Vitamin C for improved workouts

I’ve recently started to focus on heavy lifting in the gym in order to look and feel better, and also so that when the time comes to intensify my running workouts for a race- I can ward off injuries through the additional bone density, musculature and joint strength which strength training is adding to my body.

My hope and understanding is that just like we buy cushioned shoes to attenuate the shock our legs receive from running- I’m building the cushioning within my legs through heavy lifting.

But this extra gym work coupled with regular running and bouts of cycling is affecting my performance at work and also making me look bloated/puffy. Yes, I look fatter by exercising more, even though I’ve dropped about half a kilogram in weight and I’m maintaining my food macros.

Ever since the heavy lifting started at a higher weekly frequency-- at work, I have lower energy; I have to focus harder on reading and analyzing documents; and I can also feel my attention span reducing. This is unacceptable in my field! Insecurities loom large and stakes are (unnecessarily) high; mistakes are not easily pardoned- a few slips and you’re out of the game.

So I’ve decided to blame Cortisol for this problem (after some research). Now that a finger has been pointed towards Cortisol, a simple solution has also been researched- Vitamin C chewable tablets. After a lot of reading up, it seems to be the key for maintaining an “intense exercise-work” balance.

Cortisol is a steroid hormone which is released when our bodies are under stress, and high intensity exercise coupled with work and family pressures translates into acute stress. Excess cortisol in the body negatively affects normal bodily functions such as protein synthesis, immune system response, metabolism/fat burning etc. It’s a vicious cycle- train more but look and feel worse, and also risk the chances of over-training.

One way to reduce Cortisol is to decrease exercise intensity, but that is blasphemy, especially for someone who is training for longer races or faster than average race times.

We tend to ignore Vitamin C by usually assuming that the citrus fruits which we consume are providing us the RDA (Required Daily Allowance). However, the current RDA of 60 mg is extremely low since research suggests that at least 1000 mg is required to make a significant dent in reducing Cortisol. Prehistoric humans tended to consume large amounts of Vitamin C in their diet, which was way higher than the 60 mg RDA.

In a 2008 study, twelve participants were given high doses of Vitamin C and the data from the study suggests that vitamin C supplementation can decrease post-exercise Cortisol in individuals performing exercise similar to that of a half-marathon or marathon in hot conditions (Int J Sports Physiol Perform. 2008 Dec;3(4):516-30).

A 2001 study demonstrated a transient attenuation of Cortisol in runners who ran for prolonged times and supplemented with 1500 mg vitamin C per day when compared to < or = 500 mg per day (Int J Sports Med. 2001 Oct;22(7):537-43).

However, there are more scholarly articles to demonstrate that Vitamin C does not help in reducing Cortisol. But at Rs. 1 per 500 mg table, which is easily available at local pharmacies, it’s worth a shot.

I’ve started a 1000 mg per day dose divided into twice a day. It is advisable to not have all of it at once and rather spread the dose across a day since Vitamin C is readily absorbed and the effect in reducing cortisol is transient.

For the hippy herb preferring people, Amalaki (amla powder) capsules are available from Organic India, Himalaya and other decent brands. I’ll be trying these too soon.

Castor Oil for Athletic Injuries and Pain

Non-Steroidal Anti Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) are used by athletes all around the year to reduce incidents of inflammation, joint pain, injuries etc. The commonly used NSAIDs are either applied on the skin or ingested as tablets and in India there is a prevalence of Diclofenac based NSAIDs, especially in the form of a cream/gel/spray. A common household Diclofenac based NSAID for athletes in India is Volini.

Diclofenac based NSAIDs have significant side effects on the kidney, heart and liver amongst other organs. Remember the vulture death crisis in India a few years ago? These large scale deaths of vultures were attributed to the veterinary use of Diclofenac in the cattle which had been consumed by the vultures.

