How to Use Your Smartwatch for Interval Training Workouts
7 Best Watches For Interval Training
One of the most popular forms of exercise, interval training, is growing in popularity among athletes of all ages.
With interval training, you can get the best results possible in the shortest possible time. For example, you can burn more calories in less time.
This is important for two reasons.
First, if youre on a workout plan, it means you can get more exercise done in less time, which means more results. Second, if youre pressed for time, you can get more of your workout done faster. You can exercise more often.
For this reason, you need to get the best watch for interval training, and thats why weve done a lot of research and find some top watches for you.
Lets have a look!
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Best Watches For Interval Training
1- POLAR IGNITE
The Polar Ignite Advanced Fitness watch is a perfect match for someone who loves team exercise, swimming, cycling, and especially interval training. It also helps you to track other training activities, such as cycling and gym exercises.
The POLAR IGNITE helps you track because the brand includes a one-button interface that enables a wrist-based HR monitor and a speed tracker for cycling.
Itll help you in interval training because of the calorie counter and OHR monitor that measures heartbeat and normal breathing rate.
The Perfect Training Guide:
The smartwatch comes with a daily workout guidance meter that helps recover and overall readiness based on your personal preferences. In fact, you can customize these settings with their color display.
The POLAR IGNITE, as its name suggests, will ignite your sleep. You can use this meter to track your bedtime with sleep plus stages features. Another thing, it also has sleep insights to actually view (when you slept and when you wake up).
Other Features:
You can connect it to the mobile app to view your exercise analytics. And, the GPS and GLONASS will help you track speed, distance, and route while cycling, tracking, or swimming. Also, the nightly recharge lets you have a complete insight into your bodys recovery from the stress that leads your life to relief in many ways.
[i2pc show_title=false title=Pros & Cons show_button=false pros_title=Pros cons_title=Cons ][i2pros]Cadence meter while you walk/run
Available in multiple sizes
Large 4.3 cm touchscreen
Multiple trackers[/i2pros][i2cons]Doesnt sync with the desktop easily
Low battery life
Lack of customizing[/i2cons][/i2pc]
2- Garmin Forerunner 245 Music
Garmin is known for manufacturing the best watches for interval training and smartwatches that provide ease to athletes to track their activities.
The Garmin Forerunner 245 Music comes with performance monitoring that helps track fitness activities like swimming, running, and interval training. It provides exact heart rate, breath rate, running dynamics, and more.
Also, the company includes ground contact time length to measure steps, stride length, and vertical ratio for advanced monitoring when used with HRM-Tri monitors. But, the HRM-Tri monitors and HRM-Run are sold separately at the cost of the watch.
Fitness Trackers and GPS
The Garmin Forerunner 245 Music includes advanced trackers that connect the wristwatch with your heart. It performs scans and stores your exercise routine.
Later, when you are under train some days, that indicates youve undertrained, and when you exceed your limit, it indicates as well, so you wont harm your body.
Similarly, the Garmin smartwatch comes with a 1.2 LCD with a button interface. And a safety tracking feature with GPS is there to send signals or emergency signals to your loved ones whenever your life is at risk.
Also, you can sync it with popular music streaming services such as Spotify to easily store and play your favorite tracks.
The brand includes a long-lasting battery, so you wont stress about charging it every night. The charge can last over seven days in smartwatch mode, and its life drops to only 6 hours in GPS and Music mode. Dont worry; these 6 hours are more than enough to track your interval training and other fitness activities.
Fitness Trainer At Your Fingertips:
Garmin includes a free fitness coach application that helps you in different exercises. And, you can also create your weekly custom workouts by using Garmin Connect online fitness community.
[i2pc show_title=false title=Pros & Cons show_button=false pros_title=Pros cons_title=Cons ][i2pros]Corning Gorilla Glass 3
Robust silicon strap
168 hours long-lasting battery
Advanced Performance Analytics[/i2pros][i2cons]Doesnt connect to Bluetooth headphones
Cant set the SPO2 to read constantly
Inaccurate weather tracker[/i2cons][/i2pc]
3- Garmin Vivoactive 4
Garmin actively creates fitness trackers for customers around the World; thats why we have included another product, aka Garmin Vivoactive 4, in our list of best watches for internal training.
