The new Outdoor watch face for the Suunto 9 Baro, 9, 5 and 3 watches allows users to track conditions and daylight hours with just a quick glance. No need to press buttons or scroll – the essential info is presented on the screen. Suunto UX designer Jeanette Lau supported the development and says the motivation behind the watch face was to support users with their adventure planning. “We wanted to inspire and equip users for their outdoor adventures,” she says. “We conducted some research and we learned many of our users felt as if there wasn’t enough time in the day and wanted to know what the conditions were before embarking on their adventure.” Click to learn about 8 tools to track the weather with Suunto For all of the above watches, the Outdoor watch face features a sun gauge that displays the number of night and daylight hours before sunrise and sunset. Tap the screen once, and the watch face displays the number of hours until sunset or sunrise, plus the battery life remaining, or the moon phase, which is helpful because on a full moon night you know you’ll have extra light to stay out a little longer. “Most of the time we feel as if there isn’t enough time in the day,” Jeanette says. “But with this watch face, I can see exactly how much time I have for a run before the sun sets without having to do the math myself.” On the Suunto 9 Baro On Suunto 9 Baro watches – which have a barometer – the Outdoor watch face also displays an air pressure gauge along with current altitude. With two taps on the screen, a more detailed screen appears, displaying the barometric trend and, once they are 2000 m or higher, the oxygen percentage. On the Suunto 9, Suunto 5 and Suunto 3 Rather than extra barometric info, on the Suunto 9, 5, and 3 watches, the Outdoor watch face includes a steps gauge that quickly tells users where they’re at with their daily step goal and how many calories they have burned. To get the outdoor watch face on your Suunto 9 Baro, Suunto 9, Suunto 5 or Suunto 3, make sure you have the latest software version on your watch and then enter the watch face selection in your watch settings and choose the newly loaded face. Read more articles 8 tools for tracking the weather with Suunto

Based in Vienna, Austrian Drum n Bass duo Camo & Krooked have been producing music since 2002 and have released four albums and played at dance parties around the world. Reinhard Rietsch (Camo) and Markus Wagner (Krooked) teamed up with Red Bull this year to create a one of a kind concert experience that paired Drum n Bass with a live orchestra. The incredible show was filmed and turned into a film you can watch here. Aside from performing or making tunes in the studio, their other lifelong passion is skateboarding. It takes more physical strength and mental focus than you might guess, they say. The talented duo prepared a playlist for us designed to get you moving! Read on for our discussion about balancing the party life and staying in shape ...   Camo & Krooked performing in Konzerthaus, Vienna © Philipp CARL Riedl / Red Bull Content Pool Play your own favorite tunes from your wrist With the Suunto 7 smartwatch you can connect your headphones to your phone and control music and other audio – adjust volume, pause and skip tracks – straight from your wrist without taking your phone out of your pocket. You can also listen to music without your phone: Spotify has just released an update to their Wear OS app that enables offline use. Simply connect your bluetooth headphones with your watch and download the tracks that you want to take with you! With this new feature, Spotify Premium users will be able to download their favorite albums, playlists, and podcasts to listen offline. Free users will be able to stream their tunes in Shuffle Mode using a WiFi or cellular connection, as well as download any of their favorite podcasts directly to the watch.   LEARN HOW TO USE SPOTIFY WITH YOUR SUUNTO 7   What are your favourite sports and workouts? We both love skateboarding and have been doing it for over 20 years, so that’s definitely our favorite sport. It’s great for training the whole body due to the body tension that gets generated when doing a trick, but also the mind doesn’t fall short. Every millisecond must be thought through. Timing and position are everything in skateboarding. But we also enjoy going on a bike tour, going for a run and hiking occasionally. How often do you workout each week? About every second day if time allows! If there is a deadline coming up, sometimes less. But we always try to squeeze in a skate session, a jog or a bike ride. It helps us clear our minds after a long studio session. Sometimes we come back from the workout and are more creative than before! How does staying fit help you as a DJ? Tour life as a DJ/musician can be very draining. A confused body clock due to jet lag and not enough time for a proper lunch can be devastating for both body and soul. Therefore it is of great importance to us to stay fit. Fitness gives us enough energy reserves in case things don’t go as planned or the schedule is just exhausting. Never underestimate the synergy between body and soul either! A fit body will support your stress threshold.   