Training Science

Expert-backed guides on the physiology behind endurance performance — VO2max, aerobic and anaerobic training, threshold, load, and recovery.

VO2max: The Ultimate Training Blueprint

Imagine your fitness as a house: base training lays the solid foundation, but VO2max work raises the ceiling. Elevate your performance and redefine your limits — discover how to train smarter, not harder, and live better.

Read more

Raise Your Ceiling: The Essential Guide to VO2max Training

Stop chasing arbitrary numbers and start training with purpose. Discover how to bridge the gap between abstract metrics and your daily routine by turning your VO2max score into a concrete roadmap. From 4x4 intervals to hill repeats, learn the exact workouts that raise your ceiling and redefine your potential.

Read more

Rate of Perceived Exertion: What the Borg Scale Can Tell You About Your Workouts

Do you ever rate your workout intensity on a scale of 1-10? Turns out, you're using the Borg scale. So, what exactly is it and how does it relate to heart rate training?

Read more

The Early Warning Signs of Overtraining – And What To Do About It

If your life revolves around your workouts, there's a risk you'll end up overtraining. Here's how to recognize the signs of overtraining and regain balance.

Read more

How Long Does It Take To Start Losing Fitness?

You trained hard all season, but then get sidelined. What does that mean for your progress? Get the lowdown on losing fitness and how to regain your strength.

Read more

Aerobic Vs. Anaerobic Training: What's the Difference?

Are you running at a talking pace – or pushing yourself until your muscles burn? Here's why you need to know the difference between aerobic vs anaerobic, so you can get the most out of your training.

Read more

Why Training With Altitude Can Give You the Competitive Edge

Many elite athletes head for the mountains to improve their competition times. Here's the low-down on high-altitude training.

Read more

Aerobic Vs. Anaerobic Training: What's the Difference?

Are you running at a talking pace – or pushing yourself until your muscles burn? Here's why you need to know the difference between aerobic vs anaerobic, so you can get the most out of your training.

Read more

How Long Does It Take To Start Losing Fitness?

You trained hard all season, but then get sidelined. What does that mean for your progress? Get the lowdown on losing fitness and how to regain your strength.

Read more

What to know about adding steady-state cardio workouts to your routine

Sometimes a cardio-based workout is just what the doctor ordered. Read what you should know about adding steady-state cardio workouts to your routine.

Read more

Could Alcohol Be the Reason You're Tired?

Struggling to sleep properly after a few evening drinks? Here's how alcohol alters your sleep and potentially affects your fitness.

Read more

Why you should always warm up before your workout

It can be tempting to skip the warm up exercises and dive right into a big workout. Here’s why you should always warm up – and exactly how to do it.

Read more

How To Cope With Sports Injuries – And Come Back Stronger

Triathlete Andy Potts has had many triumphant race finishes, but also his fair share of injuries. Here's how he deals with injuries and comes back stronger.

Read more

Understanding the Connection Between Anxiety and Heart Rate

They say that anxiety is all in the mind – but it's in your body too. Here's how the connection between anxiety and heart rate can affect your everyday life.

Read more

Finding Your Balance With Yoga and Boxing

Yoga-Box teacher Laura Ihatsu explains how this surprising combination makes you mentally and physically stronger.

Read more

Can Caffeine Improve Your Athletic Performance?

From quick response times to dopamine stacking, here's everything you need to know about combining caffeine with your training and performance so you can reap the rewards.

Read more

What Is Cardiac Drift And How It Affects Your Training

What is cardiac drift and how does it affect heart rate based training? Sports scientist, marathon runner and Ironman finisher Benjamin Garcia gives us the nitty-gritty.

Read more

What Are the Benefits of Cycle Syncing Your Training?

Break free from workout misconceptions! This guide explores how women can train based on their menstrual cycle. Learn to ditch the all-or-nothing approach, build a strong foundation, and adjust your workouts for hormonal shifts.

Read more

The Dreaded Detraining: Why You Shouldn't Fear It

Detraining is a word that strikes fear into many who are enthusiastic about their workouts. But giving your body a break can be surprisingly beneficial. Here's how to detrain with intentionality so you can reap the rewards.