As compared to short term, the long term use of Diclofenac based medicines poses a greater risk, especially cardiovascular issues. You can read a non-technical but rather informative article on this by clicking the link below:

http://www.ema.europa.eu/ema/index.jsp?curl=pages/news_and_events/news/2013/06/news_detail_001830.jsp&mid=WC0b01ac058004d5c1

An alternative to NSAIDs for an athlete is Castor Oil. Castor Oil is a vegetable oil which is obtained by pressing the seeds of the Castor Oil Plant (Ricinus Communis).

Castor Oil Plant

I’ve started applying it topically (i.e. on the skin where the pain exists) and it has provided significant relief to my knees, achilles and shin, all of which had started hurting a bit after an increase in running and cycling intensity. As compared to NSAIDs, I am less concerned about Castor Oil’s long term use and also its side effects since no study seems to suggest any major health risk from a short or long term use. It’s just a quick oil massage on the affected area.

Castor Oil contains Ricinoleic Acid (RA) and RA was shown to be extremely effective in reducing inflammation and pain when applied topically (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1781768/). In fact our ayurvedic medicine considers Castor Oil as one of the best medicines for curing arthritis.

You can buy a bottle of castor oil for less than Rs. 100 at your local pharmacy and massage it a couple of times a day on the affected area just like you would use a NSAIDs cream/gel/spray.

- Aman Yadav

Strength Train To Improve Your Sport

Every minute of your training counts and every minute of that training should be spent on your primary sport and other exercises which support your primary sport.

If you’re a runner, cyclist, swimmer etc. then every other exercise which you undertake (other than your primary sport) should increase your speed, strength and endurance in the least time possible and to the maximum extent possible

Such exercises which are not your primary sport should enhance and not detract your athleticism.

A marathoner typically trains for 6-10 hours per week. A triathlete who is preparing for Ironman will spend 10-15 hours per week on training. And then you have to drop your kids off to school, go to work, drive back home, buy groceries, answer work calls and call it a day. So you have to ensure that every minute of your total weekly training hours makes a difference and provides maximum returns.

When you aren't running or cycling or swimming, you should be lifting weights and that too heavy ass weights. High weights-low repetitions for maximum strength, explosive power and most important of all, building resilience.

Resilience is the ability of your body to withstand the demands of endurance sports such as running, cycling, swimming etc. and allow you to progressively increase the training load.

You need strong muscles and joints to support your skeletal system when you train for endurance sports.

Heavy weight training will lead to increases in bone density and increase in soft tissue which surrounds the bones, thereby reducing the impact to your skeletal system when you engage in sports such as running, which in turn will allow you to efficiently absorb the high training loads without getting injured.

Heavy weights will create more muscle; muscles increase metabolism (even at rest); higher metabolism will decrease body fat; and a lower body fat will mean that pound for pound your body has started producing more power. In essence you’ve turbocharged your engine. The Prius became a Mustang.

Activities (not sports) like yoga and pilates will be a waste of time for you since the time spent engaged in them will not be commensurate with the returns. These activities will not supplement your primary sport in the manner which heavy lifting can since they do not have the ability to stress your body in the specific way which heavy lifting can. Compared to lifting weights, these activities cannot increase you muscle and bone mass and they burn way less calories minute for minute.

We’re talking about time management here; considering that your exercise schedule in terms of number of hours is already at its peak, and now you have to decide how to derive maximum benefits out of the time spent in exercising.

Every minute out of your total weekly workout schedule in which you are not training for your primary sport should be spent in increasing your strength.

I can understand the allure of yoga, it’s easy, lifting is hard and it leaves you sore for multiple days. Good things in life are hard. I don’t walk straight for three days after leg day and my back hurts after deadlifts but the strength gains are apparent when the tissue heals and I also get injured less while running or cycling.

If we think in terms of calories burnt vis-à-vis the time spent, then for allegedly the toughest form of yoga (Bikram Yoga), it was found that there is no evidence to suggest that it burns more calories than other exercise. Men burn around 460 calories during a Bikram yoga class and women burn around 330 calories. However, in lieu of a 90 minute session in a nauseatingly hot room with other naked smelly people, you can burn the same number of calories in a half an hour slow (like really slow) run (https://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/jan/13/no-pain-no-gain-exercise-heart-health-dementia-cancer) and then lift weights for 30 minutes and still be left with 30 minutes to sip a coffee.

