Polar's Vantage fitness watches now offer daily training guides (updated)
The update also tracks your running pace and Strava rivalries.
If you're planning to counter all those holiday dinners with rigorous exercise, Polar might have your back. It's updating its Vantage V and Vantage M watches with some particularly useful coaching features, most notably the FitSpark personalized training tool. As on earlier hardware, it provides a daily training guide that suggests exercises based on your history, fitness level and sleep quantities. You'll have a better sense of whether you should be burning calories with cardio workouts or hitting the weights instead.
The upgrade also adds a Race Pace feature that lets you set a running pace target and get advice on how to meet that goal while you're in mid-stride. And if you have the Vantage V, you can use Strava Live Segments to compare your running and cycling times to both your earlier results and potential rivals.
Both Vantage watches are receiving the update today. These features won't convince you to get a Vantage by themselves, especially when smartwatch apps can cover many of the bases. They might, however, make the hardware that much more compelling if you were serious enough about fitness to consider Polar in the first place.
Update 12/30 10AM ET: Polar tells Engadget that the update is now slated to go live on December 31st at 6AM Eastern. Just in time for those New Year's resolutions, then.
