AST Running Watches

All running watches have a stopwatch to time your run; the more advanced have the option of recording splits, countdown and intervals. These features will help you with your speed and aid consistency in your training. They are great for track runners or people who want a simple watch to time their runs with no need for pace and distance.

If you want to lose weight or work on your fitness, you might consider using a heart rate monitor. Most GPS watches have an optical sensor built in to measure your heart rate easily from the wrist. There tends to be an option to buy a chest strap separately if you prefered to wear a chest strap for heart rate training. Heart rate recording will tell you your workout's average and maximum heart rate. The more advanced watches calculate your VO2Max, allow you to set your HR zones and let you work out in a specific zone or even create your own workout consisting of several HR zones and will alert you if you go outside of them. You'll know how many calories you have burned, or when are you improving your fitness or burning fat.

A GPS watch not only measures speed and distance, but also acts as a running partner, trainer or 'someone' to race. Many of them come with a built in optical sensor, serving as a heart rate monitor and speed and distance reader all in one. You can upload, analyse and store your workout at online running communities. You can set simple goals based on distance, pace, time and calories, build your own workout or download a ready-made one based on your data and the results you want to achieve with a more advanced GPS watch.