USER MANUAL
2
CONTENTS
Contents 2
Polar Pacer Pro User Manual 8
Introduction 8
Take full advantage of your Pacer Pro 9
Polar Flow App 9
Polar Flow web service 9
Get started 10
Setting up your watch 10
Option A: Set up with a mobile device and Polar Flow app 10
Option B: Set up with your computer 11
Option C: Set up from the watch 11
Button functions and gestures 11
Time view and menu 12
Pre-training mode 12
During training 12
Backlight activation gesture 12
Watch faces 12
Menu 18
Pairing a mobile device with your watch 21
Before pairing a mobile device: 22
To pair a mobile device: 22
Delete a pairing 22
Updating the firmware 23
With phone or tablet 23
With computer 23
Settings 24
General settings 24
Pair and sync 24
Bike settings 24
Continuous HR tracking 24
Flight mode 25
Backlight brightness 25
Do not disturb 25
Phone notifications 25
Music controls 25
Units 25
Language 25
Inactivity alert 25
Vibrations 25
I wear my watch on 25
Positioning satellites 25
About your watch 26
Choose views 26
Watch face settings 27
Time & Date 28
Time 28
Date 28
Date format 29
First day of week 29
Physical settings 29
Weight 29
Height 29
Date of birth 29
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Sex 29
Training background 29
Activity goal 30
Preferred sleep time 30
Maximum heart rate 30
Resting heart rate 30
VO2max 31
Display icons 31
Restarting and resetting 31
To restart the watch 31
To reset the watch to factory settings 31
Factory reset via FlowSync 32
Factory reset from the watch 32
Training 33
Wrist-based heart rate measurement 33
Wearing your watch when measuring heart rate from your wrist or tracking your sleep 33
Wearing your watch when not measuring heart rate from your wrist or tracking your sleep/Nightly recharge 34
Start a training session 34
Start a planned training session 35
Start a Multisport Training Session 35
Quick menu 36
During training 39
Browse the training views 39
Set timers 40
Interval Timer 41
Countdown Timer 41
Lock a Heart Rate, Speed or Power zone 41
Lock a heart rate zone 42
Lock a speed/pace zone 42
Lock a power zone 42
Mark a lap 42
Switch Sport During a Multisport Session 42
Training with a target 42
Change phase during a phased session 43
View training target information 43
Notifications 43
Pausing/Stopping a training session 43
Training summary 44
After training 44
Training data in Polar Flow App 46
Training data in Polar Flow Web Service 46
Features 48
Smart Coaching 48
Training Load Pro 48
Cardio Load 48
Perceived Load 49
Muscle Load 49
Training Load from a single session 49
Strain and Tolerance 50
Cardio Load Status 50
Cardio load status on your watch 50
Long term analysis in the Flow app and web service 51
FuelWise™ 52
Training with Fuelwise 53
Smart carbs reminder 53
Manual carbs reminder 53
Drink reminder 54
Running Performance Test 55
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Performing the test 55
Test results 56
Detailed analysis in the Flow web service and app 57
Cycling Performance Test 59
Performing the test 59
Test results 60
Detailed analysis in the Flow web service and app 61
Walking Test 62
Performing the test 62
Test results 63
Detailed analysis in the Flow web service and app 63
Running power from the wrist 64
Running power and muscle load 64
How running power is shown on your watch 64
Polar Running Program 66
Create a Polar Running Program 66
Start a running target 67
Follow your progress 67
Running Index 67
Short-term analysis 67
Long-term analysis 68
Training Benefit 69
Smart Calories 70
Continuous heart rate 71
Continuous heart rate on your watch 71
24/7 Activity tracking 72
Activity Goal 72
Activity data on your watch 72
Inactivity alert 73
Activity data in the Flow App and web service 73
Activity Guide 73
Activity Benefit 74
Nightly Recharge™ recovery measurement 75
ANS charge details in the Flow app 77
Sleep charge details in Polar Flow 77
For exercise 78
For sleep 78
For regulating energy levels 78
Sleep Plus Stages™ sleep tracking 79
Sleepwise™ 83
Daily Boost from sleep 83
Weekly sleep 86
Scientific background 88
Serene™ guided breathing exercise 89
Fitness Test with wrist-based heart rate 90
Before the test 91
Performing the test 91
Test results 91
Fitness level classes 91
Men 91
Women 92
VO2max 92
FitSpark™ daily training guide 92
During training 94
Positioning satellites 95
Assisted GPS 96
A-GPS expiry date 96
Route Guidance 96
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Route and elevation profiles 96
Total ascent and descent for planned routes 97
Adding a route to your watch 97
Start a training session with route guidance 97
Zoom 97
Change route on-the-fly 98
Back to start 98
Race pace 98
Strava Live Segments 99
Connect your Strava and Polar Flow accounts 99
Import Strava Segments to your Polar Flow account 99
Start a session with Strava Live Segments 99
Hill Splitter™ 101
Add the Hill Splitter view to a sport profile 101
Training with Hill Splitter 101
Hill Splitter summary 102
Detailed analysis in the Flow web service and app 103
Komoot 105
Connect your komoot and Polar Flow accounts 106
Sync komoot routes to your watch 106
Start a session with a komoot route 107
Heart Rate Zones 107
Speed Zones 108
Speed zones settings 108
Training target with speed zones 108
During training 108
After training 108
Speed and distance from the wrist 108
Cadence from the wrist 109
Energy sources 109
Energy sources summary 109
Detailed analysis in the Flow mobile app 109
Swimming Metrics 111
Pool swimming 111
Pool Length setting 111
Open water swimming 111
Measuring heart rate in water 112
Start a swimming session 112
During your Swim 112
After your Swim 112
Barometer 113
Compass 114
Using the compass during a session 114
Weather 115
Sport Profiles 117
Phone notifications 117
Set phone notifications on 117
Do not disturb 118
View notifications 118
Music controls 118
From watch face 118
During training 118
HR sensor mode 119
Turn on HR sensor mode 119
Stop sharing HR 119
Power save settings 119
Changeable wristbands 121
Changing the wristband 121
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Wristband adapter 122
Attach adapters to watch 122