Track your Internal Training
The Garmin Vivoactive contains Pulse Ox to monitor your activities such as respiration, menstrual cycle, stress, sleep, estimated heart, hydration, and more.
As you know, interval training has a lot to do with heart rate and breath control, so the Pulse OX is going to help you a lot to train better.
Also, you can download music and stream on Amazon Music, Spotify, and other streaming services with a premium subscription to every service. The watch connects with your phone, so youll be able to listen to music on your headphones as well.
Fitness Coach and GPS:
The Garmin Vivoactive 4 comes with 20 preloaded GPS and indoor sports apps to count your sweats, sit-ups, pull-ups, and other gym activities, including yoga and running.
Another thing, you can view easy-to-follow exercises on its 1.3 touchscreen, which includes yoga poses, meditation mantras, and Pilates.
Battery Life and Safety:
The best watch for interval training must contain a great battery life, so you wont stress low battery when training. That said, the Garmin 4 includes a long battery life of up to 8 days in smartwatch mode and up to 6 hours in GPS and music mode.
Talking about safety, the company includes incident detection with the help of GPS. Itll send SOPs and Emergency alarms to your loved ones when you catch danger during any activity.
Plus, you can customize the watch face with thousands of awesome wallpapers and download extra widgets from Connect IQ store.
[i2pc show_title=false title=Pros & Cons show_button=false pros_title=Pros cons_title=Cons ][i2pros]192 hours battery life
Pulse Ox monitor
Strong wristband
Slate Stainless-Steel Bezel[/i2pros][i2cons]Lacks water-resistant feature
Uses multiple smartphone apps
Excessive badges[/i2cons][/i2pc]
4- Polar Grit X
Polar states that their model grit X has military level strength, passing various tests such as MIL-STD-810G. Its strength makes it the best watch for internal training and military personnel.
Following this, this smartwatch or fitness tracker is also 100 m/10ATM waterproof. It enables you to measure your swimming activities and participate in scuba diving as well.
Fitness Trackers
The Polar Grit X contains various fitness trackers to track your internal training sessions. One of them is HR (heart rate) tracking, and you know how important it is when it comes to fitness.
This watch gives exact readings that can match pulse OX (hospital grade). But, its not recommended for professionals to measure via this watch by the brand.
Other than that, the Polar Grit X also includes GPS to give you real-time turn-by-turn route guidance while cycling in deep forests on top of the mountains. It features Smart Calories, Running Index, and Running Program that measures how much you have burned today.
What Makes it The Best Watch For Interval Training?
Up to 40h battery life with complete GPS and HR tracking (even up to 100h with the power save options), up to 7 days in watch mode with 24/7 HR makes a difference. While the FitSpark training guide lets you view your favorite exercise on its 1.2 inches touchscreen.
Just like the Polar Ignite Advanced, the Polar Grit X also contains an automatic overnight recovery tracker. It tracks your stress level and sleeps comfort level overnight.
And, you can also customize your watch with over 130 sports profiles, and Polar Flow is also there to plan and analyze your next interval training session.
[i2pc show_title=false title=Pros & Cons show_button=false pros_title=Pros cons_title=Cons ][i2pros]Military-Level Durability
Wrist-based Heart Rate
Route Planning and Guidance
Ultra-Long Battery Life
GPS & Barometer[/i2pros][i2cons]Inconsistent backlight
Unreliable cardio tracking
Takes a bit to sync Bluetooth[/i2cons][/i2pc]
5- Coros PACE 2 Premium
You may havent heard about COROS Pace 2 smartwatch that much, just like Garmin, Fitbit, or other famous brands.
But, when it comes to the best smartwatch for aerobic activities tracking, youll find Coros Pace 2 topping the chart. That said, the Pace 2 premium comes with an AI trainer that will help you to train better.
With AI Trainer, your body is measured for residual energy after anaerobic and aerobic efforts. An estimated recovery time is shown according to your weight, age, and other factors. The trainer also trains you to get the best results in running, cycling, swimming, cardio, strength, and water sports modes.
