Five ways to train smarter

01 Diarise

The act of keeping a training diary – which all of these apps do for you when you record a workout – is a useful resource, and makes you more likely to stick with your training.

02 Sleepy time

The serial world-record-breaking Kenyans seriously value their shut-eye time, and so should you, especially after bigger workouts. Use your watch to check you’re getting enough.

03 Recovery

The various recovery-time features these watches offer are a great asset, helping to ward off over-training. Heart-rate data can indicate this as well.

04 Intervals

Use the lap-timing features to do some interval training, increase your speed and push your VO2 max.

05 An active life

Sporty types may be sniffy about activity trackers, but it’s fascinating to see how much activity and calorieburning you do outside of your designated training. Even getting the teas in for your workmates can burn calories (hint, hint).