Attach wristband to adapter 122
Compatible sensors 122
Polar H10 Heart Rate Sensor 122
Polar Verity Sense 123
Polar Stride Sensor Bluetooth® Smart 123
Polar Speed sensor Bluetooth® Smart 123
Polar Cadence Sensor Bluetooth® Smart 123
Third-party Power sensors 123
Pairing sensors with your watch 124
Pair a heart rate sensor with your watch 124
Pair a stride sensor with your watch 124
Calibrate stride sensor 124
Pair a cycling sensor with your watch 124
Bike settings 125
Measuring wheel size 125
Calibrate cycling power sensor 126
Delete a pairing 126
Polar Flow 127
Polar Flow App 127
Training data 127
Activity data 127
Sleep data 127
Sport profiles 127
Image sharing 127
Start using the Flow app 127
Polar Flow Web Service 128
Diary 128
Reports 128
Programs 128
Sport profiles in Polar Flow 128
Add a sport profile 129
Edit a sport profile 129
Planning your training 131
Create a training plan with the Season Planner 131
Create a training target in the Polar Flow web service 132
Create a target based on a favorite training target 133
Sync the targets to your watch 134
Create a training target in the Polar Flow app 134
Favorites 136
Add a Training Target to Favorites: 136
Edit a Favorite 137
Remove a favorite 137
Syncing 137
Sync with Flow mobile App 137
Sync With Flow Web Service Via FlowSync 137
Important information 139
Battery 139
Charging the battery 139
Charging during training 140
Battery status and notifications 140
Battery status symbol 140
Battery notifications 140
Caring for your watch 141
Keep your watch clean 141
Take good care of the optical heart rate sensor 141
Storing 141
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Service 141
Precautions 141
Interference During Training 141
Health and training 142
Warning - Keep batteries out of reach of children 143
How to use your Polar product securely 143
Technical specification 143
Pacer Pro 143
Polar FlowSync Software 145
Polar Flow mobile application compatibility 145
Water resistance of Polar products 145
Regulatory information 146
Limited International Polar Guarantee 146
Disclaimer 147
8
POLAR PACER PRO USER MANUAL
This user manual helps you get started with your new watch. For video tutorials and FAQs, go to
support.polar.com/en/pacer-pro.
INTRODUCTION
Congratulations on your new Polar Pacer Pro!
Polar Pacer Pro is a new-generation running watch for serious performance. It has a new integrated antenna design for
improved GPS tracking, powerful training tools, plus personalized recovery and sleep apps that increase your chances of
becoming a better runner. With ultra-light design, bright display, and barometer, you can harness your power to make every
run a good run.
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Ultra-light design: Stripped back for maximum comfort and optimum performance with a thin, lightweight shell,
aluminum bezel, and super grip buttons.
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Enhanced Processor: For faster, smoother, more powerful performance and screen transitions.
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MIP Color Display: With a thinner glass lens and improved backlight function for enhanced screen contrast, clarity,
and experience any time of day.
With the Running Performance Test you know where your running performance is now, and it allows you to personalize
your heart rate, speed and power zones so that you'll always make the most of your runs. You can also find out your
maximum heart rate with the test. Monitor your running progress with advanced running features, such as Running Index
and Running Programs.
Wrist-based running power monitors the effort required for every segment of your run instantly making it an extremely
useful tool for sprints and short intervals. See your real-time mechanical energy output in Watts – whether you’re running
on a flat, or taking on a steep hill. You can use the Walking Test to keep track of how your aerobic fitness is developing. It's
simple, safe and easy to repeat. The Cycling Performance Test allows you to personalize your power zones and tells you
your personal functional threshold power.
Reach the ideal amount of training to perform at your very best with Training Load Pro. Stay energized throughout your
session with the new FuelWise™ fueling assistant. FuelWise™ reminds you to refuel and helps you maintain adequate
energy levels during your long sessions. See how your body uses different energy sources during a training session. Your
energy usage is divided into carbs, proteins and fats.
Route and elevation profiles help you outline your coming adventure better and see your progress on the route. With route
and elevation profiles you know your current position, how much you’ve ascended or descended, and how much you still
have left to go. With the Hill Splitter™ feature, you’ll know how you performed on the uphill and downhill sections of your
session. Hill Splitter automatically detects all uphills and downhills by using your speed, distance and altitude data. Make
your runs and rides more exciting with Strava Live Segments. Get alerts about nearby segments, see real-time performance
data during a segment and check your results right after you finish. With the third-party app Komoot, you can plan your
route for all adventures and easily import the route to your watch, and let turn-by turn guidance keep you on the right track.
The Continuous heart rate feature measures your heart rate around the clock. Together with 24/7 Activity tracking it gives
you a complete overview of all your daily activity. Nightly Recharge™ is an overnight recovery measurement that shows you
how well you recover from the demands of your day. Sleep Plus Stages™ sleep tracking monitors your sleep stages (REM,
light and deep sleep) and gives you sleep feedback and a numerical sleep score. The FitSpark™ training guide makes sure
you’re prepared for your pursuit to conquer the trails with ready-made daily workouts that match your recovery, readiness
and training history. The watch helps you relax and relieve stress with the Serene™ guided breathing exercise.