Read more

Fit Over 50: How to Become Strong, Flexible and Healthy

Even if you already work out regularly, it's essential to know how your training should evolve once you're over 50. Here's everything you need to know.

Read more

9 Freestyle Swimming Tips to Save Energy

Coach Greg Mueller provides actionable tips for freestyle swimming for both pool and open water with sample drills and workouts.

Read more

3 Popular Outdoor Sports For Cross-Training

Three popular outdoor sports — hiking, trail running and mountain biking — unpacked with the benefits, problems and how they complement each other.

Read more

5 Telltale Signs You're Not Working Out Hard Enough

If you need to ask “Am I working hard enough?”, the chances are you're not. Here are five telltale signs that you could be pushing your body harder.

Read more

Add Some Intensity to Your Outdoor Adventures with Rucking

Ready to ruck? Find out about the military-inspired fitness trend turning walking into a workout.

Read more

Anaerobic Threshold: What Is It And How Can You Measure It?

What is the anaerobic threshold and why does it matter if you're looking to improve your performance?

Read more

Are You Reaping The Mental Benefits Of Exercise?

Research suggests that exercise brings not only physical but also various mental benefits. The question is: Are you making the most of it?

Read more

Ask the Experts: How Do You Make Exercise a Habit?

A behavior-change researcher and a performance coach explain how habits form — and the practical cues, goals, and routines that make exercise stick.

Read more

Bored With Your Workout Routine? 3 Exercise Tweaks To Mix It Up

Here's how to tweak your workout routine by varying three elements and how to find fresh workout ideas to unleash your full potential.

Read more

Conquer your Workout Plateau and Reboot your Fitness Progress

Wondering if you've hit a workout plateau? Are they even real? What if increasing your training doesn't work?

Read more

Do You Really Need Strict Fitness Goals – Or Should You Just Chill?

Are strict fitness goals really working for you? What if you just chilled and focused on the joy that exercise should be all about? .

Read more

Does Happiness Lie in the Connection Between Physical and Mental Health?

Does the Finnish focus on being physically active outdoors give an insight into why they keep topping the World Happiness Report?

Read more

Does your Body Temperature Impact your Workouts?

Beat the heat and stay safe during your workouts! This guide explores how exercise affects body temperature and offers tips to keep you cool and energized.

Read more

Fitness Assessment: Try These Polar Tests

How fit are you? Learn the differences between all Polar fitness tests.

Read more

Gear Up and Climb On: Your Sport Climbing Guide

Captivated by Olympic climbers scaling walls? Explore the world of sport climbing! Dive into the sport's unique gear, styles, and competition formats, including the changes coming to the 2024 Paris Olympics. Learn the differences between sport and trad climbing, and discover the thrill of adventuring outdoors.

Read more

Get LIIT With Low-intensity Interval Training

LIIT is a calmer, less sweaty take on HIIT. Here's the low-down on low-intensity.

Read more

HIIT Workout You Can Do at Home – No Equipment Needed

Try this Tabata-style HIIT workout at home! You don't need any eqipment for this HIIT workout but you should prepare to get seriously sweaty.

Read more

HIIT or Steady-state Cardio – or Both?

To see results, it’s best to mix both steady-state cardio and HIIT. Here's how obstacle course racer and CrossFit athlete Christian Jonsson combines the two.

Read more

How Exercise Affects the Brain: Does Your Workout Make You Smarter?

What happens to the brain when we exercise? Are we helping or hindering our memory and concentration? We asked Brain Health entrepreneur Teemu Vornanen to give use the scientific low-down.

Read more

How Exercising With Others Enhances Your Social Health

Do our relationships with others impact our wellbeing? Discover what your social health is and how to boost it by exercising together.

Read more

How Hot Yoga Can Elevate the Intensity of Your Workout

Turn up the heat and intensity of your yogic workouts by exercising at 104 °F (40 °C). Here's how hot yoga can benefit your heart, bones and flexibility.

Read more

How Long Does It Take to See Results From Working Out?

Getting fit doesn't happen overnight, but there's more happening than meets the eye. Use this timeline to understand how your patience and persistence pay off (even if you can't see the difference).

Read more

How Many Days a Week Should I Work Out?

Asking yourself how many days a week should you work out? Ask yourself about your fitness level and goals first.