Does the night life make it difficult to maintain a routine? We try to maintain our daily routine as best as we can, but sometimes we simply can’t since flight schedules can be tricky. Especially when travelling overseas, the jet lag can be a thorn in the eye for days. In these situations, it is important for us to eat healthy and keep being active throughout the day (even if it is just a walk through a city park), so both body and brain can acclimate to the new time zone quickly. Also, we avoid alcohol if we have jet lag. What is your approach to eating well and nutrition? Usually three meals a day. The breakfast being the most important of all and probably the richest in nutrition value. We avoid lemonades and juice as much as we can and try to eat as little meat as possible nowadays. Before a gig we always try to eat the lightest and most energizing meals available, and the last meal of the day shouldn’t be too late. Back in the days we used to go for the biggest steak on the menu, but we had to learn it the hard (and heavy) way and rethink our food habits. Having no energy after dinner and feeling like you have a rock in your stomach whilst DJing is one of the worst feelings. What does music and movement mean to you? Music and movement are two things that simply belong together. Music is frequencies moving through space, and these frequencies can make people move.Music can be listened to on any occasion, and that is the beauty of it. But for the genre we love and live for – Drum & Bass – it is all about moving your body. And that’s why we still can’t get enough of it after all these years. No other music genre contains so much energy and euphoria as Drum & Bass. See you on the dance floor!   Lead images: © Harry Tiits / Red Bull Content PoolBody images: © Alissa Tsuvilskaja Read more articles These Japanese DJs live for music and movement Meet the Mambo Brothers, two health conscious DJs living the night life The benefits of training to music and making your best playlist  

Summer holidays are coming to a close in the northern hemisphere and we’re returning to work. It takes time to refocus and build momentum. It’s completely understandable to feel challenged by all the pressures of maintaining a job, business, family, plus staying fit and eating well. Technology can’t magic the pressure away, but it can help you stay on top of things, save you time and even serve as support to build positive habits. The Suunto 7 smartwatch is powered with Wear OS by Google, providing a buffet of apps designed to help you manage everyday life. We consulted our inhouse technology geeks about which apps they find the most helpful and they came up with nine.     Spotify Spotify's Wear OS app enables you to listen to music on your Suunto 7 without your phone – and even when offline. Connect your Bluetooth headphones with your watch and download the tracks that you want to take with you! Learn more about listening to music on the go with a Suunto 7 and Spotify here. And once you have it, check out Suunto’s workout playlists on Spotify. Wrist Camera Say goodbye to awkward selfies that strain your neck as you try to get you and your two friends all in the frame. This app lets you control and preview your phone camera remotely from your smartwatch. This simple app is easy to use. Find it in Google Play here. Todoist Stay on top of all the tasks you need to complete with the Todoist app. You can add, check, and complete tasks with your watch. You can also track your progress on meeting daily and weekly goals. Find it in Google Play here. Google Keep This handy note-taking service allows you to capture ideas, notes or tasks whenever they pop into your mind. You can dictate your thoughts and Keep will transcribe them. You can create reminders and tasks, and share them with others. Click here to get it. Bring! No more shopping lists on the back of crumpled receipts! Your shopping just got easier with this app which allows you to create and share shopping lists with your family or friends from multiple devices, including by simply speaking into your smartwatch! Get it here. Wear Casts This app allows you to listen to your favorite podcasts offline. When you head out for a run, you can tune in without having to take your phone with you. Get it here. If you prefer audiobooks over podcasts, check out NavBooks. This app places your library on your wrist – also for offline listening. Find my phone This handy feature is part of the Wear OS system and means you won’t ever again lose your phone down the