In HR sensor mode you can easily turn your Polar Pacer Pro into a heart rate sensor and share your heart rate to other
Bluetooth devices like training apps, gym equipment or cycling computers. You can also use your Pacer Pro during Polar
Club classes to broadcast your heart rate to the Polar Club system. Polar Pacer Pro also comes with the essential smart
watch features: music controls, weather and phone notifications. Add your favorite sports to your watch in Polar Flow.
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Polar Pacer Pro supports over 130 different sports. You can customize settings for each sport. With the changeable
wristbands, you can personalize your watch to match every situation and style.
We are continuously developing our products for a better user experience. To keep your watch up to date and
get the best performance, always make sure to update the firmware whenever a new version is available. The
firmware updates enhance the functionality of your watch through improvements.
TAKE FULL ADVANTAGE OF YOUR PACER PRO
Get connected to the Polar ecosystem and get the most out of your watch.
POLAR FLOW APP
Get the Polar Flow app from the App Store
®
or Google Play
TM
. Sync your watch with the Flow app after training, and get an
instant overview and feedback on your training results and performance. In the Flow app you can also see how active
you’ve been during the day, how your body has recovered from training and stress during the night and how well you have
slept. Based on the Nightly Recharge automatic overnight measurement and other parameters we have measured from
you, you get personalized tips in the Flow app on exercise, and tips on sleep and regulating your energy levels on those
particularly rough days.
POLAR FLOW WEB SERVICE
Sync your training data to the Polar Flow web service with the FlowSync software on your computer or via Flow app. In the
web service you can plan your training, track your achievements, get guidance and see detailed analysis of your training
results, activity and sleep. Let all your friends know about your achievements, find fellow exercisers and get motivation
from your social training communities.
Find all this at flow.polar.com
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GET STARTED
SETTING UP YOUR WATCH
To wake up and charge your watch, plug it into a powered USB port or a USB charger with the custom cable that came in
the box. The cable magnetically snaps into place. Please note that it may take a while for the charging animation to appear
on the display. We recommend that you charge the battery before you start using your watch. See Battery for detailed
information on charging the battery.
To set up your watch, choose your language and preferred setup method. The watch gives you three options for setup:
Browse to the option most convenient for you with UP/DOWN and confirm your selection with OK.
A. On your phone: Mobile setup is convenient if you don't have access to a computer with a USB port, but it
might take longer. This method requires an Internet connection.
B. On your computer:Wired computer setup is quicker and you can charge your watch at the same time, but
you need a computer available. This method requires an internet connection.
The A and B options are recommended. You can fill in all the physical details required for
accurate training data at once. You can also choose language and get the latest firmware for
your watch.
C. On your watch: If you don't have a compatible mobile device and can't get to a computer with an internet
connection right away, you can start from the watch. Please note that when you do the setup from the
watch, your watch is not yet connected with Polar Flow. Firmware updates for your watch are available
only through Polar Flow. To make sure you get to enjoy your watch and the unique Polar features at their
best, it’s important that you do the setup later in the Polar Flow web service or with the Polar Flow mobile app
by following the steps in option A or B.
OPTION A: SET UP WITH A MOBILE DEVICE AND POLAR FLOW APP
Please note that you have to do the pairing in the Flow app and NOT in your mobile device’s Bluetooth
settings.
1. Make sure your mobile device is connected to the internet and turn on Bluetooth.
2. Download the Polar Flow app from the App Store or Google Play on your mobile device.
3. Open the Flow app on your mobile device.
4. The Flow app recognizes your watch nearby and prompts you to start pairing it. Tap the Start button.
5. When the Bluetooth Pairing Request confirmation message appears on your mobile device, check that the code
shown on your mobile device matches the code shown on your watch.
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6. Accept the Bluetooth pairing request on your mobile device.
7. Confirm the pin code on your watch by pressing OK.
8. Pairing done is displayed once the pairing is completed.
9. Sign in with your Polar account or create a new one. We’ll walk you through the sign-up and setup within the app.
When you’re done with the settings, tap Save and sync and your settings are synced to your watch.
If you're prompted to update the firmware, please plug your watch into a power source to ensure flawless
update operation, and then accept the update.
OPTION B: SET UP WITH YOUR COMPUTER
1. Go to flow.polar.com/start and download and then install the Polar FlowSync data transfer software to your
computer.
2. Sign in with your Polar account or create a new one. Plug your watch into your computer's USB port with the custom
cable that came in the box. We’ll walk you through the sign-up and setup within the Polar Flow web service.
OPTION C: SET UP FROM THE WATCH
Adjust the values with UP/DOWN and confirm each selection with OK. If you want to return and change a setting at any
point, press BACK until you reach the setting you want to change.
When you do the setup from the watch, your watch is not yet connected with the Polar Flow web service.
Firmware updates for your watch are available only through Polar Flow. To make sure you get to enjoy your
watch and the unique Polar Smart Coaching features at their best, it's important that you do the setup later in
the Polar Flow web service or with the Flow mobile app by following the steps in option A or B.
BUTTON FUNCTIONS AND GESTURES
You watch has five buttons that have different functionalities depending on the situation of use. See the tables below to
find out what functionalities the buttons have in different modes.