Study title- Mixed maximal and explosive strength training in recreational endurance runners

Mixed strength training combined with endurance training may be more effective than circuit training in recreational endurance runners to benefit overall fitness that may be important for other adaptive processes and larger training loads associated with, e.g., marathon training (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23860287).

Study title- The effect of strength training on performance in endurance athletes

The present research available supports the addition of strength training in an endurance athlete's programme for improved economy, muscle power and performance (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24532151)

Study title- Maximal strength training improves running economy in distance runners

Maximal strength training for 8 weeks improved running economy and increased time to exhaustion at maximal aerobic speed among well-trained, long-distance runners, without change in maximal oxygen uptake or body weight (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18460997).

Study title- Effects of strength training on running economy

A short period of traditional strength training can improve running economy in well-trained runners, but this improvement can be dependent on the strength training characteristics. When comparing to explosive training performed in the same equipment, heavy weight training seems to be more efficient for the improvement of running economy (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18975259)

Study title- the effects of resistance training on endurance distance running performance among highly trained runners: a systematic review

Four of the five studies employed sport-specific, explosive resistance training, whereas one study used traditional heavy weight resistance training. Two of the five studies measured 2.9% improved performance (3K and 5K), and all five studies measured 4.6% improved running economy (RE; range = 3-8.1%). After critically reviewing the literature for the impact of CT on high-level runners, we conclude that resistance training likely has a positive effect on endurance running performance or RE. The short duration and wide range of exercises implemented are of concern, but coaches should not hesitate to implement a well-planned, periodized CT program for their endurance runners (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18978605)

Charles Atlas from the 1940's- Mahatma Gandhi sent a mail to get his program! No joke.

A question now is what are the exercises required for generating the power and strength which will support your primary sport? The legend Mark Rippletoe, has very succinctly said:

“If I’m a yoga instructor, I’ll tell you the most important thing about fitness is flexibility,” Rippetoe says. “If I’m an aerobics instructor, I’ll say it’s cardio. And if I’m CrossFit, I’ll say it’s everything. My position is strength is the basis for all physical interaction in the environment. If you’re not strong, it doesn’t matter how conditioned your heart and lungs are if you can’t get up off the pot.”

The way to get strong is simple, Rippetoe says. All it takes is five barbell moves and progressive loading of weight over time. The moves: squats, presses, dead lifts, bench presses, and power cleans. Those exercises will allow the body to move anatomically while making every muscle stronger, even if they’re the only moves you ever do. “One of my pet peeves with the modern approaches to fitness is they vary exercises,” Rippetoe says. “They confuse the whole concept of training and exercise.”

“For most people, exercise is just fine,” Rippetoe says. “But when you decide you want more out of the process, the process must be planned. Each workout becomes important because it fits into the process.”

“Rise above the platitudes of the fitness industry,” Rippetoe says. “Think about what you want and plan to acquire what you want so you can spend your time and money more efficiently.

Mark’s full article is here- https://www.outsideonline.com/1926951/get-fit-you-need-get-strong

Older athletes in fact need more strength training since after the age of 30, muscle mass and bone density keep decreasing every year. Recently a study came out which said that mortality rates were significantly lower in people who lift weights rather than people who engage in cardio.

Another question is how long should you lift weights to become better at your primary sport? The ideal duration is minimum 90 minutes per week, which can be clubbed into one hard long session or three 30 minute sessions. Stick to the basics (squats, presses, dead lifts, bench presses, and power cleans) like Mark said and you’re turbocharging your primary sport.

Remember, strength is the backbone of every sport. Lift heavy to become a faster, stronger and most importantly, a resilient athlete. Spend time on yoga and other activities like pilates only if you have extra time and money.