back of the couch and think your life is over. Unless you can’t find your watch, too, in which case you are entitled to panic! All you need to do is tap a button on your watch face to make your phone ring. Breathe. Google Assistant Wouldn’t be nice if we could all have a personal assistant? Well, Google Assistant more than suffices. Schedule events and reminders in your calendar, create shopping lists, check the weather – all by simply speaking to your watch. Citymapper Get live subway, bus and train times, and find the best route to get where you need to go with step-by-step instructions – all via your watch. Get it here. Healthy Recipes Never ever get cookie dough on your phone again! This handy app allows you to follow recipes from your watch face, with the phone safely placed away from the chaos.   Suunto 7 support: Here you'll find user guides, how to videos and more   Read more articles Welcome to the season of the FKT Start your path to mountain navigation mastery here The benefits of training to music and making your best playlist

With public swimming pools closed in many countries, swimming in open water ensures we keep our training moving forward. However, open water is usually colder water, especially earlier in the year. We talked to Norseman Xtreme Triathlon chief medical and safety officer Jørgen Melau about how to stay safe swimming in cold water. Jorgen is currently finishing a PhD on cold water swimming and before starting his research he served in Norway’s Arctic air ambulance rescue operations. “There are many benefits to cold water swimming,” Jørgen says “And although our research is focused on the dangers, I want to stress that the benefits of open water swimming far outweigh the risks. So I really encourage everyone to try it!”   Joakim Dokka Nordstad/nxtri.com   The benefits Ask any dedicated cold water swimmer and they will tell you how amazing it makes them feel. This is probably because of the massive endorphin (feel good hormones) release swimming in cold water generates. Plunging into uncomfortably cold water stimulates our body’s pain system, which releases those delightful endorphins to help us manage it. Cold water swimming is also touted to improve circulation, burn more calories, increase libido, reduce stress and strengthen the immune system. The risks When you suddenly enter cold water it strongly activates several branches of the nervous system. “These are strong and powerful activations, and for some vulnerable people, it can be very dangerous because it can generate arrhythmias,” Jørgen says. “It is called the autonomic conflict, if anyone is interested in learning more.” The second risk is hypothermia, due to the cooling of the body’s core temperature. “Hypothermia is a problem only if the water is cold and the swim is very long,” Jørgen explains. “However, there are huge individual variations, and this is why it is so hard to give any exact limits. We do not recommend swimming in water colder than 12°C. And for some, it should probably be much warmer.” Study demonstrates risk In the 2015 Norseman Xtreme Triathlon the water temperature dropped to 10°C so Jørgen and the race organisers shortened the swim. A few months later Jorgen asked 20 triathletes to swim in 10°C water for a controlled study. The study showed that if Norseman had allowed a full distance swim in 2015, almost 50% of the athletes would have suffered from medical hypothermia. “This was a real eye opener, and something we believe is very important to know,” Jørgen says.   How to begin Start with brief sessions To give your body and mind time to adapt, start cold water swimming with brief sessions. Then as you become accustomed, you can gradually lengthen them. Enter the water gradually Jørgen advises not to jump or dive into cold water, but to enter gradually. “The human body is very adaptable to different environments. Yet, we help ourself a lot if we give the body some time to readjust. Enter the water slowly, taking half a minute to a minute.” Stay active after After exiting the water, stay active to warm up your body. “Your body is excellent in producing its own heat, and you do that by keeping your muscles busy,” Jørgen says. “So go for a run or hop onto the bike. “An additional tip is to dry off your wet skin when you have finished your swim; you waste a lot of heat if the body needs to dry your skin from its internal heat supply.”   