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Time view and menu
LIGHT
Illuminate the display
In time view, press to
view the battery status
symbol
Press and hold to lock
buttons
BACK
Enter the menu
Return to the previous
level
Leave settings
unchanged
Cancel selections
Press and hold to return
to time view from menu
In time view, press and
hold to start pairing and
syncing
OK
Confirm the selection
shown on the display
Press and hold to enter
pre-training mode
Press to view more
details about the
information shown on
the watch face
UP/DOWN
Change the watch face
in time view
Move through selection
lists
Adjust a selected value
Pre-training mode
LIGHT
Illuminate the display
Press and hold to lock
buttons
Press to enter Quick
Menu
BACK
Return to time view
OK
Start a training session
UP/DOWN
Move through sports list
During training
LIGHT
Illuminate the display
Press and hold to lock
buttons
BACK
Pause training by
pressing once
To stop the session,
press and hold when
paused
OK
Mark a lap
Continue training
recording when paused
UP/DOWN
Change training view
BACKLIGHT ACTIVATION GESTURE
The backlight is automatically switched on when you turn your wrist to look at the watch.
WATCH FACES
The watch faces tell you a lot more than just the time. You'll get the most timely and relevant information right on the watch
face. Choose which watch faces are shown on the display in time view.
Go to Settings > Choose views and pick from Time only, Daily activity, Cardio load status, Current heart rate/Continuous
HR tracking, Latest training sessions, Nightly Recharge/Last night's sleep, FitSpark training guide, Weather, Weekly
summary, Your name and Music controls.
You can scroll through the watch faces with the UP and DOWN buttons and open more details with the OK button.
You can choose between analogue and digital display and customize the watch style and color. Find out more
in Watch face settings.
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Time only
Basic watch face with time and date.
Daily activity
The circle around the watch face and the percentage below the time and date show your progress
towards your daily activity goal. The circle fills with a light blue color as you are active.
In addition, when opening the details, you can see the following details of your day’s accumulated
activity:
• Steps you've taken so far. The amount and type of body movements are registered and
turned into an estimation of steps.
• Active time tells you the cumulative time of body movements that benefit your health.
• Calories you've burned through training, activity and BMR (Basal metabolic rate: the
minimum metabolic activity required to maintain life).
For more information, see 24/7 Activity tracking.
Cardio load status
Cardio Load Status looks at the relation between your short term training load (Strain) and long
term training load (Tolerance) and based on that tells you whether you are in a detraining,
maintaining, productive or overreaching training load status.
In addition, when opening the details, you can see the numeric values for your Cardio Load Status,
Strain and Tolerance, and also a verbal description of your Cardio load status.
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The numeric value for your Cardio load status is Strain divided by Tolerance.
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Strain shows you how much you have strained yourself with training lately. It shows your
average daily cardio load from the past 7 days.
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Tolerance describes how prepared you are to endure cardio training. It shows your average
daily cardio load from the past 28 days.
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Verbal description of your Cardio load status.
For more information, see Training Load Pro.
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Heart rate
When using the Continuous Heart Rate feature your watch continuously measures your heart rate
and displays it on the Heart rate watch face.
You can check your highest and lowest heart rate readings of the day and also view what your
lowest heart rate reading of the previous night was. You can turn the Continuous Heart Rate
feature on and off on your watch in Settings > General settings > Continuous HR tracking.
For more information, see Continuous Heart Rate feature.
If you're not using the Continuous Heart Rate feature, you can still quickly check your current
heart rate without starting a training session. Just tighten your wristband, choose this watch face,
press OK and the watch will display your current heart rate in a moment. Return to the Heart rate
watch face by pressing BACK.
Latest training sessions
See the time passed since your latest training session and the sport of the session.
In addition, when opening the details, you can view the summaries of your training sessions from
the last 14 days. Browse to the training session you want to view with UP/DOWN and press OK to
open the summary. For more information, see Training summary.
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Nightly Recharge / Last night's sleep
When you wake up you can see your Nightly Recharge status. Nightly Recharge status tells you
how restorative your last night was. Nightly Recharge combines information on how well your
autonomic nervous system (ANS) calmed down during the early hours of your sleep (ANS charge)
and how well you slept (sleep charge).
The feature is off by default. Keeping the Continuous Heart Rate feature on in your
watch will drain the battery quicker. Continuous heart rate tracking needs to be
enabled for Nightly Recharge to function. If you want to save battery and still use
Nightly Recharge, you can set the continuous heart rate tracking to be on only at night
from your watch's settings.
For more information, see Nightly Recharge™ recovery measurement or Sleep Plus Stages™ sleep
tracking.
FitSpark training guide
Your watch suggests the most suitable training targets for you based on your training history,
fitness level and current recovery status. Press OK to see all the suggested training targets.
Choose one of the suggested training targets to see detailed information about the training target.
For more information, see FitSpark daily training guide.
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Weather
View the current day's hourly forecast straight from your wrist. Press OK to view more detailed
weather information including for example wind speed, wind direction, humidity and chance of rain
as well as tomorrow's 3-hour and the day after tomorrow's 6-hour forecast.
For more information, see Weather.
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Weekly summary
View an overview of your training week. Your total training time for the week split into different
training zones is illustrated on the display. Press OK to open more details. You’ll see distance,
training sessions, total calories and time spent in each heart rate zone. In addition, you can view
last week’s summary and details as well as any sessions planned for next week.
Scroll down and press OK to view more information about a single session.
Your name
Time, date and your name is displayed.
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Music controls
From the music controls watch face you can control music and media playing on your phone
when not training. Press the OK button to see the previous/next and pause/play buttons. Switch to
the previous or next song with the UP/DOWN buttons and pause with the OK button. Press the
LIGHT button to access the volume control.
