Without a GPS watch, tracking your progress can feel out of reach. Or at least, that's what you might assume. This article, part of the guide for the self-coached athlete, covers what a watch actually measures, what it misses entirely, and how to track your progress even without one.
What a GPS Watch Measures Well
A GPS watch excels for sports like running or cycling, where distance, pace, and heart rate give directly usable indicators. These sports lend themselves well to continuous, automated effort tracking.
What It Completely Misses
In strength training, a watch measures neither the weight lifted nor the perceived intensity of a set; at best, it captures a heart rate that poorly reflects the actual effort of a strength exercise. In team sports and combat sports, the intermittent nature of effort and the variety of actions are similarly poorly captured by metrics designed for a continuous effort like running.
Tracking that works for every sport
Log your sessions in seconds, watch or no watch.
Try it for freeRPE and Duration : A Universal Alternative
The duration × RPE load calculation works the same way for every sport, whether a watch captures it well or not at all; see Calculating Your Training Load for the details. See also The RPE Scale in Strength Training : How to Rate It to learn how to estimate that number reliably.
Tracking Your Progress Without Automatic Data
Without a sensor recording everything automatically, consistency in logging becomes all the more important. Noting duration and RPE after each session (see Why Keeping a Training Journal Changes Your Progress) lets you spot trends over several weeks, without depending on a device.
Key takeaways
- A GPS watch excels for continuous-effort sports like running or cycling.
- It poorly captures strength training, team sports, and combat sports.
- The duration × RPE calculation works for every sport, with or without a watch.
- Consistent, manually logged tracking remains just as reliable for spotting trends.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is a GPS watch useless for strength training?
It doesn't capture much useful information for strength training, since it doesn't measure the weight lifted or perceived intensity.
Is RPE as reliable as watch data?
It measures something different (a perception of effort rather than raw physiological data), but it remains usable across every sport, including those a watch can't capture.
Should I still wear a watch for heart rate?
It isn't necessary for calculating your training load, which relies on duration and RPE.
How do I track my progress without automatic data?
By logging your sessions regularly and watching the trend over several weeks rather than chasing a single number.
Are team sports well tracked by a GPS watch?
Rarely : the intermittent nature of effort and varied actions are poorly captured by metrics designed for running or cycling.