Polar Adds FitSpark, Race Pace and Strava Live Segments to Its Range of Vantage GPS Sports Watches

Last October, Polar updated its Vantage V and M GPS sports watches with several new features such as advanced sleep tracking and recovery measurement to name a couple.   

As of this week however, the wearables giant has further updated its range of Vantages watches to include compatibility with the third-party training apps FitSpark, Race Pace and Strava Live Segments.

According to Polar, these updates include:

• FitSpark: Designed for athletes looking for personalized workouts to help them meet their fitness goals, FitSpark is a daily training guide that provides athletes with custom, adaptive guidance based on their fitness level, training history, and Nightly Recharge sleep measurement. With the update, Polar Vantage M and Vantage V will now suggest exercises within cardio, strength training, and performance categories helping to elevate athletes’ workouts. Athletes can choose from these suggestions, select their favorite sport when doing cardio exercises, and then start a training session and follow the personalized targets and supporting exercises. FitSpark works with the data collected on your Vantage M or Vantage V to offer recommended workouts based on your fitness level and goals. For athletes looking to improve their aerobic fitness, gain more strength, strengthen their core, and improve mobility, FitSpark can help.
• Race Pace: Serious athletes looking to decrease their mile split or train for their next marathon at a particular minute per mile pace can now monitor their running pace with Polar’s Race Pace. Race Pace helps athletes maintain a steady pace and achieve the target time for a set distance. You select your desired pace, and your Vantage M or Vantage V will tell you in real time how you are doing. During the training session the target pace/speed is compared with training information. You can follow up on how far behind or ahead you are compared to the pre-set target. Race Pace tells you what the required steady pace is in order to meet the set target and how much of a pace adjustment is needed in order to meet your goal. Race pace is available on both the Vantage M and Vantage V. You can also set a race pace target in the Polar Flow web service.
• Strava Live Segments: Polar Vantage V users have the newly added benefit of Strava Live Segments, right from the wrist. Connect to Strava, and see how you stack up to other runners’ and cyclists’ performance on various segments of road or trail. View real time data, where the segment starts, how much distance is still to be covered, and if you are ahead or behind of the expected time.

Additionally, the Vantage V is one of the only GPS sports watches that supports running power without the need for any external heart rate strap or waist/foot pod.

However, the Strava Live Segments support is limited to the Vantage V and will not be present on the Vantage M. 

The Vantage V is available for $499.95, while the Vantage M sells for $279.95. Both watches are available in a variety of colors, including black, white, orange, blue and black copper.

Polar.com