Coach Jonathan Livingston Seagull

The almost half a century old short story by Richard Bach never ceases to amaze me.

Each time that I spend about 30 minutes reading this story cover to cover (yes, it’s short) about a seagull (Jonathan Livingston) whose only desire in life is to improve every single day, my brain always manages to release that feel good dopamine.

I finish the story and feel that reassurance; yes this can be done, self-improvement is a continuous process and I have the apparatus to practice it regularly- specifically in my running. Why, because it’s easy to experiment in running and constantly strive for improvement. What’s the worst that can happen? Nothing! All exercise is good. You’re already better and improved after the workout than you were 45 minutes ago when sedentary.

Running for me has always been the apparatus to experiment with physical and mental improvement; I don’t have to justify the outcome to anyone but myself and I get those low doses of feel good emotions every time a training runs goes well. After that good training session, the reassurance of self-improvement stays with me, locked up but open to my inspection for a sneak peek when I need a pat on the back.

How I wish that more focus was put on this novella in schools and kids were made to understand, appreciate and deeply analyse the intent with which Richard wrote this story. Maybe, there is no better self-help inspirational book out there which in less than 30 minutes can fill you with purpose, teach you the virtues of hard work and the necessity of self-reliance.

Well, Rudyard Kipling’s poem “IF” comes pretty close which is less than a 5 minute read, especially the ending which says:

“If you can fill the unforgiving minute

with sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,

And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!”

Rudyard Kipling was a 4:30 miler in the 19^th century, so the ending is even more relatable and intense.

Returning to the story, Jonathan Livingston is an aerial athlete- rebels, trains, fails, plans, improves and repeats it. He is obsessed with improving. Possibly the most awe inspiring fictional bird. A relentless spirit, who shows that training is an integral part of life and the be-all-and-end-all in life is not just the monotonous survival that we have become so used to, but something beyond, something that adds substance to the journey. This substance is different for everyone and for Jonathan it is training, learning and improving.

Astonishingly, mental training which has become the new buzzword in endurance sports and for which there are so many books now available, is an omnipresent thought in Jonathan’s training process.

Just  to give an example, there is a paragraph in the story, which says, “Your whole body, from wingtip to wingtip,” Jonathan would say, other times, “is nothing more than your thought itself, in a form you can see. Break the chains of your thought, and you break the chains of your body, too ...”.

        Another paragraph, “In the days that followed, Jonathan saw that there was as much to learn about flight in this place as there had been in the life behind him. But with a difference. Here were gulls who thought as he thought. For each of them, the most important thing in living was to reach out and touch perfection in that which they most loved to do, and that was to fly. They were magnificent birds, all of them, and they spent hour after hour every day practising flight, testing advanced aeronautics.”

I’ve read Matt Fitzgerald’s scintillating book (How Bad Do You Want It?) which emphasises the importance of mental training in endurance sports, and it was brilliant to see that almost 50 years ago Richard was writing along similar lines about Jonathan’s mental training for becoming a better and stronger (aerial) athlete!

It’s a marvelous short read, especially for athletes. There are more nuggets of wisdom in that novella than many lengthy profound reads!

If you want to read the story then use the link below:

http://csermelyblog.tehetsegpont.hu/sites/default/files/angol%20sir%C3%A1ly.pdf

Dietary habits to prevent respiratory infections due to exercise

Other than injuries, contracting a respiratory infection affects and usually sabotages an athlete's training regimen. 

Poof! Gone are your months of training and fitness gains just two weeks before the race.

Moreover, air pollution in several Indian cities (emphasis on Delhi) further increases the risk of respiratory infections when an athlete inhales the pollutants during workouts.

Most runners have suffered exercise induced respiratory infections during a training cycle, especially while peaking in training. Many catch the bug immediately after finishing a race. These infections disrupt training cycles and if there isn't enough time to recover before a race, then even race performance is affected.

