The data helping people to train smarter
Paid and presented by Zepp HealthAthletes want to train smarter.
And correctly prioritise their body's needs, which fluctuate throughout training.
Zepp Health's Amazfit wearable devices produce the data which can help athletes make smarter decisions.
As Chris Taylor and Esmée Gummer lace up their running shoes and prepare to leave Perth's cobblestone streets to head to Dunfermline, they check out their sleep data on their Amazfit Active 3 Premium watches from the night before. It was another gruelling day yesterday following the River Tay upstream, and the data shows the effects of running day after day on Gummer's body. Her heart rate variability (HRV) is dipping below her usual range as her body adapts to the extreme demands on her muscles.
The route ahead offers little rest from the relentlessness of Gummer's mission – to run 3,107 miles (5,000km) in 99 days, visiting every city in the UK along her route with coach Taylor, founder of Taylor Made Coaching, in support.
Gummer has been feeling the effects of the exertion for several days now, but Taylor is keeping her workload and recovery in check. At 18 Gummer was paralysed following complications from a medical procedure, and she was told she would never walk again. But, through determination and intense physio sessions she learnt how to. Now she has completed over 50 endurance events and through this current challenge she hopes to highlight the importance of movement and exercise.
Monitoring data trends such as HRV and resting heart rate over the challenge is one way Taylor can understand what state Esmée's body is in and make appropriate decisions based upon the insights.
"Sometimes my athletes say their stress levels are completely fine," says Taylor, who coaches a wide variety of people, including everyday runners and endurance athletes like Gummer. "But through data I can see that for 10 days now their HRV has been much lower than normal and I have to question, 'Are you able to absorb the training load alongside that stressful work project you told me about?'"
I'll wake up each day and see how I feel and then check my data scores and use those to back up my training decisions.
A structured and supportive training and recovery routine is as important to a professional sports person as it is to an everyday runner. It can help push people to accomplish their goals – whether that be running a 5k or an ultra-marathon – while maintaining a balanced lifestyle. Biometric data, the measurement and analysis of an athlete's physical, physiological and biological signals, such as heart rate, breathing rate or stress levels, can personalise this support.
Zepp Health's Amazfit devices use data to help shape athletes training decisions. Through their watches and app-based insights – such as Zepp Coach, an AI-powered software which acts as athletes' digital fitness coach – athletes can access data that can help them to make smarter decisions. Zepp Coach and Amazfit devices work in tandem to collect physiological data during and between workouts so that workout schedules, frequency and intensity can automatically be adjusted according to the data recorded. By providing personalised AI-powered recommendations Zepp Coach can guide athletes' training decisions, aiming to optimise performance while minimising the risk of overtraining or injury.
Imogen Boddy, an ultra-marathon runner, says her Amazfit Cheetah 2 Ultra watch is really helpful. "I'll wake up each day and see how I feel and then check my data scores and use those to back up my training decisions."
If Boddy's HRV score is at or above her personal baseline figure she feels she can push harder in training, whether it be a long endurance run or an intense weight session, as her recovery and readiness indicators read strong. Whereas if over a week or so she notices her HRV figure is below its baseline, Boddy will choose an easier recovery run, instead of a strenuous interval session, to help stave off overexertion or overtraining.
Boddy uses the fitness ecosystem daily, "I keep all of my training sessions on my Zepp app," she says. "It means I can go back and look to see what I've done and if my data is out of proportion or my sleep is out of whack I can look back and see it's because I did either a really big run or hard session." Boddy also recognises the benefits Zepp Coach could have for everyday athletes, "If you don't have a coach or somebody guiding you, [Zepp Coach] is easy, as it is all in one place for you to look over." She adds that its personalised recommendations can help athletes adapt a session or training plan, for instance, if recorded data points towards HRV dropping below its baseline. Zepp Coach then might begin to increase training intensity, pushing athletes harder than they may have realised was possible.
Data also helps many athletes maintain a balance between their everyday life and training. Ruth Croft, a professional ultrarunner, deems it a useful tool for exactly this. She says with the help of her Amazfit Cheetah 2 Ultra and Helio strap devices she can recognise when life's stressors, such as work or family life, are beginning to impact her training and performance. For instance, if she notices that her sleep quality has been poor, or HRV has been consistently low, Zepp Coach can advise her to implement a slower recovery run to help balance the load and avoid overtraining.