Joakim Dokka Nordstad/nxtri.com   The Norseman open and cold water swimming code Never swim alone This really is essential. Before embracing adventure and bracing for the cold you need to find a buddy to share the journey to help keep one another safe. Alternatively, you can find someone to monitor your progress from a boat or by the shore. Out on swims together, stay close and be observant of your swim buddy. If you swim in a group, always team up with a buddy, so you can look out for each other. It’s safer and more fun. Avoid water colder than 12°C Norseman advises people 12°C should be the minimum for cold water wetsuit swims. And for such low temperatures, the swims should be short. “For many people, it’s probably wise to have a higher water temperature than this,” Jorgen cautions. If you feel cold for more than 10 minutes, abort the swim, and get yourself warm. Be aware that the temperature and wind on land may pose a risk for hypothermia even after exiting the water. In cold water, swim for 20 minutes only before exiting the water to warm up.   Plan your swim Cold water swimming is a little like going up into an alpine environment in the sense you shouldn’t just wing it, and hope everything will be hunky dory. It’s asking for trouble Research your swimming spot. Be aware of hazards like shallow water, tides, rip currents, marine life, or boat traffic. With Suunto App, use Suunto Heatmaps to find places to swim and ask people in the Suunto community who swim there for info. Let someone at home know where you plan to swim and what time you will finish.Check the weather forecast. Know your ability To stay safe and to keep it enjoyable, make sure you have the ability and fitness to complete the swim you’ve planned. Keep an eye on the conditions; a wind change can quickly increase wave or swell size. Under no circumstances go swimming during a thunderstorm. A lightning strike in water may be lethal. Swim close to shore If the conditions change or you get tired or start getting cramps, being close to shore means you can get out quickly. You are also easier to spot and help close to shore, and you avoid encountering potentially dangerous marine traffic. Be prepared for emergencies Have a plan in mind for what to do if anything happens to you or your swim buddy. Know exactly where the nearest phone (your swim tow, the car). Consider having a third person observing you both from shore. If there are known rips or currents in the area, know how to respond if you get caught in one. Where are alternative exit points?   Alexander Koerner/nxtri.com Get emergency training Practice how to help your buddies in open water, transiting him or her to shore, and getting them out of the water. This is important to know in the eventuality your buddy cramps. Know your CPR and take a course regularly to maintain your knowledge. Have the right gear A Suunto watch paired with a Suunto Smart Sensor heart rate belt: These track your level of exertion, give you data about your stroke rate, time and distance, and the GPS will allow you to see post-swim whether you swam in a straight line or not. Plus, Suunto Heatmaps makes it easy to find popular open water swimming spots near you. A swim tow float: these are an extra safety aid. They act as a flotation device in the event you get cramp or need to rest. They are brightly coloured so improve your visibility and can be used to store your car keys, wallet and smartphone. A silicone hat or wetsuit hood. Try to find a brightly coloured hat so you are easily visible on the surface. Goggles: Make sure they are comfortable to wear for an extended period and consider choosing polarized goggles to reduce sun glare for better vision. Anti chafe balm: applying this under your wetsuit helps to prevent chafed and cracked skin. Boots, gloves, wetsuit socks: these not only keep your feet and hands warm, they also prevent injury by providing some grip as you enter and exit the water.   Lead images: Alexander Koerner/nxtri.com   Read more articles 10 reasons to enjoy open water simming with Suunto 5 steps to therapeutic breathing to combat COVID-19 Blaze fresh routes          

Suunto ambassador William Trubridge knows a thing or two about deep breathing. In 2016, he set a new world record by diving to 102 m on one breath. In 2019, he became the first man to complete an 'underwater crossing' of one of the world’s major channels, swimming across the wild Cook Strait as a series of 934 breath hold dives. William has recently taken another deep dive, this time into the medical world and its treatment of COVID-19. Concerned about the impacts of the virus, he researched how it attacks the body and the medically accepted treatments that help people recover from it. In the process, he learned therapeutic breathing can play a valuable role. Read on for his in-depth report! Scroll down to see William demonstrate a deep breathing exercise!   