During training you can control music from the training display. For more information, see Music
controls.
MENU
Enter the menu by pressing BACK and browse through the menu by pressing UP or DOWN. Confirm selections with the OK
button, and return with the BACK button.
Start training
From here, you can start your training sessions. Press OK to enter the pre-training mode and
browse to the sport profile you want to use.
You can also enter the pre-training mode by pressing and holding OK in the time view.
See Start a training session for detailed instructions.
Notifications
View notifications from your phone about incoming calls and messages.
See Phone notifications for detailed instructions.
Only visible if your watch is paired with Flow app on your phone.
Serene guided breathing exercise
First, choose Serene and then choose Start to start the breathing exercise.
For more information, see Serene™ guided breathing exercise.
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Strava Live Segments
View information about the Strava segments synced to watch. If you haven’t connected your Flow
account with a Strava account or haven’t synced any segments to your watch, you can also find
guidance here.
For more information see Strava Live Segments.
Fueling
Stay energized throughout your session with the FuelWise™ fueling assistant. FuelWise™ includes
three reminders that remind you to refuel and help you maintain adequate energy levels during
your long sessions. These are Smart carbs reminder, Manual carbs reminder and Drink
reminder.
For more information see Fuelwise.
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Timers
In Timers you'll find alarm, stopwatch and countdown timer.
Alarm
Set alarm repetition: Off, Once, Monday to Friday or Every day. If you choose Once, Monday to
Friday or Every day, also set the time for the alarm.
When the alarm is set on, a clock icon is displayed in the time view.
Stopwatch
To start the stopwatch, press OK. To add a lap, press OK. To pause the stopwatch, press BACK.
Countdown Timer
You can set the countdown timer to count down from a preset time. Choose Set Timer, and set
the countdown time, and press OK to confirm. When completed, choose Start and press OK to
start the countdown timer.
The countdown timer is added to the basic watch face with time and date.
At the end of the countdown, the watch notifies you by vibrating. Press OK to restart the timer, or
press BACK to cancel and return to the time view.
During training you can use interval timer and countdown timer. Add the timer views
to training views in the sport profile settings in Flow and sync the settings to your
watch. For more information on using timers during training, see During training.
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Tests
Walking test
You can use the Walking Test to keep track of how your aerobic fitness is developing. It's simple,
safe and easy to repeat.
For more information see Walking Test.
Cycling test
The Cycling Performance Test allows you to personalize your power zones and tells you your
personal functional threshold power. Cycling power sensor required.
For more information see Cycling Performance Test.
Running test
The Running Performance Test helps you keep track of your progress and personalize your heart
rate, speed and power zones.
For more information see Running Performance Test.
Fitness test
Measure your fitness level easily with wrist-based heart rate while you lie down and relax.
For more information see Fitness Test with wrist-based heart rate.
Settings
You can edit the following settings on your watch:
• General settings
• Choose views
• Watch face
• Time & Date
• Physical settings
In addition to the settings available on your watch, you can edit Sport Profiles in the
Polar Flow web service and app. Customize your watch with your favorite sports and
the information you want to follow during your training sessions. See Sport Profiles in
Flow for more information.
PAIRING A MOBILE DEVICE WITH YOUR WATCH
Before you can pair a mobile device with your watch, you need to setup your watch in the Polar Flow web service or with
the Polar Flow mobile app as described in chapter Setting up your watch. If you did the setup for your watch with a mobile
device, your watch has already been paired. If you did the setup with a computer and would like to use your watch with
Polar Flow app, please pair your watch and mobile as follows:
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Before pairing a mobile device:
• download Flow app from the App Store or Google Play
• make sure your mobile device has Bluetooth turned on, and airplane mode/flight mode is not turned on.
• Android users:make sure location is enabled for Polar Flow app in the phone's application settings.
To pair a mobile device:
1. On your mobile device, open Flow app and sign in with your Polar account, which you have created when setting up
your watch.
Android users: If you have several Flow app compatible Polar devices in use, make sure you have
chosen Pacer Pro as the active device in the Flow app. This way Flow app knows to connect to your
watch. In the Flow app, go to Devices and choose Pacer Pro.
2. On your watch, press and hold BACK in time mode OR go to Settings > General settings > Pair and sync > Pair and
sync phone and press OK.
3. Open Flow app and bring your watch close to phone is displayed on your watch.
4. When the Bluetooth Pairing Request confirmation message appears on your mobile device, check that the code
shown on your mobile device matches the code shown on your watch.
5. Accept the Bluetooth pairing request on your mobile device.
6. Confirm the pin code on your watch by pressing the OK.
7. Pairing done is displayed once the pairing is completed.
DELETE A PAIRING
To delete a pairing with a mobile device:
1. Go to Settings > General settings > Pair and sync > Paired devices and press OK.
2. Choose the device you want to remove from the list and press OK.
3. Remove pairing? is displayed. Confirm by pressing OK.
4. Pairing removed is displayed when you are done.
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UPDATING THE FIRMWARE
To keep your watch up to date and to get the best performance, always make sure to update the firmware whenever a new
version is available. Firmware updates are performed to improve the functionality of your watch.
You won't lose any data due to the firmware update. Before the update begins, the data from your watch is
synced to the Flow web service.
WITH PHONE OR TABLET
You can update the firmware with your phone if you're using the Polar Flow mobile app to sync your training and activity
data. The app will let you know if there's an update available and will guide you through it. We recommend that you plug the
watch into a power source before starting the update to ensure a flawless update operation.