Running has always been an integral part of Croft's livelihood, and what started out as school cross country challenges and weekly athletic sessions quickly evolved, and her running career began to pick up pace. She went on to represent New Zealand at the World Athletics Championships in both mountain running and cross country and earned an athletic scholarship. Yet her journey was not straightforward.
"When I was younger, I got into running because I was good at it and it gave me a lot of validation, confidence and self-worth," she says. Croft feels this mindset may not have been healthy for her performance and after a difficult period filled with multiple injuries and a disconnect to running, she headed to Taipei, Taiwan. It was there that Croft turned to trail races in a bid to explore southeast Asia's remarkable landscapes and fell back into running on her own terms.
Athletes often believe a "more is better" mindset is the best way to reach their highest potential, says Croft, pushing themselves to extreme limits which can result in burnout or injuries. However, it is not always effective for optimising performance.
Athletes such as Croft – who won Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc (UTMB) in 2025, a 108-mile (174-km) race that passes through France, Italy and Switzerland encircling the Mont Blanc massif, and is the first woman to win the UTMB world series triple crown – encourage using the insights data recorded by wearable devices to influence a more balanced approach to training, recovery, strength, sleep and overall wellbeing.
Croft uses the data from her Amazfit device to help validate how her body is feeling and manage various factors throughout her training process and endurance challenges – the 2025 Chamonix winner is currently training and racing with the Amazfit Cheetah 2 Ultra. If her body is responding well to training, she might notice her higher readiness score and decide to push harder on her next run. With the help of Zepp Coach, an athlete can also use this data to pace themselves mid-race.
"During races I keep an eye on my heart rate. Say it's a 100-mile race; for the first 50 miles of it I want it to be quite controlled, so I'll use my watch for a pacing plan," says Croft. "On the new Amazfit device you can upload the course track on to your watch and if you are coming up to a climb it'll tell you how long it is and the gradient, and I've come to rely on that function," she adds.
During races I keep an eye on my heart rate. Say it's a 100-mile race; for the first 50 miles of it I want it to be quite controlled, so I'll use my watch for a pacing plan.
For many everyday exercisers, training is often crammed into precious, spare moments of the day, meaning recovery can be neglected or seen as unimportant, but Boddy feels it's the key to maximising performance. Through monitoring her sleep quality, HRV and resting heart rate she can create a more sustainable recovery plan which can help to minimise the chance of injuries and illnesses from appearing later.
"If you're not recovering, then you're not going to reap the benefits," says Boddy. "Your HRV plummets and your resting heart rate massively rises. So, after big efforts I spend a lot of time sleeping and eating."
After each race Croft also fully commits to recovery and takes a month away from the sport, during which she will use vipassana meditation, which she believes helps her body rest and helps race-day resilience develop. For 10 days Croft will take a vow of silence and do 10 hours of meditation throughout the day.
"It's all about observing the thoughts, feelings and sensations throughout your body… and understanding that as they've arisen, they can also pass," says Croft. "You can get a lot of pain and gross sensations throughout your body, but it's about not reacting to it, more just bringing your awareness to it."
As attitudes around performance shift, many athletes are turning to data to better inform their practice. Through Amazfit's fitness ecosystem, athletes can achieve this with ease – with access to various resources, from the Zepp app which delivers personalised feedback to help you achieve your goals, to Zepp Coach, a digital guide tracking your fitness levels and providing tailored advice around training, recovery, nutrition and injury prevention.
Yet, redefining the training mindset continues to be a work in progress, and Croft, who is consistent with achieving her goals, reiterates how beneficial this change can be, "I'm no longer outcome dependent," she says. "I've finally got to a place where it's just my passion, and it's pure and simple."
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From sleep data, to monitoring HRV levels, Zepp Health's Amazfit devices are equipping athletes with the data they need to help them train smarter. Learn more about how Zepp Health are continuing to help athletes optimise their training and recovery routines.
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