minute.
A cadence of 180 steps per minute is usually cited as the usual for runners, although this will likely range when you’re taller than common or when you’re working at a tempo decrease or greater than a typical 6/10 or 7/10 effort.
Like with different Operating Dynamics metrics, Garmin will assess your common cadence and most cadence from a session and color-code the graph primarily based on the way it compares to different runners.
With these colours not likely taking into consideration your individual private tempo or effort, nonetheless, ensure that to take this cross-examination with a pinch of salt; we are likely to solely actually take note of our cadence on race-ish tempo runs once we’re attempting to maximise effectivity.
Stride Size
One other key perception into your working type, stride size is exactly what you’d anticipate—the gap lined with every left and proper step.
This determine is averaged on the finish of a session, just like different metrics. Nonetheless, when you’re an overstrider like us, including a knowledge subject to your watch may be actually useful in managing this throughout runs.
Amongst all of the insights within the Operating Dynamics household, stride size is probably going probably the most private. It’s considerably influenced by your peak, weight, energy, and suppleness, and sometimes doesn’t range a lot inside your individual vary.
Vertical Oscillation
Vertical oscillation refers back to the quantity of bounce you might have in every step, measured in centimeters.
Garmin notes that extra skilled runners often have decrease vertical oscillation, though this determine can also be considerably influenced by tempo.
A sooner tempo usually correlates with decrease vertical oscillation, which is the place the Operating Dynamics metric Vertical Ratio (under) will help present further context.
Vertical Ratio
This can be a excellent means of getting an concept of how environment friendly your type is, with it basically measuring how nicely you propel your self ahead with every stride.
Vertical ratio is the sum of your vertical oscillation divided by your stride size, delivered as a proportion. A decrease vertical ratio proportion signifies a decrease effort and a extra environment friendly type.