There is a J shaped relationship between exercise duration and intensity on one hand and the risk of infection on the other (Risk of Upper Respiratory Tract Infection in Athletes: An Epidemiologic and Immunologic Perspective by David. C. Nieman, DrPH, FACSM)

Several intense workout sessions per week or high weekly mileage can multiply the risk of an infection. 

At 96 kms of running per week you can double the risk of an infection as compared to 32 kms of running per week (Nieman DC, Johanssen LM, Lee JW, Arabatzis K. Infectious episodes in runners before and after the Los Angeles Marathon. J Sports Med Phys Fitness. 1990;30:316-328). 

Therefore an athlete training for an ultramarathon or a marathon will be at a greater risk for respiratory infection than an athlete who is training for a 5 km, 10 km or 21.1 km race since the training intensity is higher.

Several authors have written that prolonged cardio leads to temporary but significant reduction in immunity and host defense, thereby opening a window during which a virus becomes active and stronger.

In addition to the stress of exercise, an athlete should also consider the quality of air since there is a positive relation between pollution, exercise and respiratory infections. Exercising in polluted air increases the chances of respiratory infections.

To reduce the incidence of respiratory infections, one simple way is to reduce the intensity of exercise, but that is impossible when an athlete is training for a race and has to stick to a rigorous schedule. 

But maintaining a proper and scientific diet is one of the more manageable methods to reduce the risk of respiratory infections which are arising from exercise intensity and/or exercising in polluted air. 

There are many studies on different food and supplements which can help in reducing respiratory infections. So what are the dietary precautions that you can take to reduce the risk of such respiratory infections and continue with your intense regimen?

Carbohydrates (before-during-after):

Maintaining appropriate carbohydrate levels before, during and after exercise has been shown to reduce the incidence of respiratory infections.

Training on low levels of carbs can increase the magnitude of exercise-induced immune alterations, such as higher plasma and salivary cortisol levels, decreased glutamine levels, higher number of circulating immune cells and an enhanced cytokine response.

Before exercise- maintain a high carbo intake at all times (in numbers this would be 12.0 gms carbs/kg body weight/day).

During exercise- Consuming a beverage delivering at least 6% carbs (one liter/hr) during a minimum 1 hour long cardio session of high intensity will help maintain blood glucose levels. This 6% is usually found in sports drinks like Gatorade.

Post exercise- Ingestion of small amounts of carbs slowly over a span of a few hours will help in regaining normal blood glucose levels (in numbers this would be 1.2 gms of carbs/kg body weight immediately post-exercise).

The underlying rationale is that adequate carbohydrate availability and stable blood glucose concentration may limit stress hormone responses (cortisol), provide glucose as energy substrate for immune cells and help to maintain immunity.

Protein (at all times):

Maintaining a protein rich diet repairs tissue damage from exercise, helps reovery and improves bodily functions by supplying necessary amino acids, and thereby reducing respiratory infections.

A good amount of protein intake for an athlete would be 1.5 gms of protein per kg of body weight.

Glutamine supplementation orally (before or during or after):

Glutamine is the most abundant amino acid in human muscle and plasma and during exercise it is severely depleted which leads to suppression of the immune system, thereby increasing the risk of respiratory infections.

A scoop of Glutamine supplement pre-workout can help maintain the glutamine levels during the workout and even better would be another scoop post an intense workout to restore the glutamine levels in the body.

BCAA- Branch Chain Amino Acid supplementation orally:

BCAA i.e. Leucine, Isoleucine and Valine are known to reduce muscle breakdown, help in recovery and prevent immunodepression after intense exercise sessions.

BCAA tablets, powder and serum are available at most nutrition/pharma shops.

Creatine supplementation orally:

There some studies which indicate that oral creatine supplementation can support the immune system. Creatine increases muscular performance for short-duration high-intensity exercises and is a staple for many people who do weight training.

Creatine is mostly sold as a powder or liquid for oral supplementation in the form of Creatine Monohydrate. Supplementation usually leads to water retention but nothing noteworthy unless you're a supermodel or semi-naked instagram user.

