Memo: Reassessing the Role of Watches in Training Sessions
To: My Training Team From: Coach Katharina Date: November 17th 2024
Subject: Minimizing Watch Use to Enhance Training Focus and Performance
I am writing this because as endurance athletes, we naturally love new gadgets and technology—and for good reason! Tools like power meters for cycling have revolutionized training, offering invaluable insights and transforming the way we train. However, it’s equally critical to relearn how to listen to our bodies and recognize when technology is helpful versus when it becomes a distraction.
Here’s a deeper dive into the issue:
Swim Training
Distraction from Technique and Focus: Watches disrupt the natural rhythm of swimming, taking time away from refining technique and water feel.
Inaccurate Data: Most watches fail to measure laps correctly, miscalculate distances, and highly underestimate Training Stress Scores (TSS). Most watches calculate 3 TSS while 30 to 45 would be correct. When you swim 2 times per week with a sum of 6 instead of 60 TSS, you end up with a way lower TSS score in a week, month and imagine what that does to your yearly TSS score. Some people train solely on that score rather than on hours.
Interval Timing Challenges: Using the pool clock for intervals is far more efficient and accurate than pressing buttons mid-session. For example, pushing off at 0:00 and checking your time at the interval's end eliminates unnecessary interruptions (roughly 2-3 seconds of disruption through pressing buttons or checking the watch). Besides, you don't push off fully and you don't swim towards the full end because you wanna handle your watch first.
Heart Rate Monitoring: Instead of relying on unreliable HR data underwater, swimmers can hold two fingers to their throat and count beats for 10 seconds after a set. This method not only gives an accurate reading but also deepens body awareness, helping you feel if the pace was truly at base tempo or more.
The Elite Example: Consider the Australian swim team—arguably one of the best in the world. Do you see them wearing watches in the pool? No. Their training prioritizes focus on water feel, pacing, and technique over unnecessary gadgetry.
How to track your session in TrainingPeaks? Just manually click on DONE. You might need to adjust the overall length/volume. This makes you learn how to know your program and to count your lanes. If you swim 1 hour or 1 hour and 5 minutes wouldn't change the TSS much. If you have an average TSS score of 30 of each swim session that is the closest you get to accuracy throughout a training year.
Strength Training, Yoga, and Similar Activities
Irrelevant Heart Rate Data: Tracking HR during a session adds no meaningful insight. For example, your HR will naturally spike during an 80kg deadlift and decrease during a 3-minute rest—but these fluctuations don't improve your training outcomes.
Incorrect TSS Values: The TSS recorded for these sessions is often inaccurate and fails to reflect the actual effort or physiological adaptations.
Distraction from the Activity: Olympic lifters don’t wear watches, nor do yogis. Why? Because focusing on form, mindfulness, and body awareness is far more valuable than any data a watch can provide during these activities. And most of the time the watch is just literally physically in your way. Imagine doing benchpress, push press, downward dog, etc. with this rather huge thing on your wrist.
How to track your session in TrainingPeaks? Just manually click on DONE. If your yoga session took 30 minutes or 35 minutes does absolutely NOT matter. And if your HR was 118 or 120 even less. It is important that you do it and take time for yourself to recover and feel your body. For strength sessions the only thing that is important is the weight that you lifted with a proper technique and if you're able to increase that weight over time. No watch can't count that (yet).
When Watches Are Advantageous
Watches certainly have their place and can be invaluable in specific scenarios:
Open Water Swimming: Watches are essential for tracking distance and pace when no other timing tools are available.
Swim Tests: During structured tests like 1000m or 2000m T-tests, watches can provide accurate timing—if correctly set to the appropriate pool length.
Endurance Training: Long, steady-state cycling or running sessions benefit from tracking metrics like HR and power to monitor and refine progress.
Balancing Technology with Body Awareness
It’s essential to know when to use gadgets and when to step back. Technology can be a game-changer when used strategically, but it’s equally important to focus on technique, intuition, and performance fundamentals. On a daily basis, prioritizing water feel, precise intervals, or proper squat and deadlift form is far more valuable than chasing watch data.
Do you see Olympic lifters or the Australian swim team wearing watches during training? No—and there’s a reason for it. This doesn’t mean gadgets can’t be helpful for specific tests or checkups, but in most cases, they are more disadvantageous than beneficial.
Recommendation
Minimize watch use during swimming, strength training, yoga, and other activities where focus, technique, and body awareness are paramount. Leverage technology for structured tests or open water sessions, but prioritize daily training methods that sharpen your intuition and refine your skills without distractions.
Trust your body more than your watch, and rediscover the joy, connection, and deeper awareness that come from fully immersing yourself in the experience—free from the distractions of gadgets.
Feel free to discuss or share feedback during our next meeting.
Comentarios