Whether you are a professional athlete, a trail runner, an enthusiastic swimmer or just a person who cares about his fitness, there is something for you when it comes to GPS running watches. Keeping a track of your runs and how much calories you burnt can instill some motivation in you and enlarge the room for improvement. The latest models in the market even provide you with heart rate date and other detailed information regarding your running style. GPS watches have become an important tool in runner’s assortment.
Choosing the best running watch may be as confusing as picking out the perfect piece of diamond. The decision making process is not that easy with multitudes of option in the market. Back in they day, there were only limited options. Now we have countless brands before us. In order to make the purchasing process easy, here is a list of features you must take into account:
Distance trackers
GPS running watches are one of the best choice when it comes to distance tracking. People buy it with the presumption that the watch will be used to keep a track of distance travelled. The watches use different mechanisms to do so. Most of them use in-built GPS with an accelerometer. So it would be recommended that an in-built GPS is a must. The accelerometers will further smooth out any gaps in GPS data. Indoor run options is also an important feature to consider.
Heart-rate monitoring
If you are a professional athlete or even if you take your training seriously then go for heart-rate monitoring options because it is pretty useful. There are two further options hereby: in-built optical heart rate or chest strap. Chest straps seem to be inconvenient for some so latter option can be recommendable but it is not 100% accurate. It provides reasonably fair information with steady runs.
Training plans
There are many brands offering exceptional training plans with a nominal charge attached with it. When you are buying a GPS running watch, go through their websites or in-store policies to check whether there are training plans offered or not. Partner web tools and smartphone applications can be checked to do this as well.
Music options
Many runners listen to music while training sessions. There are many watches offering music options which eliminates the need to carry extra mobile phone. Few manufacturers have added storage to their watches for music. This povides external motivational beats which is sometimes essential for training.
Improvement options
Most of the runners seek for improvement. Getting into the fundamentals of your running can help you improve dramatically. There are many watches that provide extra insights regarding running dynamics. You can get real time information like how often your feet strike the floor. This can be an effective guide to a more efficient running.
Conclusion
Obviously choosing the best GPS running watch depends on your personal preferences but there are certain generalized rules. Inclusion of fore-mentioned features can make it an ideal piece if you are a regular runner.