It also includes an optical heart rate monitor, barometer to save your tracks, compass, and a thermometer that catches up with your heart rate for better sleep, step, and calorie tracking.
The Coros PACE 2 premium is far the most lightweight watch on our list, weighing 29g with a Nylon band and battery life of over 20 days with regular use. And, it drops to 30 hours while tracking your route in GPS mode.
[i2pc show_title=false title=Pros & Cons show_button=false pros_title=Pros cons_title=Cons ][i2pros]Nutrition Alerts
Storm Alerts
Long-lasting battery life
Cheap alternative to Garmin[/i2pros][i2cons]Comes with wire only
Cannot schedule time of the run[/i2cons][/i2pc]
6- Garmin Forerunner 935
The Garmin Forerunner 935 is somehow our runner-up pick of the day because of its weight and multiple features. That said, the smartwatch weighs 49 grams only, and it includes a Silicon band to keep it on your wrist all day.
GPS and Advanced Running Trackers
The GPS keeps you on track of your journey, while the wrist-based non-professional heart rate measuring system is there to track your anaerobic and aerobic efforts. You can sync your Forerunner 935 with any mobile OS such as Android, Windows, and iOS-based devices as well.
After that, youll get additional performance monitoring features that evaluate your training status to indicate if youre undertraining or overdoing it. This will help you to restore your stamina and get more of it in less time.
The Garmin Forerunner 935 includes advanced dynamics for running, cycling, and swimming. And, it also has ground contact time balance, stride length for running and walking, which helps to lose more calories with a track record.
Barometer and Secondary Features
The Garmin Forerunner 935 analyzes elevation changes with a built-in barometer to save your location, and an altimeter and electronic compass are there to relocate every location youve visited.
[i2pc show_title=false title=Pros & Cons show_button=false pros_title=Pros cons_title=Cons ][i2pros]Running GPS Unit
1.2 large LCD
Up to 15 days battery life
Easy to sync with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth[/i2pros][i2cons]No touchscreen
No navigation capabilities[/i2cons][/i2pc]
7- Apple Watch Series 6
Todays last pick is the New Apple Watch Series 6, which comes with a wide selection of apps, innovative health and fitness tracking capabilities, and firm performance. A SpO2 sensor is included in this product, so you can measure your oxygen level whenever necessary.
Besides tracking your steps and sleep duration, the app also measures sleep and inactive moods. During the COVID-19 outbreak, Apple provided a thermometer and blood oxygen monitor, so you could ensure everything was fine.
Fitness Tracker and Advanced Syncing options:
In addition to tracking fitness activities, it offers supreme comfort bands that provide maximum durability. You can change the straps to the color you like. Further, it is entirely waterproof (swim-proof), making it the top pick of the list today.
Apple Watch Series 6 features incoming calls, texts, music streaming, Apple Pay, and Siri, as with other smartwatches. Compared to the series 3, the brand keeps a 30% bigger scale with the always-on retina display. Also, the show is 2.5x brighter to help you see the display outside.
[i2pc show_title=false title=Pros & Cons show_button=false pros_title=Pros cons_title=Cons ][i2pros]Digital thermometer
Swim proof
Fast processor
Always-on display[/i2pros][i2cons]Low battery life
Not compatible below iPhone 7+[/i2cons][/i2pc]
Conclusion:
Before leaving today, I want to clear the big picture in front of you of which watch I love in these Best Watches For Interval Training in 2022.
However, theres an expensive model on the list, the Garmin Vivoactive 4 and Apple Watch Series 6, like sleek designs. But, I know most of you will pick Apple due to brand love, and thats OK up to an extent.
I love the Coros PACE 2 Premium due to its simple and lightweight design. It comes with a resin band. This device is distinguished by its big screen with a temperature tracker and barometer that records and saves your location. Thats it, thanks for being with me, up to the end!
About Author
Felix Leo is a passionate tech enthusiast with a deep love for smart wearables and fitness trackers. With five years of experience in the wearable industry, he is very conversant about the this industry. He is the author of Gorilla-FitnessWatches, aiming to provide unbiased and factual information regarding smartwatches.
