When choosing a smart watch, be sure to know what you will use it for.
There are a few features that I think are a must on watches.
- Steps. I try to get my clients to hit 10,000 steps everyday. This will make sure that we are not sitting too much and it can also help with some calorie burn during the day.
- Sleep tracking. Sleep is soooo important! You want to be able to track your total sleep time and the quality of your sleep (interruptions, time awake, REM, deep sleep, etc.).
- Heart rate. While we don’t always use heart rate in CrossFit, it is nice to have if you are doing any additional cardio. I like to do some Zone 2 cardio every week, so I want to make sure my heart rate is in the correct Zone.
- A long battery life! This one is very important. You want a watch that you can wear all the time so that it can track the things I mentioned above. If you have to charge your watch every night and you can’t sleep with it on, or if you have to charge it during the day and you miss your steps, you are missing some important data. Find a watch that gives you at least 5+ days on a charge.
- GPS. If you are doing some cardio like running, walking, hiking, biking, etc., it is nice to be able to track your distance and pace. This is not a must though. 1-4 are more important than 5.
I use the Garmin Fenix 7 Solar. It might be overkill for most people (and me), but I really like it for all the data and because I can get 16 days on a single charge.
If you need to charge your watch often, I’d recommend you do it while you are driving or while you are sitting at your desk. Doing this will still allow you to wear it while you are up moving and while you are sleeping.
What is your favorite watch and what do you love about it?
Let me know if you have any questions with this.
– Coach Drew
