This guide explains how these features can help you analyze your form, boost efficiency, and track progress over time. Learn how to leverage these powerful tools to achieve your running goals and optimize every workout.
Your Apple Watch offers powerful tools to help you refine your running technique and track key metrics. By analyzing data like Stride Length, Ground Contact Time, Vertical Oscillation, and Running Power, you can optimize your workouts and enhance your performance.
After completing a workout, you can view these advanced metrics in the post-workout summary in the FITIV app. Once you save your workout, the summary will display the workout detailed insights. By reviewing this information after each run, you can identify areas for improvement and track your progress over time, helping you fine-tune your running technique and achieve better results.
Stride Length
Stride Length measures the distance between each step you take while running. Longer strides help you cover more ground with the same amount of energy, improving your running speed and distance.
This metric is most valuable when tracked over time, allowing you to compare progress and assess improvements in your running technique.
Ground Contact Time
round Contact Time measures how long your feet remain in contact with the ground between strides. It is measured in milliseconds (ms).
Reducing Ground Contact Time is often a goal for runners, as time spent on the ground uses energy without propelling you forward. To improve efficiency, focus on “picking up your feet” and minimizing the time your feet are in contact with the ground. Tracking this metric regularly can help you identify and refine your running form.
Vertical Oscillation
Vertical Oscillation measures the up-and-down movement of your torso while running. Minimizing this vertical movement allows you to conserve energy and direct it toward forward motion.
Monitoring your Vertical Oscillation over time provides insight into your running efficiency. An increase in this metric might indicate a decline in running form, which could be addressed with coaching or adjustments to your technique. A decrease, on the other hand, can signify improved efficiency and better form.
Running Power
Running Power quantifies the energy output (measured in watts) you expend during a run. This metric complements others like elevation, pace, and heart rate to give a clearer picture of your run’s intensity and efficiency.
For example, if two runs on the same route and elevation have similar heart rates and paces but different Running Power levels, the run with lower Running Power likely indicates better form.
What’s Next?
Recording your workouts is essential for analyzing intensity and monitoring improvements over time. The advanced metrics provided by your Apple Watch empower you to track your progress and optimize your performance.
Where specialized equipment was once required for these insights, the Apple Watch makes them accessible to runners everywhere, helping you achieve your fitness goals with greater precision and ease.
- The FITIV Support Team