GPS SPORTS WATCH

What Is a GPS Watch?

For any athlete, whether a beginner or an expert, a GPS watch is an essential accessory. It provides a wide range of key functions that help assess the effectiveness of each of your training sessions.

Whether you are running, cycling, swimming, or hiking, a GPS watch allows you to:

• Calculate the distance covered: it accurately measures distance during different activities such as running, walking, hiking, or trail running, for example.
• Adjust your pace during training: it helps you better manage your effort in real time.
• Guide you along routes: it lets you discover and follow routes or return to your starting point, so you can explore your surroundings without the risk of getting lost.
• Continuously monitor your heart rate: the GPS watch offers continuous heart rate tracking thanks to a heart rate monitor, helping you better manage workout intensity.
• Estimate the number of calories burned: a GPS watch equipped with a heart rate monitor calculates the calories burned during exercise.
• Monitor recovery time: the GPS watch provides guidance on the amount of rest needed after an effort, to ensure proper recovery before your next workout.
• Analyze sleep quality: it assesses the duration, phases, and quality of sleep, providing valuable insights into how rest impacts performance.
• Offer personalized training sessions: it gives access to training plans tailored to each person's goals and performance level.
• Receive message and call notifications: it helps you stay connected during your activity by displaying alerts and notifications directly on the screen, without having to take your phone out of your pocket or backpack.
• Measure altitude and elevation gain: it provides data on altitude and terrain variations, particularly useful for hikers and trail runners.
• Track overall fitness: the GPS watch monitors key indicators such as resting heart rate or estimated VO2 max, in order to assess the athlete's overall fitness level.
• Provide safety features: it shares your location in real time or in case of emergency, helping to ensure safety during outdoor sessions, such as cycling or trail running, for example.

GPS watches have become essential tools for athletes. They combine heart rate monitor functions with advanced capabilities such as GPS and sometimes an altimeter. They not only track heart rate to help manage workout intensity, but also record detailed activity data such as distance covered, speed, routes, and step count. The vast majority of current models include these features, making it possible to program workouts and track them live.

These GPS watches offer an extensive range of functionalities such as sleep analysis, personalized training programs, notifications, and safety features. As a result, GPS watches become indispensable companions that optimize training and improve sports performance, regardless of the activity or the athlete's level.

GPS Watch Brands on the Running and Trail Market

The GPS watch market for running and trail running is dominated by several renowned brands, offering a wide range of features suited to all athlete levels:

• Garmin: an undisputed leader with its Garmin Connect app. Garmin offers a wide range of cardio-GPS watches, including the Forerunner, Fenix, and Epix series, known for their accuracy, robustness, and advanced features. You can find the best Garmin watches for sale on our i-Run website, such as the Garmin Fenix 7, the Garmin Forerunner 255, or the Garmin Forerunner 955, for example.
• Coros: growing in popularity, Coros stands out with watches that offer exceptional battery life and an intuitive user interface. The brand's flagship models are the Coros Vertix, the Coros Apex, and the Coros Race.
• Polar: known for its watches designed both for experts and beginners. Polar offers devices with accurate heart rate tracking, training programs, and recovery analysis. The brand's key models include the Polar Grit X, the Polar Vantage, and the Polar Pacer.
• CASIO: a brand of durable, multisport sports watches, offering a wide variety of models ideal for outdoor sports and everyday life, such as the Pro Trek and G-SHOCK.

Why Use a GPS Sports Watch for Running?

Useful, practical, and true technological Swiss Army knives, GPS sports watches have become indispensable companions for sports enthusiasts. They not only bring structure to training sessions, but also provide meticulous performance tracking. Thanks to their accuracy, connected watches make it possible to analyze sports performance and its progression over time in detail, offering a complete picture of the user's improvement.

Using a GPS watch enhances the sports experience with several key benefits:

• Precise knowledge of routes during running sessions for watches with mapping and navigation, allowing you to safely explore new routes.
• Rigorous heart rate monitoring, essential for athletes of all ages, especially seniors or people with specific medical conditions.
• Effective time management and optimized effort during competitions such as marathons, in order to maximize performance.
• Access to in-depth analysis of sports results, making it easier to implement short- and long-term improvement strategies.
• Encouragement to push personal limits, acting as a powerful and invaluable source of motivation.

A watch with high-precision GPS can adapt to a wide variety of activities. In addition to running, it is extremely useful for trail running and hiking, providing athletes with orientation tools and precise data on their surroundings and position. It is equally beneficial for indoor sports such as fitness or weight training, where heart rate monitoring and calorie expenditure are particularly useful.