Creatine Monohydrate powder is available at  most nutrition/pharma shops.

Vitamin C supplementation orally before races:

In a study it has been shown that athletes who had supplemented daily with 600 mg vitamin C significantly reduced their risk of respiratory infections after participation in an ultramarathon. (Peters E.M., Goetzsche J.M., Grobbelaar B., Noakes T.D. Vitamin C supplementation reduces the incidence of postrace symptoms of upper-respiratory-tract infection in ultramarathon runners. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 1993;57:170–174.)

Probiotics (Yogurt/Probiotic capsules):

Probiotic bacteria occur naturally in fermented food products and can be bought at stores in the form of drinks such as Yakult or as a food (yogurt).

There are even capsules such as Enterogermina which can be bought at a pharmacy.

I've researched 'curd' but there are no studies to show its effectiveness even though it does have a lot of healthy and useful bacteria. My hunch is that it must be similar in effect as yogurt.

Probiotics can improve an athlete’s efficiency by maintaining healthy gastrointestinal tract function, reducing susceptibility to illnesses such as acute infectious diarrhea and its associated symptoms, enhancing host resistance to upper respiratory tract infections and improved immune function (Salarkia et al. (2013) Effects of probiotic yogurt on performance, respiratory and digestive systems of young adult female endurance swimmers: a randomized controlled trial)

Calorie restriction:

There are only two ways to lose weight- eat less than maintenance levels to create a calorie deficit or exercise enough to create a calorie deficit.

However, the key is to avoid sudden weight loss since it affects the immune system and most importantly never increase training and reduce calorie intake simultaneously since this will doubly effect your immune system.

CHEAP AND EASY PROTEIN SHAKE FOR RUNNERS

Protein is essential for maintaining basic bodily functions and for repairing your body after workouts. 

Many runners do not focus enough on their protein intake since unlike bodybuilders (they believe that) their goal is not to build muscles. Their primary focus is on carbohydrates and this approach backfires since the repair and healing powers of protein is absent in their diet. Protein and muscles are essential for sustaining and improving running performance (and also to stop yourself from looking like a chicken noodle).

Richard Kreider, Ph.D., one of the ISSN study's authors and head of the Exercise and Nutrition Laboratory at Baylor University says that, "after an intense bout of exercise, your immune system is weakened for about four to five hours". "Protein stimulates white blood cells, which helps shield against upper-respiratory problems." Military research studies show that Marines who ingested high amounts of protein had fewer medical visits than those with lower protein intake.

As per Runner’s World, “the USDA's Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for protein is 0.8 grams per kilogram (or 0.36 grams per pound) of body weight. But that's not enough for athletes, according to the ISSN, which says endurance athletes like runners need 1.0 to 1.6 grams per kilogram a day (or .45 to .72 grams per pound). That translates into 75 to 120 grams of protein daily for a 165-pound runner.”

Protein shakes are an easy way to maintain your protein intake. Unfortunately, the prices of good quality protein powder supplements are obnoxious to say the least. A 5kg supply will cost almost Rs. 10,000/. Moreover, even after having the protein shake, you’ll still need to consume regular food since the shake will not provide enough calories and other nutrients and it will leave you hungry.

All powders are expensive

For the last few years my breakfast has been 3-4 boiled eggs and a glass of milk. A few months ago I had reached my boiling point since the "bite an egg and then take a sip of the sugarless milk" approach had become too insipid and also because it takes about 10 minutes to finish this meal and I don’t have that kind of time before leaving for work. So a quick and simple (and disgusting for some!) recipe which I use after my running session in order to serve the dual purpose of getting in my protein intake plus quick breakfast is The Egg Banana Milkshake.

Ingredients:

1.         3 Boiled Eggs

2.         About 400 ml skimmed milk

3.         2 Bananas

Put the above in a blender and make a shake. It tastes almost like a banana milk shake but with a hint of salt because of the eggs. It’s not tasteful like a banana milk shake for obvious reasons. It’s more like your wife’s cooking- even if you don’t like it, you know it’s good for you to just shovel it all down without complaining.

