Watch and learn

The Polar RCX3 is the latest development in smart training. And though the ‘smart’ doesn’t necessarily mean you will be learning the finer points of Kantian philosophy, it does offer you a more efficient, smarter way to train day in, day out.

You could look at the RCX3 as the younger, sexier sibling of the RCX5. And when compared to other training watches in the market such as the Garmin Forerunner and the Nike+ Fuelband, it’s certainly among the slimmest, lightest and easiest to wear for long periods of time. The face is big without being too weighty, which means big data numbers: handy for when your vision is already blurred thanks to the incessant sweat cascading down your forehead and into your eyes.

Training benefit: the RCX3 will give you instant feedback based on the intensity and duration of your workout to show you when and why your heart rate is astronomically high or abnormally low.

One of the standout features of Polar’s training pal is its utilisation of heart rate variability (HRV). Not only does it estimate your current VO2Max (the amount of oxygen that can be utilised by muscle tissues), which is one of the best indicators of cardiorespiratory fitness, but the RCX3 also tells you whether you’ve recovered enough from your previous workout to undertake an intense or regular workout.

When it comes to analysing your sessions, the RCX3 has it comprehensively covered. You can download all your exercise data to your computer and transfer it to PolarPersonalTrainer.com, which offers in-depth, extensive and personalised training advice.

The ‘Training Result’ graph gives you a second-by-second breakdown of your physiological performance showing the duration, distance, average heart rate, average pace, intensity zone, calorie consumption, training load, cadence (reps per minute) and split times. I said it was extensive.

A particularly helpful feature of Polar’s online PT is the ‘Benefits’ tab. This tells you what your workout accomplished. For instance, after a run around Safa Park, I was told, “This training increased your maximum performance and sprint speed. It toned the nervous system of your muscles and required maximal or near maximal effort for breathing and muscles. The training was long enough to increase fatigue resistance at the used speed.”

There is something deeply gratifying about seeing your route highlighted by a glowing red line on Google maps. And that’s exactly what the RCX3 does when you’ve tuned in to the GPS gadget.

There is one caveat however. There are many features to both understand then have the patience to configure and collate with your software, which you can’t exactly skim through. So you have to want to train and then train properly to make the most of everything the RCX3 has to offer. n