As I write this column, the Garmin watch on my wrist tells me I’ve recovered “moderately” from my last run and recommends doing a sprint training workout mixed with 30 minutes of light jogging before and after. Almost an hour in total. Meanwhile, my partner’s Apple Watch is bugging her to hurry up and close her rings. Maybe it’s time for a walk?
It’s currently 103ºF outside. Nearly 40ºC for the metric people out there.
My watch is “aware” of this. It showed up on my watch’s Morning Report and on the little weather widget on my watch face. But the algorithm that determines how many steps I should take or miles I should run is unwitting or obnoxious. The same goes for any other fitness smartwatch with daily goals, step ranges, and so on.
Sunday Runday
In his new weekly column, Android Central Fitness Editor Michael Hicks talks about the world of wearables, apps and general fitness tech related to running and health.
I’m currently testing the Garmin Forerunner 965 for a review, and aside from its predecessor (the Forerunner 955), it’s the only watch I’ve tested with a “heat acclimation” stat that tells you how well you’re adapting to warmer temperatures and presumably adjusts your VO2 Max estimate and workout readiness accordingly.
But even though it says I’m only 48 percent acclimatised, the watch wants me to go to my local unshaded trail—which isn’t open early in the morning—and snap a dozen 100-yard shots. Not to mention, most other sub-$500 Garmin watches still don’t have this tool, so I normally wouldn’t know how “ready” I am for the heat.
Instead, rather than lagging behind in my step challenge and watching my load drop sharply, I plan to head out for a power walk at 9:00 PM after I finish writing this, when it’s “only” in the 80s.
I’ve been using these stats and daily tips as a way to motivate myself to run more frequently, and is there an inherent rush when I reach my goals or an upward trend in my health stats. But in gamifying my personal fitness, there inevitably comes a time where I start to lose the game. And all of a sudden these stats cause a guilty knot in the pit of my stomach.
I objectively know that going out for sprints or interval training (another recommended workout earlier this week) is stupid and unhealthy in this weather; but i still feel like i should because the algorithm says so.
It’s not just about the warm weather! When I lived in Boston or New York, there were long stretches of time when snowstorms or black ice made activities extremely ill-advised. And after I fell hard to my knees during a half marathon and couldn’t walk without pain, there was no setting on my favorite health app to say, “I’m injured, maybe cut my goals down a bit?”
Yes, tools like Body Battery and Daily Readiness Score can report when you’re sick due to poor sleep or erratic heart rate data. But in many cases, you’ll be “ready” to exercise when you really can’t.
In these moments, it often has the effect of me turning off my notifications and throwing my watch in a drawer, because circumstances beyond my control are making me a “failure” of a device that is objectively measuring my health and fitness. It’s either that, or I keep working out when I shouldn’t, and make it worse.
So once you’re healthy or the snow melts, you can see all of your stats pick up where you left off, meaning you’re constantly “decreasing”.
More and more smartwatches are designed to “educate” you. Garmin and Fitbit have been offering recommended workouts for years. COROS EvoLab and Polar FitSpark offer similar guidance based on VO2 Max, fatigue, training load and other data. Amazfit’s Zepp Coach relies on artificial intelligence to offer you personalized training plans.
The big two, Apple and Samsung, have not caught up Still, but don’t be surprised if they take this step soon. Apple’s running and cycling tools have really gotten better in the last few updates, and its new personalized Fitness+ plans could easily lead to personalized training programs. And as I wrote in a previous column, I really hope Samsung closes the fitness gap and updates Samsung Health with the upcoming Galaxy Watch 6 launch.
But however “smart” fitness coaching watches are getting, none of them will ever have the good sense of a true running coach to say, “Hoo boy, it’s hot today! Stick to a short, easy run” or “You’re clearly injured. Go home and rest until you’re ready.”
I’m not saying it is reasonable expect my smartwatch to know everything that’s going on in my life; it could honestly be a little creepy if it did. And following my watch’s advice has helped me get back closer than ever to my pre-pandemic, pre-injury level of fitness.
But in the same way that you can tell Garmin Coach how often and far you run in a week before it sends you a 12-week training plan, I wish fitness apps had an “injury” setting to adjust your goals or (if you give the watch your local zip code) have it adjust the suggested workout based on local weather conditions. Context is everything!
#sick #fitness #watches #making #feel #guilty #bad #lifestyle #choices
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