Do not add raw eggs due to the viruses present in uncooked eggs and moreover cooked (boiled) protein is more bio-available to our bodies than raw.

Protein content is as follows:

18-20 gms of protein from the boiled eggs (3.5 gms in the egg white and 3 gms in the yolk)

12 gms of protein from the skimmed milk.

2 gms from the bananas

So total about 32 gms of protein.

About two glasses of shake will be produced from the aforesaid ingredients and the calorie content will be about 650 calories- so it serves a dual purpose as breakfast plus protein shake.

Try this concoction. You won’t need to snack in between breakfast and lunch, plus the eggs will supply a whole lot of other nutrients. Don’t worry about the cholesterol from the eggs since they contain some much needed good fats.

P.S.- This shake is also a good cure for hangovers, since eggs contain large amounts of cysteine. Cysteine is a substance that breaks down the hangover-causing toxin acetaldehyde in the liver's depleted glutathione. Therefore, eggs, plus potassium from bananas, and hydration plus vitamins from milk can together potentially help mop up the left-over toxins.

TomTom Spark Cardio GPS Watch - Test and Review

Recently, the guys at TomTom asked me to test and review the Tomtom Spark GPS watch and I gladly agreed. The GPS unit which was provided to me has been returned to the company.

               

I'm not unfamiliar with TomTom GPS watches since I bought a TomTom Multisport watch in June 2015 and I've been using that for most of my workouts with the exception of a few workouts on my humongous, orange, old and faithful Garmin 310XT. Multisport is the generation prior to the launch of Spark range by TomTom.

The unit which was provided to me for the test was all black in colour and the first aspect that I noticed is how much sleeker, smaller and tasteful the new design looks. On comparing it with my Multisport unit it is apparent that the Spark unit has become smaller and sleeker majorly because of the reduction in the size of the strap but some of it is also attributable to design changes. I'm a big fan of simple and clean designs and the unit in all black is quite appeasing to look at. 

Good looking much?!

It can easily be worn to work as a regular watch since the main interface on the unit shows a big and clear time display and with the new activity tracking feature that has been added to the Spark, the unit becomes quite useful when not being used for running/cycling/swimming. In activity tracking feature, the unit measures steps, distance, heart rate and calories.

Spark has an in-built optical heart rate (HR) sensor and this removes the hassle of wearing a HR chest strap. You needn't worry about the accuracy of the in-built HR sensor since the technology has evolved enough over time to provide you an accurate HR measurement. In fact, as compared to my Multisport, the new Spark HR sensor is far more accurate. The Multisport has a habit of recording faulty readings for short and fast intervals but I did not face this issue with the Spark. Possible reasons for this enhanced accuracy could be the change in watch design and the new collaboration by TomTom with LifeQ instead of the previous partner Mio for the optical HR sensor. My Multisport has a Mio optical HR sensor and as per my analysis it is not as accurate as the LifeQ sensor in the Spark.

I’ve never been fond of HR chest strap monitors because, (i) they’re hard to connect; (ii) you need to wet the HR strap; (iii) the strap keeps slipping while racing; (iv) the strap wears down easily over time and loses elasticity; (iv) it is quite unhygienic if you don’t wash it after every use; (iv) your watch tries to connect with other HR straps in your vicinity; (v) chafing;  and (vi) purchasing a replacement strap is expensive. Consequently, I’m more than happy for the new in-built HR technology that is now available in the market.

