With the summer coming and the longest days, more people are starting to run on the street. Who on the way to work has never seen a person running on the street? Well, for those who run there is a best friend who can help a lot in monitoring the training. GPS watches or running watches are a reality and promise to help the athletes evolve.
These watches in addition to the traditional watch feature have a built-in GPS antenna and measure steps, monitor sleep, measure heart rate (directly on the wrist or through a cardio band), cadence of the steps and, of course, the distance traveled. Got confused? We are going to explain. These watches basically make an overall monitoring of our daily activity through the GPS antenna and the accelerometer they also have incorporated. Sleep, for example, is monitored through our movements while we sleep, and can be analyzed in terms of "sleep quality" depending on whether it is deep or light sleep. The heart rate is measured through the cardio sensors and are very important for during the training for knowing in which zone of the heart rate you are and not run the risk of exceeding your limit. The distance traveled, measured through the GPS antenna, does not require explanations and is the most important characteristics for those who run outdoors. Basically these watches allow us to monitor our day-to-day activity and, if there are oficial apps, we can synchronize with the phone and save the daily data. Even mobile applications not developed by the watch brand may be compatible with certain watches.
The main advantage is the possibility of controlling the training and our daily activity. Creating records, syncing with the app and tracking your progress over time can be an excellent motivational factor. The other main advantage, if not the most important, is that it frees you from the mobile phone and you do not have to run with your mobile phone. Running and looking at the mobile phone that hangs on the arm or even a purse at the waist or run and look at the wrist is quite different. Another plus and for those who enjoy water sports is that most of these watches are waterproof (eg 50m).
Regarding the disadvantages and, although more and more brands bet on new and different models, for whom esthetics is important, this type of watches are usually large and, in the case of women, not very feminine. Another disadvantage is related to the autonomy of these, since nowadays these watches have so many features that turn out to be more a gadget that has to be charged daily in the worst case or monthly if the use is not intensive. In the case of heart rate watches with a pulse sensor, some people argue that it is not effective because of the sweating of the skin in this area.
In conclusion, if you are the type of person who likes or needs to control the workout, this type of watch is a good investment and is well worth it to help make the workout better and better.