Read more

How Mind and Body Are Intertwined

Does exercise (and stress) affect our mind-body connection? Brain health expert Mona Moisala discusses how to reap the benefits without overdoing it.

Read more

How Often Should I Work Out? Find Out With Training Load Pro™

Are you training enough or overdoing it? Here's how training load data will help you find out.

Read more

How To Make Your Cardio Workouts More Effective

There’s something about running on the treadmill for an hour that’s not exactly appealing so how to make your cardio workouts not only more effective, but more enjoyable?

Read more

How to Set Realistic Fitness Goals – According to a Pro

To help you set and hit your fitness goals, CrossFit coach Frederik Aegidius advises how to avoid having your workout plans derailed when life gets in the way.

Read more

Is Exercise Snacking With Short Workouts Effective?

Time poor but hungry to improve your fitness? Exercise snacking via some short workouts could work a treat for you.

Read more

Is Walking or Running Better for Weight Loss?

When trying to reach a fitness goal, it's understandable that you want to choose the most effective workout. Here are some of the factors (and research) you should consider when comparing running and walking.

Read more

Keep It Steady or Turn Up the HIIT? How to Choose the Right Exercise Intensity

Here's fitness expert Pete McCall’s advice on how to choose the right exercise intensity and how to use heart rate to guide your fitness workouts.

Read more

Pick Up Your Walking Pace to Boost Your Fitness

Forget counting steps. Turn walking into a cardio workout by paying attention to your pace, raising your heart rate and boosting your health.

Read more

Power-Based Training Targets With Polar Vantage V2

Learn how the new Power-Based Training Targets feature on Polar Flow web service can optimize your cycling and running performance with the Polar Vantage V2.

Read more

Q&A With Jack Hanrahan: How to Start Exercising (Effectively)

We asked celebrity trainer and strength coach, Jack Hanrahan, about setting up a home gym, perfecting your pull-up technique and more!

Read more

Sugar Before, During, and After Your Workout: How It Can Help Your Training

As a general rule, you should stay away from refined sugar and candy. However, the right type of sugar can fuel the most grueling workouts and aid in muscle recovery afterwards.

Read more

Swim Faster, Smarter: Incorporating Technology into Swimming Training

Can swimmers use wearables? Sure they can. Find out how technology can level up your swimming training.

Read more

Time to Run or Time to Walk? Your Body Knows the Answer

Have you ever wondered why we walk as fast as we do? Here's how the body understands when - and how fast - to walk and when it's time to start running.

Read more

Training Load

So, you have training plan, but do you know if it's working? Training Load helps you track your progress and monitor the intensity of your workouts.

Read more

Walking Towards Better Health

Jam-packed with benefits, walking continues to be a top activity for people of all ages. Here's how we're walking towards better health.

Read more

What Is Aerobic Threshold: An Athlete's Guide

What are anaerobic and aerobic threshold, what is the difference, and why do they matter? Here's everything athletes need to know.

Read more

What Is Sweat Rate – And Why Does It Matter?

How does your sweat rate compare to others? Here's what you need to know about sweat rate from Dr. Craig Feuerman, Medical Director at City Sports Medicine.

Read more

When Your Workout Motivation Wanes – 12 Ways To Get It Back

From time to time, our workout motivation wanes – happens to the best of us – but luckily, there are many simple ways to get it back! Read on to learn how.

Read more

Why It's Time to Start Keeping a Workout Log

Ready for a fresh perspective? Some new goals or simply best practices for your training? It's probably time to start keeping a workout log.

Read more

NEWSLETTER_POPUP

Hey there, sign up and get 10% off

Make sure you get your invite for our Polar family. Sign up now for our newsletter and stay on top of all our great news and offers! You will get 10% off* one purchase.

By clicking Subscribe, you agree to receive emails from Polar and confirm that you have read our Privacy Notice.

*this promotion cannot be combined with other promotions or offers.

NOTIFY_POPUP

Join the waitlist.

This product has sold out — sorry!
But don’t worry, they’ll be back in stock soon.
Enter your email to stay in the loop.

By clicking ‘Notify Me’, you agree to receive emails from Polar and confirm that you have read our Privacy Notice.

Great! We’ll let you know as soon as this product is back in stock.

Success! ##