The wireless firmware update may take up to 20 minutes, depending on your connection.
WITH COMPUTER
Whenever a new firmware version is available, FlowSync will notify you when you connect the watch to your computer. The
firmware updates are downloaded via FlowSync.
To update the firmware:
1. Plug your watch into your computer with the custom cable that came in the box. Make sure that the cable snaps into
place.
2. FlowSync starts syncing your data.
3. After syncing, you are asked to update the firmware.
4. Choose Yes. The New firmware is installed (this may take up to 10 minutes), and the watch restarts. Please wait
until the firmware update has been finalized before you detach the watch from your computer.
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SETTINGS
GENERAL SETTINGS
To view and edit your general settings, go to Settings > General settings.
In General settings you'll find:
• Pair and sync
• Bike settings (Visible only if you have paired a cycling sensor with your watch)
• Continuous HR tracking
• Flight mode
• Backlight brightness
• Do not disturb
• Phone notifications
• Music controls (Visible only if you have paired your watch with the Flow app)
• Units
• Language
• Inactivity alert
• Vibrations
• I wear my watch on
• Positioning satellites
• About your watch
PAIR AND SYNC
• Pair and sync phone/Pair sensor or other device: Pair sensors or mobile devices with your watch. Sync data with
Flow app.
• Paired devices: View all the devices you have paired with your watch. These can include heart rate sensors, running
sensors, cycling sensors and mobile devices.
BIKE SETTINGS
Bike settings are visible only if you have paired a cycling sensor with your watch.
Wheel size: Set the wheel size in millimeters. You can set the size from 100 mm to 3999 mm. For instructions on
measuring the wheel size, see Pairing sensors with your watch.
Crank length: Set the crank length in millimeters. The setting is visible only if you have paired a power sensor.
Sensors in use: View all the sensors you have linked to the bike.
CONTINUOUS HR TRACKING
Turn the Continuous Heart Rate feature On, Off or Night-time only. If you choose Night-time only, set heart rate tracking
to begin at the earliest time you might go to bed.
For more information, see Continuous Heart Rate.
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FLIGHT MODE
Choose On or Off.
Flight mode cuts off all wireless communication from your watch. You can still use it, but you can't sync your data with the
Polar Flow mobile app or use it with any wireless accessories.
BACKLIGHT BRIGHTNESS
Choose High, Medium, Low or Only with light button. This setting only affects brightness of the backlight activation
gesture and the automatic backlight that is lit when pressing any button. The backlight brightness of the LIGHT button is
not affected, it cannot be changed.
DO NOT DISTURB
Choose Off, On or On ( - ) . Set the period when do not disturb is on. Choose when it Starts at and Ends at. When it is set
on, you will not get any notifications or call alerts. The backlight activation gesture is also disabled.
PHONE NOTIFICATIONS
Set phone notifications Off, On, when not training, On, when training or Always on. Notifications are available when not
training and during training sessions.
MUSIC CONTROLS
Set music controls on for the training display and/or Watch face.
UNITS
Choose metric (kg, cm) or imperial (lb, ft). Set the units used to measure weight, height, distance and speed.
LANGUAGE
You can choose the language you want to use on your watch. Your watch supports the following languages: Bahasa
Indonesia, Čeština, Dansk, Deutsch, Eesti, English, Español, Français, Italiano, 日 本語, Magyar, Nederlands, Norsk,
Polski, Português, 简 体 中文 , Русский, Slovenščina, Suomi, Svenska or Türkçe.
INACTIVITY ALERT
Set the inactivity alert On or Off.
VIBRATIONS
Set vibrations for scrolling menu items On or Off.
I WEAR MY WATCH ON
Choose Left hand or Right hand.
POSITIONING SATELLITES
Change the satellite navigation system your watch uses in addition to GPS. The setting is located on your watch in General
settings > Positioning satellites. You can choose GPS + GLONASS, GPS + Galileo or GPS + QZSS. The default setting is
GPS + GLONASS. These options give you the possibility to test different satellite navigation systems and find out if they
can give you improved performance in areas covered by them.
GPS + GLONASS
GLONASS is a Russian global satellite navigation system. It is the default setting as its global satellite visibility and
reliability is the best of these three, and in general we recommend using it.
GPS + Galileo
Galileo is a global navigation satellite system created by the European Union.
GPS + QZSS
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QZSS is a four-satellite regional time transfer system and a satellite-based augmentation system developed to enhance
GPS in the Asia-Oceania regions, with a focus on Japan.
ABOUT YOUR WATCH
Check the device ID of your watch, as well as the firmware version, HW model, A-GPS expiry date and the watch-specific
regulatory labels.
Restart your watch, turn it off or reset all data and settings on it.
Restart: If you experience problems with your watch, you can try restarting it. Restarting the watch will not delete any of the
settings or your personal data from the watch.
Turn off: Turn your watch off. To turn it back on press and hold the OK button.
Reset all data and settings: Reset the watch back to factory settings. This will erase all data and settings on your watch.
CHOOSE VIEWS
Choose which watch faces are shown on the display in time view from Settings > Choose views.
Your watch supports up to eleven different watch faces that tell you a lot more than just the time. For more information,
see Watch faces. You'll get the most timely and relevant information right on the watch face.
You can choose from:
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Time only
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Daily activity
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Cardio load status
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Current heart rate / Continuous HR tracking
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Latest training sessions
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Nightly Recharge / Last night's sleep
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FitSpark training guide
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Weather
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Weekly summary
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Your name
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Music controls
You need to choose at least one view.