The wrist strap/band of the Spark unit has not just been made smaller but it has also been redesigned to fit better and not come loose like the Multisport. The Spark has dual prongs where the straps connects with itself and this makes the unit fit much better and also stay that way during a workout. The Multisport strap has a habit of coming undone during workouts but this does not occur while using the Spark. Also what I noticed is that the material of the strap on the Spark is more flexible and seems more durable than the Multisport

Spark can be used for running, cycling, swimming, step counting, treadmill running and indoor cycling (when paired with a sensor). I didn’t use it for swimming so I’ll reserve my comments on that, but it is quite easy to use while activity tracking, running and cycling but the treadmill usage is a little complex since the accelerometer in the unit does not work as accurately as you’d wish it to work. However, when a treadmill run finishes then the KM (kilometre) reading can be adjusted manually (as per the distance shown on the treadmill) to get a more or less accurate spread of HR vis-a-vis total workout time but the per KM pace will not be accurate. For a treadmill run in which you’ve manually changed the distance, when you upload the data to the Tomtom app or Strava app, the duration of the run and the HR during the run will be accurately shown but the per KM pace may not be accurate.

To measure speed, cadence and distance for indoor cycling you’ll need to buy a cadence and speed sensor. I haven’t bought the cadence and speed sensor yet, so I use the HR sensor to gauge the effort for my indoor cycling workout. I pedal for my desired timeframe on my Kurt Kinetic trainer at a particular HR and use the unit for HR based training. So if don’t want to run a 5k at 5:30 pace (for which I know that my HR will average 140 bpm), I’ll simply cycle indoors for about 30 minutes and ensure that the HR sensor in the unit stays at 140 bpm.

One of the foremost reasons why I had shifted last year from Garmin to TomTom was because TomTom had launched direct Bluetooth transfer from the watch to Android phones. This makes life pretty easy and immediately after finishing a workout; I can send my data to my phone via Bluetooth. Moreover, since I’ve synced my TomTom account with Strava, the data from TomTom automatically gets updated to Strava. You can sync it to other apps too like Endomondo, Runkeeper etc.

During the Bluetooth transfer from the unit to the phone, one issue that I’ve seen people regularly face and for which I’ve been asked for suggestions is that on some occasions the unit simply does not connect to the TomTom app on Android phones and therefore the workout cannot be transferred. I’ve also faced this issue initially and at such times I would reboot my phone and the transfer would start. It’s then that I realised that instead of rebooting, the solution lay in simply closing the TomTom app on the phone and then reopening it to allow the transfer to start. This works and do note that this is not an issue with the watch, rather it’s an issue in the phone. So next time when you face this issue, simply close the TomTom app in your phone’s app manager and then open the TomTom app again. If this does not work then every time when you finish a workout, switch on the Bluetooth in the phone and then open the TomTom app; then in your watch go to "Phone" option and turn the phone sync option off and then on. This works for me invariably if the first method doesn't. Another method is to again pair the watch with the TomTom app. I hope that TomTom rectifies this issue very soon.

I won’t comment on the battery life since the unit which was provided to me had seen quite a rigorous and harsh time with previous testers and users and therefore its battery was compromised. However even in this state it was tracking workouts for upto 4-5 hours (provided night mode and vibration alert wasn’t turned on). My old Multisport provides around 6 hours of workout time (without night mode and vibration alert) and I’ve seen it run upto 10 hours or so with the HR sensor turned off. So for longer runs and races, switching off the HR sensor and vibration alert is a feasible solution for extended battery life. With the HR sensor turned off, you’ll get the GPS data fully but no HR data. This seems like a valid compromise for an extended battery life!

Let us look at the competition - in the Garmin range, if you look at the features and pricing then the Spark Cardio unit can be compared with the Garmin Forerunner (FR) 235. Spark can do almost everything that a Garmin FR 235 can do at almost half the price and look way more elegant while doing it since as I said earlier, the unit in black colour is appeasing enough to perform double duty as an office watch cum activity tracker. Moreover, what I really like is how solidly built the watch feels and looks as compared to the Garmin FR 235. The Garmin FR 235 weighs like a feather but it seemed as if it wouldn’t withstand a lot of punishment.

For a little more money, there is also a music version of the watch which can store upto 500 songs and the music can be played via a Bluetooth headset. Also if black is not your color then go for one of the more vibrant colors and/or buy interchangeable straps.

Feel free to post any questions regarding the unit. Cheers.