Therapeutic breathing for COVID-19 By William Trubridge   SARS-CoV-2 is a virus that targets the respiratory system. It attacks our ability to breathe. Now it’s emerging that a strategy to combat this infection may be through breathing itself. First, I need to state clearly I am neither an epidemiologist nor pulmonologist. Everything I describe in this article has been recommended by experts (who I will reference) in one or both of these fields, and I will not speak or extrapolate beyond their recommendations. My career in freediving has meant that I have spent almost two decades harnessing the power of breathing, and I hope to use this experience to help describe and demonstrate how to achieve the recommendations of the experts.For example, the instruction to ‘breathe deeply’ is like telling someone to ‘swim smoothly’– there is a lot of technique inherent in the action. A ‘deep breath’ could have vastly different results depending on whether you start at the base of the lungs, sucking air into the belly, or if instead you simply lift the shoulders and ‘gasp’ the air in. These are the distinctions where I hope to add value. When JK Rowling contracted Covid-19 in April, she employed a technique described by physician Sarfaraz Munshi from Queen Hospital UK that is aimed at maintaining lung function and preventing secondary pneumonia during the illness.1 The Youtube video of his description is here, and the sequence he advises can be summarised as follows: 1. Sit with a straight spine and feet flat on the floor (I add this instruction, since deep breathing while standing risks fainting).2. Breathe in deeply, hold for 5 seconds and exhale – repeat 5 times.3. Breathe in and do a big cough from the base of the lungs (covering your mouth) 4. Repeat Steps 2 & 3.5. Lie flat on your front with a pillow in front of you, taking fairly deep breaths for 10 minutes. This sequence is taught by respiratory physiotherapists also, where it sometimes goes by the name of ‘Active Cycle of Breathing Technique.’ It is important to remember it's a therapeutic treatment, not preventative: there is no reason to expect that it will help to protect against infection with the virus in the first place. The deep breaths help to ventilate alveoli and remove debris that has accumulated on the walls of the alveoli due to damage from the virus. This debris is what blocks oxygen from being absorbed into the blood, which can lead to a condition called ARDS. Lying on your stomach benefits aperture of the smaller airways: since these are distributed closer to your spine if you are lying on your back the weight of your torso will impede them from opening fully. Here is where I will add some extra directions/descriptions to ensure the exercise is as efficient and targeted as possible.   STEP 0 - Motivation   Many reports from Covid patients describe how it completely cripples energy levels. Even sitting up can be an ordeal, and the idea of committing to an exercise like this might require more motivation than what is in the tank. If that’s the case, then don’t commit to it to begin with. Just tell yourself you’re going to change position (which is recommended by pulmonologists to help prevent pneumonia) and come into a seated position. Once you’re there, the idea of one full breath might be feasible. Then see if you can complete just one round of steps 2 & 3. If that’s your limit go straight to Step 5, otherwise stick with it for another round. This way we only commit to doing something easy, that we know we can manage.   STEP 1 - SITTING   Support behind the spine is fine, as long as the spine is kept straight. What you want to avoid is being hunched, as you would be if you’re sitting up in bed leaning back against the headboard, or seated in a soft couch. Instead, try sitting in a chair or on the edge of the bed, with your feet on the ground in both cases. This allows you to access the full range of movement of your breathing muscles, and gives your torso space for your lungs to fully inflate.   STEP 2 - DEEP BREATHS   This is the key part of the exercise. The aim is to maximally inflate the alveoli (air sacs in your lungs, similar to how a sponge has tiny air chambers). In order to do this, we need to ensure that we are ventilating the entire volume of the lungs. Most of that volume is in the base of the lungs (they’re shaped like pyramids), and we actually have to think about breathing ‘into our belly’ in order to inflate this part. This activates the diaphragm muscle: a plate-like muscle that sits flat in your torso and separates the lungs and heart above from the digestive organs below. It works like a plunger, so that when it contracts and moves downwards then it pulls air into the lungs above it. The effect is also to push the stomach down and out, so it looks like the belly itself is inflating. This ‘diaphragmatic’ breath is the most efficient way of breathing, and it is how you should start the deep breaths. Visualise the air being sucked deep into the base of your torso. If you have one hand on your stomach and the other on your chest then your lower hand should move outwards as the stomach ‘inflates’, while the upper hand stays still during this phase. During the second phase you will breathe into the chest. This uses the intercostal muscles to expand the ribcage, and