Meteorology for Miles: How Weather Data Can Take Your Fitness Goals to the Next Level

by Will Cano | MyRadar

Fitness trackers have been around for decades. In fact, the first wearable 10,000-step tracker was created in 1965 – the Japanese Manpo-kei. 10,000 steps were set as a daily health benchmark; a mark that is still used today. Since then, technology has exponentially advanced while tracking exercise remains a top priority for every athlete. Advanced weather data integrated with these fitness trackers could be the key to bettering the user’s everyday experience.

Braving the Outdoors 

Everyone loves a breath of fresh air. Two-thirds of men and women prefer exercising outdoors to indoors, and the reasons are clear: outdoor running has been shown to benefit mental, physical, and physiological wellbeing. 

Outdoor exercise promotes less screen time and less digital-related stress. It exposes athletes to more vitamin D, which regulates serotonin and melatonin while also maintaining healthy bones. Trail runners often run on softer surfaces than a treadmill, making it easier on their hips, knees, and back. 

The benefits are not just limited to runners – open water swimming, road biking, rock climbing, and hiking all reap various advantages of being outdoor sports.  

The weather can, quite swiftly, affect these advantages. It can ruin or cancel an outdoor workout all together — disrupting your once-consistent schedule.

Warning Users of Upcoming Weather 

Athletes of all sports need to know the upcoming conditions before putting their bodies to work. With advanced weather data integrated into smart fitness trackers, athletes could plan their workouts ahead of the weather hours, or even days, in advance.  

Pairing a fitness tracker’s already developed software with real-time weather data, apps can tell the user what kind of weather pattern is expected over the next week.  

In fall and spring, weather patterns across the United States are more volatile because of the working shift to winter or summer. This results in transient weeks of cold spells and heat waves, wet weeks and micro-droughts, and muggy summer soup versus crisp fall air. 

By predicting these patterns over one week in advance, real-time weather data allows users to plan for the week ahead. Take chilly temperatures, for example, and an appropriate notification: “Next week will bring temperatures 15-20°F below average…wear leggings and a quarter-zip on your run.” 

This same weather data can be used for daily alerts as well. Personally, nothing screams a perfect day to run more than sun, cool temperatures, and low humidity. Fitness trackers could boost a runner’s motivation by explaining: “Tomorrow’s low dew point and cool temperature means low humidity…enjoy a run in the light air.” 

Perhaps the most useful feature would be hyper-local forecasts alerting users of inbound weather only minutes out. On a summer day in Florida, it’s key to plan your workout before the next storm rolls in. Integrated weather data could tell you that: “A thunderstorm will affect your current location in 15 minutes…finish up your ride now or wait one hour until it clears.” 

Weather and User’s Performance Insights 

Many people download a fitness tracking app to get feedback on their workouts. This can be simple, like the total number of yards swam or total number of calories burned. But many apps dive deeper, giving average heart rates, O2 intake and saturation levels, expected body recovery time, perceived power output, and more. Strava, perhaps the world’s most popular fitness app, records data and automatically syncs it to your smartphone’s health app.  

All these levels change based on what conditions you are dealing with outside. The more humid it is, the harder your body works to excrete sweat, making it harder for you to cool down. Extreme temperatures – hot or cold – cause your heart to beat faster and harder. Breathing in poor air quality not only requires more work from your lungs but may put you at greater health risks later in life. 

All these factors can be incorporated in a post-workout analysis that would describe how your body responded to certain weather conditions. APIs, coupled with fitness tracking software, could tell users how much harder their heart worked because of humid temperatures compared to normal. “Your heart rate was 40% higher than your average 4 mile run because of today’s humidity.” 

Staying Consistent to Training Plans  

Consistency is one of the hardest parts of being an athlete. In fact, 34% of runners say they quit because of an inconsistent schedule. Granted, some of life’s mishaps are uncontrollable and immovable. Others, however, can be controlled. 

The weather is a careful balance of both. While no one controls the weather, more information can help us adapt and plan.  

Fitness trackers would have a calendar of sorts – a place where users could schedule workouts around the forecasted weather. By knowing the weather ahead of time, bikers could plan their ride around the next thunderstorm in the app, and much more.  

They could see when the next snowstorm is moving in and arrange access to a treadmill for the following days. They could determine whether air quality is worse in the morning or evening and schedule their workout accordingly. They could even see what time the UV index is highest to get their best tan while working out.  

The Sky’s The Limit 

By utilizing weather data, there are endless integrations possible in fitness apps. This article just lists some of the many advantages a fitness-driven forecast could have in your app. And with easy-to-access API at your fingertips, the sky truly is the limit.   

Connect with us today to discover how our tailored weather solutions can better your fitness-tracking app’s everyday connection to the weather.