Whatever the discipline, indoors or outdoors, a sports watch proves to be a versatile tool suitable for a wide range of exercises and sports environments. It enables real-time performance tracking, helping to maximize the benefits of each training session and enrich every sports experience.

How Do I Choose a Cardio-GPS Sports Watch?

Now an essential accessory for sports enthusiasts, the GPS sports watch is developed by several major brands such as Garmin, Coros, Polar, or Casio, for example. These brands have produced a multitude of models on the market, which can make the consumer's choice more complex.

However, to simplify the process, it is important to rely on a number of relevant selection criteria. Below are the main ones:

GPS

GPS is used to know your position, see which route you have taken since the start of the activity, and identify the route to follow to reach the finish. There are three types of GPS tracking:

• The standard GPS watch records your route using GPS, but the track is only visible after the activity on your phone. This is simple and ideal for reviewing the route after your session.
• The GPS watch with route line displays a line to follow on the screen, without a background map. This is handy for following a precise path without getting lost.
• The GPS watch with mapping integrates topographic maps with paths and roads. This mapping option is perfect for letting yourself be guided on hikes, trail runs, or during your explorations.

In addition, a good GPS watch should offer sufficient battery life to support athletes during long training sessions. It should not require frequent recharging over long distances, particularly for ultramarathon runners or hikers.

The Display

The display of a GPS watch, whether round, square, or rectangular, plays a crucial role that goes far beyond aesthetics. It should be chosen based on functionality and practicality. Ergonomics and readability are key when selecting a display, especially depending on how you plan to use the watch.

You can opt for a touchscreen, which offers intuitive and quick use, making it easier to access features during training. Choosing a larger display can improve the athlete's experience, as it provides better visibility and makes information easier to read at a glance. This is particularly useful in environments where quick attention to the screen is required.

The Heart Rate Monitor

The integration of a heart rate monitor into the GPS watch represents a significant advancement. It allows heart rate to be measured directly at the wrist via a sensor, eliminating the need for athletes to wear a chest strap or wrist strap to monitor heartbeats.

This feature ensures greater freedom of movement and enhanced comfort during training. It also allows users to set alerts based on heart rate zones, making it easier to adjust training according to specific performance or wellness goals.

Apps

Mobile apps associated with GPS watches play a crucial role in supporting athletes. Through direct access to the brand's website or via a dedicated mobile app, they simplify the transfer of training data. This allows users to receive in-depth analysis of their progress and performance over time.

These apps also make it possible to set personalized training goals and access expert advice to improve technique and performance. In addition, they help boost motivation by enabling users to share their achievements with a community of athletes, creating a stimulating and encouraging environment.

Battery Life

Battery life is a key factor when choosing a GPS watch, as it directly reflects its quality and reliability. Before purchasing, we recommend checking how long the watch can operate without recharging, which is essential for long training sessions or competitions.

Battery life can vary significantly depending on the features activated on the watch, such as continuous GPS tracking, the use of a music app, or a heart rate monitor. Therefore, choosing a watch with battery life suited to your specific needs and training intensity is crucial for an optimal experience.

Size

The size of a GPS watch, whether small or large, has a significant impact on how your session unfolds. The size of the watch should be chosen according to wrist size and the type of activity you practice.

We therefore recommend selecting a GPS watch whose size matches your wrist. This ensures optimal comfort during exercise while guaranteeing that the watch remains functional and easy to read, regardless of the intensity or type of sport. A well-fitted watch allows not only for accurate tracking, but also for a pleasant user experience, without discomfort or distraction during training.

The Strap

Since the watch must remain on the wrist throughout the activity, its strap needs to be highly comfortable. It should also be flexible, adjustable, and easy to tighten. The best materials for a GPS sports watch strap are silicone and nylon.

In addition to comfort, flexibility, and adjustability, it is also important to consider resistance to water and sweat, especially for those who practice water sports. A hypoallergenic strap can also be an advantage to avoid skin reactions during long periods of use. Choosing a strap that meets these criteria ensures a hassle-free training experience, allowing you to focus fully on your performance.

Connected GPS Watches

In summary, each GPS sports watch has different features and functionalities that allow you to perform many actions without your phone, such as:

• Listening to and controlling music and podcasts directly from the watch
• Using a stopwatch
• Accessing in-depth performance analysis
• Answering calls easily without taking out your phone
• Viewing emails and messages thanks to notifications on the watch
• Receiving personalized reminders to drink or eat at regular intervals during long efforts
• Sharing sports performance
• Tracking activities
• Navigating and following routes in real time
• Making contactless payments
• Receiving weather alerts

Feel free to check the product pages written by our teams and contact our specialized customer service, who will help you choose the model best suited to your needs.