is how we breathe when we ‘gasp’. You will feel outwards movement in your upper hand, and also expansion as the ribs separate away from each other. It is important in this, and all phases of deep breathing, to stop if you ever experience sharp pain. It’s also important to try and maintain relaxation in all muscles that aren’t involved in the breath - check that your head, neck, arms and hands are all completely relaxed. Contraction there can inhibit your ability to breathe deeply. In the final phase of the inhale you will breathe into the upper ‘clavicular’ zone of the chest. Raise the shoulders and chin slightly and continue inhaling until you reach your limit. This phase has a lot less airflow than the previous two phases, and can be removed from the sequence if you’re already experiencing any discomfort or pain.   So Step 2 is actually: 2.1 Breathe powerfully into the belly, using the diaphragm2.2 Breathe into the torso by expanding the ribcage2.3 Elevate the shoulders to allow your breath to fill the upper part of the torso Again, stop at any point if you experience sharp pain or dizziness.Also, breathe through the nose to avoid irritating a dry cough, as the nose warms and moistens the air you take in.   Watch William demonstrate here and try to follow along.   STEP 3 - INHALE AND COUGH   The deep inhale should be the same as those in step 2. When you cough, in order to activate the base of the lungs, focus on squeezing your abdominal wall as you cough - this will make it more powerful and explosive, which should help to expel debris accumulating inside the lungs.   STEP 4 - REPEAT   Again, only if you feel comfortable. Also, give yourself a break between the two cycles. During the break you can relax and breathe normally (shallow).   STEP 5 - LIE FLAT 10 MINS   While lying on your front, the breathing doesn’t need to be as deep as it is in Step 2. You might want to concentrate on just the first phase of the breath - the diaphragmatic inhale - in order to ensure the air arrives at the base of the lungs. If you’re breathing in this way you should feel your belly swell underneath you, pushing down against the floor. There is no recommendation on exactly how many times to repeat this exercise in a day, but there should not be any disadvantage to performing it several times or as much as you are comfortable with. Also, even if you are reading this and not sick, it may be a wise move to perform it once just in case, so that your body has a kind of ‘benchmark’ for how it should feel when you’re well. That way, if the worst comes to the worst and you do contract the virus then you won’t have to learn the technique while sick, and you will be able to get an idea of the condition of your lungs from how it compares to when you were well. As always with any infection, keep hydrated, monitor your symptoms and report them to a doctor – don’t try to self-manage with these breathing exercises alone.   Lead images: Photo by Fusion Medical Animation on Unsplash © Alex St Jean References https://www.huffpost.com/entry/deep-breathing-coronavirus-patients-symptoms_l_5ea1e2f0c5b6d13e4f73c856 2. lung pathologist Sanjay Mukhopadhyay: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPtH42Lnt_Y3. Ema Swingwood, chair of the Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Respiratory Care: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2241191-can-breathing-exercises-really-help-protect-you-from-covid-19/#ixzz6Linrrk4H

Every cloud has its silver lining, and the upside to the COVID-19 related pool closures is it challenges swimmers to suit up and go open water swimming. If you’re looking for adventure, look no further than swimming in the majesty of nature. “Getting out of the swimming pools, and getting out into nature gives a completely different perspective to swimming,” says Dag Oliver, triathlete and general manager of the notorious Norseman Xtreme Triathlon. “It’s like the difference between track running and trail running. It gives a new dimension to the swimming experience.”   Stay safe and warm Before taking the plunge, read through the Norseman Xtreme Triathlon swim code to make sure you stay and warm. The first rule is never swim alone. 10 reasons to swim with a Suunto watch They are watertight All Suunto watches are waterproof. And when our watches say waterproof to 100 m, they really mean it. Our products are tested in extreme conditions in Finland. If it can survive Finland, it can survive anything. They tell you the temperature Suunto watches with a pressure sensor, such as the Suunto 9 Peak and Suunto 9 Baro also tell you the temperature. To get an accurate reading on the water temperature, hold your watch by its strap underwater for a minute or two before beginning your swim. Knowing the temperature will give you an idea of how long you would like to stay in the water. Post swim, you can also see the temperature in your activity data.   