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WATCH FACE SETTINGS
In Settings > Watch face you can choose between analogue and digital display and customize the watch style and color.
First choose Digital or Analog. Then choose the style.
Under Digital you'll find Symmetry, Minutes in middle, Small seconds, Seconds in circle and Magnifying glass.
Symmetry
Minutes in middle
Small seconds
Seconds in circle
Magnifying glass
Under Analog you'll find Classic, Art Deco, Lollipop, Pearl and Sword.
Classic
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Art deco
Lollipop
Pearl
Sword
Choose the color theme for your watch face. The available colors are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink and
peach.
Note that for the Digital Symmetry option you cannot change the color.
TIME & DATE
To view and edit your time and date settings, go to Settings > Time & Date.
TIME
Set the time format: 24 h or 12 h.Then set the time of day.
When syncing with the Flow app and web service, the time of day is automatically updated from the service.
DATE
Set the date.
When syncing with the Flow app and web service, the date is automatically updated from the service.
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DATE FORMAT
Set the Date format, you can choose mm/dd/yyyy, dd/mm/yyyy, yyyy/mm/dd, dd-mm-yyyy, yyyy-mm-dd, dd.mm.yyyy or
yyyy.mm.dd.
FIRST DAY OF WEEK
Choose the starting day of each week. Choose Monday, Saturday or Sunday.
When syncing with the Flow app and web service, the week's starting day is automatically updated from the
service.
PHYSICAL SETTINGS
To view and edit your physical settings, go to Settings > Physical settings. It is important that you are precise with the
physical settings, especially when setting your weight, height, date of birth and sex, as they have an impact on the accuracy
of the measuring values, such as the heart rate zone limits and calorie expenditure.
In Physical settings you'll find:
• Weight
• Height
• Date of birth
• Sex
• Training background
• Activity goal
• Preferred sleep time
• Maximum heart rate
• Resting heart rate
• VO
2max
WEIGHT
Set your weight in kilograms (kg) or pounds (lbs).
HEIGHT
Set your height in centimeters (metric) or in feet and inches (imperial).
DATE OF BIRTH
Set your birthday. The order in which the date settings are depends on which time and date format you have chosen (24h:
day - month - year/12h: month - day - year).
SEX
Select Male or Female.
TRAINING BACKGROUND
Training background is an assessment of your long-term physical activity level. Select the alternative that best describes
the overall amount and intensity of your physical activity during the past three months.
• Occasional (0-1h/week): You do not participate regularly in programmed recreational sport or heavy physical activity,
e.g. you walk only for pleasure or exercise hard enough to cause heavy breathing or perspiration only occasionally.
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• Regular (1-3h/week): You participate regularly in recreational sports, e.g. you run 5-10 km or 3-6 miles per week or
spend 1-3 hours per week in comparable physical activity, or your work requires modest physical activity.
• Frequent (3-5h/week): You participate at least 3 times a week in heavy physical exercise, e.g. you run 20-50 km/12-31
miles per week or spend 3-5 hours per week in comparable physical activity.
• Heavy (5-8h/week): You participate in heavy physical exercise at least 5 times a week, and you may sometimes take
part in mass sports events.
• Semi-pro (8-12h/week): You participate in heavy physical exercise almost daily, and you exercise to improve
performance for competitive purposes.
• Pro (>12h/week): You are an endurance athlete. You participate in heavy physical exercise to improve your
performance for competitive purposes.
ACTIVITY GOAL
Daily activity goal is a good way to find out how active you really are in your everyday life. Choose your typical activity level
from three options and see how active you need to be to reach your daily activity goal.
The time you need to complete your daily activity goal depends on the level you have chosen and the intensity of your
activities. Age and gender also affect the intensity you need to reach your daily activity goal.
Level 1
If your day includes only a little sports and a lot of sitting, commuting by car or public transport and so on, we recommend
you pick this activity level.
Level 2
If you spend most of your day on your feet, perhaps due to the type of work you do or your daily chores, this is the right
activity level for you.
Level 3
If your work is physically demanding, you’re into sports or otherwise tend to be on the move and active, this is the activity
level for you.
PREFERRED SLEEP TIME
Set Your preferred sleep time to define how long you aim to sleep every night. By default, it is set to the average
recommendation for your age group (eight hours for adults from 18 to 64 years). If you feel that eight hours of sleep is too
much or too little for you, we recommend you adjust your preferred sleep time to meet your individual needs. By doing this,
you’ll get accurate feedback on how much sleep you got in comparison to your preferred sleep time.
MAXIMUM HEART RATE
Set your maximum heart rate, if you know your current maximum heart rate value. Your age-predicted maximum heart rate
value (220-age) is displayed as a default setting when you set this value for the first time.
HR
max
is used to estimate energy expenditure. HR
max
is the highest number of heartbeats per minute during maximum
physical exertion.The most accurate method for determining your individual HR
max
is to perform a maximal exercise stress
test in a laboratory. HR
max
is also crucial when determining training intensity. It is individual and depends on age and
hereditary factors.
RESTING HEART RATE
Your resting heart rate is the lowest number of heartbeats per minute (bpm) when fully relaxed and without distractions.
Your age, fitness level, genetics, health status and sex affect the resting heart rate. A typical value for an adult is 55–75
bpm, but your resting heart rate can be significantly lower than that, for example, if you’re very fit.
It’s best to measure your resting heart rate in the morning after a good night’s sleep, right after you wake up. It’s OK to go to
the bathroom first if it helps you to relax. Don’t do any strenuous training leading up to the measurement and make sure
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you’re fully recovered from any activity. You should do the measurement more than once, preferably on consecutive
mornings, and calculate your average resting heart rate.
