Must-Try Features in SportTracks

Some features in SportTracks are instinctive: uploading workouts, performing basic analysis, planning your calendar, etc. However, there are many powerful tools you could potentially miss — especially if you don't realize they're right under your fingertips.

This post highlights several must-try features in SportTracks. Use as many of these as you can. It will bring you closer to using SportTracks to its fullest potential.

Jump to a feature:

It takes more effort to run on hills than on flat ground. Thusly, comparing workouts from hilly terrains with workouts from flat courses is difficult, because they demand different levels of effort. If you compensate for how much the climbs slowed you down and how much the descents sped you up, you get a neutral interpretation of your workout. This is exactly what Level Pace does (it's also known as Grade Adjusted Pace). Comparing your runs with Level Pace is an excellent way to determine if you're improving or not. This is how to access it:

• ▶  1) Visit a Workout detail page in SportTracks
• ▶  2) Click or tap Pace, and Level Pace will display
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SportTracks automatically detects and segments hills in your workouts. This enables you to quickly and easily see how you performed on climbs and descents, and how they influenced your heart rate, cadence, and more. Automatic Hill Detection is accessed from your workout details pages:

• ▶  1) Select the Intervals tab (which is next to the default Summary tab)
• ▶  2) Select Hills from the first drop down menu (Laps is the default)
• ▶  3) Lastly, you may need to select All from the second menu to see full details
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An excellent way to tap into the analytical power of SportTracks is to put its "Segment details" button to use. When you click and drag horizontally in a workout chart, you not only get instant data for the segment you're highlighting, you also activate the Segment Analysis features. Once you've highlighted the segment you want to analyze, select the Segment details button below. This opens a dedciated screen for exploring the fine details of your segment.

• ▶  Learn more about Segment Analysis in this dedicated post.
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One of the great things about SportTracks is that you can customize the layout of charts and other elements on many of its pages. You can also make your own custom charts, such as the useful Cumulative Charts, which can show you how much time you spent in various heart rate zones over the course of weeks, months, and years.

• ▶  Complete instructions for making cumulative charts are in this post.
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You can monitor your training volume across various sports with Multisport Breakout charts. Not only can you see how you distributed your training in different sports over spans of time, you can populate these charts with other metrics, such as evevation gain, distance, calories, or total effort — and then compare multiple versions of these charts side-by-side to see how these various factors influence one another.

• ▶  Learn how to make Multisport Breakout charts in this post.
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The equipment used in endurance sports doesn't last forever, and when it wears out, replacement is important. Knowing the exact usage of your gear can help you avoid mechanical breakdowns and unnecessary injuries. This is why SportTracks features a dynamic set of Gear Tracking tools. You can set up automatic gear tracking for specific workouts, you can group items and track them as one (such as a complete bike), and more. 

• ▶  Learn more about gear tracking in this post.
• ▶  Learn how to set up auto-tracking gear in this post.
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It's possible to track more than just basic data when you run. With specific watches and heart-rate straps from Garmin, or with the Stryd running power meter, you can track Running Dynamics, which consist of Vertical Oscillation and Ground Contact Time. VO measures how much you bounce when you run (the less you bounce, the more efficient you are). GCT records how long your feet make contact with the ground. Training to improve these metrics can make you a more efficient runner.

• ▶  Learn more about Running Dynamics in this post.
• ▶  Learn about Vertical Oscillation in this post.
• ▶  Learn about using the Stryd running power meter with SportTracks in this post.
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SportTracks offers the most advanced swim analysis of any fitness platform, and even though our tools are powerful — they're still easy-to-use. If you swim with a watch that records strokes, you have access our full suite of Advanced Swim Tools. SportTracks treats swim workouts differently than other kinds of workouts with dedicated metrics like Stroke Rate, Stroke, SWOLF, Efficency, and more. 

• ▶  Learn more about the advanced swim analysis tools in SportTracks in this post.
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Thanks for exploring these must-try features! We are constantly in the process of building new capabilities into SportTracks, so keep an eye on our blog for the latest announcements.