Garmin Endurance Score explained: What it is and which Garmin watches support it

The VO2 Max figure on your Garmin watch may provide a decent insight into your aerobic endurance, but it doesn't quite tell the whole story - which is why understanding Endurance Score is essential.

Now available on a growing number of premium Garmin watches, Endurance Score adds some context to how your body is responding to recent training efforts. 

With a rolling score that updates after each workout, Garmin's Endurance Score is the ideal way to see whether your training routine is having a positive impact on your overall ability to sustain an activity for a long period. 

There's plenty to get to grips with, though, which is why we've covered everything there is to know in the sections below. 

Which Garmin watches support Endurance Score?

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With Endurance Score only arriving in 2023, the number of Garmin watches it's available on is still limited. 

However, it is rolling out to more all the time, so stay tuned for updates over the next few months.

The current list of Garmin watches that support Endurance Score include:

• Forerunner 255 series
• Forerunner 265 series
• Forerunner 955 series
• Forerunner 965
• Fenix 7 & Fenix 7 Pro series
• Epix (Gen 2) & Epix Pro (Gen 2) series
• Enduro 2
• MARQ (Gen 2) collection

What is Endurance Score? 

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While something like Hill Score is a purely running-focused insight, Endurance Score is built to register your efforts from any sport or activity over time.  

You can also gain an insight into which three activities are contributing most to your Endurance Score from the watch, with the icons constantly updating based on your recent tracked workouts, as shown above. 

So, how does Endurance Score actually differ from something like VO2 Max, which we mentioned above?

Well, while VO2 Max is the defining figure of your aerobic fitness, it's not necessarily the best indicator of performance - in long-distance events, particularly. 

Endurance Score is able to step in and add some additional insight to this figure. Whether metabolic, neural or muscular, there are adaptations that improve endurance that go beyond just improving aerobic base. 

How is Endurance Score calculated?

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Your aerobic base, as discussed above, is the starting point for calculating your Endurance Score - and it's still the factor that contributes most to your score.

However, Garmin's Endurance Score also factors in your activity history from the perspective of development, accounting for how difficult a workout was and the likelihood to which it contributed to fatigue resistance and the ability to perform sustained effort.

Both long and short-term training periods are accounted for in the calculation, Garmin says, with the former stretching back to around three months of data and the latter focused on the last two weeks of workouts.

However, your longest recorded activities also carry special significance in defining your score.