Suunto 9 just got better – new software update available

Sports — October 29 2019

Fitness level

The updated Suunto 9 now measures VO2max, an indicator for your cardiorespiratory fitness and thereby your overall health and performance. The higher your VO2 max, the faster you can run before feeling fatigued. Your Suunto 9 watch automatically calculates your VO2max during runs and brisk walks using GPS, heart rate data, and your personal background information. You can see your current fitness level on the watch, and follow your long-term progress in the Suunto app.

To get your level estimated, record a run or walk while wearing your Suunto 9. From the watch face, press the lower right button to scroll to the fitness level display. It will instruct you further. The more running or walking activities you record, the more accurate your VO2 max becomes.

Sleep quality

In order to achieve top performances, it is essential to optimize your sleep quality. The updated Suunto 9 tracks your heart rate variability to reveal your sleep score %. Once you wake up, Suunto 9 displays a full sleep summary. In the Suunto app you can review the long-term sleep trend metrics. Getting data on your sleep enables you to better understand and optimize your recovery.

Ensure that your Daily HR and sleep tracking are enabled to measure Sleep Quality. You can toggle the Daily HR feature on or off from the watch settings under Activity. For sleep tracking, set the times for going to bed and waking up in your watch settings under Sleep.

Stress and recovery

Busy everyday life combined with an adventurous lifestyle can be stressful. Even if the stress is positive in nature, it still consumes your resources. Suunto 9 now tracks your stress and recovery levels and helps you to find the healthy balance that allows you to allocate resources between daily life and sporty adventures.

Press the lower right button to scroll to the Stress and Recovery display. The dial around the display indicates your overall resource level. Press the middle button to see a bar chart of your resources over the last 16 hours. Ensure your Daily HR is enabled.