Suunto Heatmaps show you the popular openwater swimming spots all over the world. You can find swimming spots with Suunto Heatmaps Suunto App Heatmaps makes it easy to find popular open water swimming spots. And popular spots are likely to be safe spots. Based on millions of workouts, Heatmaps show where the Suunto community loves to train across the planet. You can filter the map by activity, like swimming, running, cycling etc. Check out our Heatmaps in Suunto App or directly in our smart Suunto 7 watch. Heatmaps is especially helpful if you are new to an area or just visiting; it’s not always apparent where the water quality is good, where there are strong currents or where there is marine traffic. It also shows you where local swimmers enter the water. Sometimes it isn’t easy finding the safest entry point. You can identify where they swam to, and where swimmers don’t go, and where they exit. GPS tracks your swims With GPS you can look back at your swim and see where you went, and whether you zigzagged like a drunk driver, or followed the straightest line between points A and B. Learning to swim straight is important for conserving energy and time. Tracking with GPS while swimming with your watch on your wrist is challenging because as soon as it’s submerged the signal is lost. This means GPS works with freestyle, backstroke and butterfly because the watch is raised out of the water with each stroke. It doesn’t work with breaststroke. One way to ensure a better GPS signal is to stash your watch underneath your swim cap at the back of your head. But to ensure perfect tracking, stow your watch in your swimming tow float. They record your heart rate The best way to record your heart rate while swimming is by wearing a Suunto Smart Sensor heart rate belt around your chest. However, the BLE signal between the heart rate monitor and your watch cannot be transmitted underwater. The Smart Sensor instead stores the data and automatically transmits it to the watch once you are out of the water. Suunto watches also have optical heart rate sensing functionality, but this doesn’t work if the watch is on the outside of your wetsuit. Even against your skin, it’s not as reliable as a Smart Sensor strap. They capture important metrics Suunto technology provides real-time training intelligence. When you’re in the water you can see what’s happening and adjust your stroke, pace, intervals and breaks accordingly. A key open water swimming metric is duration. Your watch will tell you how long you’ve been in the water. This is important to keep an eye on, especially in cold water.   Photo by Todd Quackenbush on Unsplash You can see when you’re slacking off A common mistake for novice open water swimmers is to do a long swim session without any breaks. Whereas when they’re in the pool, it’s common to break down the session into shorter intervals. This ensures you maintain good technique as it helps you stay fresh throughout the session. Follow the same logic for open water swimming. Don’t just cruise for miles/kilometres, but break up your session with intervals and rest periods. Your Suunto watch can help you with interval training. For example, do hard two minute intervals with 30 second rests between them. Your Suunto watch will vibrate and beep when each interval and rest period is over. You can see when your technique is getting sloppy Your Suunto watch captures the number of strokes you are doing per minute. Out on an open water swim, this useful metric tells you when your stroke technique is deteriorating as you become more fatigued. Then you can concentrate on correcting it.   Photo by Jon Del Rivero on Unsplash They tell you your SWOLF Improving your stroke mechanics is essential for competitive sport. Suunto watches analyze your sessions, identify the swim style, stroke rates and calculate your SWOLF score. Swim-Golf, or SWOLF, is a score based on a combination of stroke rate and time in water, giving an indication of how efficient you are as a swimmer. The reference to golf comes from the fact that, like with golf, the lower your score the better you are. The fewer strokes and the less time you take in the water, the more efficient you are. As your swimming technique improves, you will be able to swim faster with the same stroke rate, which means each stroke is propelling you further forward. They connect with Swim.com Suunto can be synced with Swim.com, the world’s most advanced swimming dedicated platform and community. You will get in-depth swim specific analysis, helping you to improve. Another cool feature at Swim.com is they select the workout of the week, encouraging its community members to try to climb the swim team leaderboards.   Read more articles Blaze fresh routes The benefits of training to music and making your best playlist How to improve your walking technique