To measure your resting heart rate:
1. Wear your watch. Lie down on your back and relax.
2. After about 1 minute, start a training session on your wearable. Choose any sport profile, for example Other indoor.
3. Lie still and breathe calmly for 3–5 minutes. Don’t look at your training data during the measuring.
4. Stop the training session on your Polar device. Sync the wearable with the Polar Flow app or web service and check
the training summary for the value of your lowest heart rate (HR min)—this is your resting heart rate. Update your
resting heart rate to your physical settings in Polar Flow.
VO
2MAX
Set your VO2
max
.
VO2
max
(maximal oxygen uptake, maximal aerobic power) is the maximal rate at which oxygen can be used by the body
during maximal exercise; it is related directly to the maximal capacity of the heart to deliver blood to the muscles. VO2
max
can be measured or predicted by fitness tests (e.g. maximal exercise tests and submaximal exercise tests). You can also
use your Running Index score, which is an estimation of your VO2
max
.
DISPLAY ICONS
Flight mode is on. Flight mode cuts off all wireless communication from your watch. You can still use
it, but you can't sync your data with the Polar Flow mobile app or use it with any wireless accessories.
Do not disturb mode is on. When do not disturb is switched on, the watch will not vibrate when you
receive notifications or calls (the red dot will still appear at the bottom left of the display). Also, the
backlight activation gesture is disabled.
Alarm is set. You can set the alarm in Timers > Alarm.
Your paired phone is disconnected and you have notifications and/or music controls turned on. Check
that your phone is within Bluetooth range from your watch and Bluetooth is enabled on your phone.
Button lock is on. You can unlock the buttons by pressing and holding the LIGHT button.
RESTARTING AND RESETTING
If you experience problems with your watch, you can try restarting it. Restarting the watch will not delete any of the settings
or your personal data from the watch.
TO RESTART THE WATCH
On your watch, go to Settings > General settings > About your watch. Scroll down to find Restart. Press the OK button and
then press OK again to confirm the restart.
You can also restart your watch by pressing and holding the OK button for 10 seconds.
TO RESET THE WATCH TO FACTORY SETTINGS
If restarting your watch didn't help, you can reset the watch back to factory settings. Note that resetting the watch back to
factory settings empties all personal data and settings from the watch, and you will need to set it up again for your
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personal use. All data that you have synced from your watch to your Flow account is safe. You can do the factory reset via
FlowSync or from the watch.
Factory reset via FlowSync
1. Go to flow.polar.com/start and download and then install the Polar FlowSync data transfer software onto your
computer.
2. Connect your watch to the computer’s USB port.
3. Open settings in FlowSync.
4. Press the Factory Reset button.
5. If you use Flow app to sync, check the list of paired Bluetooth devices on your phone, and remove your watch from
the list if it's there.
Now you need to set up your watch again, either via mobile or computer. Just remember to use the same Polar account in
the setup you've used before resetting.
Factory reset from the watch
On your watch, go to Settings > General settings > About your watch. Scroll all the way down to find Reset all data and
settings. Press the OK button and then press OK again to confirm the factory reset.
Now you need to set up your watch again, either via mobile or computer. Just remember to use the same Polar account in
the setup you've used before resetting.
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TRAINING
WRIST-BASED HEART RATE MEASUREMENT
Your watch measures your heart rate from the wrist with the Polar Precision Prime™ sensor fusion technology. This new
heart rate innovation combines optical heart rate measurement with skin contact measurement, ruling out any
disturbances to the heart rate signal. It tracks your heart rate accurately even in the most demanding conditions and
training sessions.
Although there are many subjective clues as to how your body is doing during exercise (perceived exertion, breathing rate,
physical sensations), none of them are as reliable as measuring heart rate. It is objective and affected by both internal and
external factors—meaning that you will have a dependable measure of your physical state.
WEARING YOUR WATCH WHEN MEASURING HEART RATE FROM YOUR WRIST OR TRACKING
YOUR SLEEP
To measure wrist-based heart rate accurately during training, when using the Continuous heart rate and Nightly Recharge
features or while tracking your sleep with Sleep Plus Stages make sure that you wear the watch correctly:
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Wear your watch on top of your wrist, at least a finger’s width up from the wrist bone (see the picture below).
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Tighten the wristband firmly around your wrist. The sensor on the back must be in constant touch with your skin and
the watch should not be able to move on your arm. A good way to check that the wristband is not too loose is if you
push the wristband lightly up from both sides of your arm and make sure the sensor doesn’t lift from your skin.
When pushing the wristband up you shouldn't see the LED light shining from the sensor.
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For most accurate heart rate measurement, we advise you to wear your watch for a few minutes prior to starting the
heart rate measurement. Also it's a good idea to warm up the skin if your hands and skin get cold easily. Get the
blood going before starting your session!
During training you should slide the Polar device further up from the wrist bone and wear the wristband a bit
more tightly to try to minimize any extra moving of the device. Give your skin a few minutes to adapt to the
Polar device before starting a training session. After the training session, loosen the wristband a bit.
If you have tattoos on the skin of your wrist, avoid placing the sensor right on them as they may prevent accurate readings.
In sports where it's more challenging to keep the sensor stationary on your wrist or where you have pressure or movement
in muscles or tendons near the sensor, we recommend using a Polar heart rate sensor with a chest strap if you’re looking
for supreme accuracy in your training. Your watch is compatible with Bluetooth® heart rate sensors, like Polar H10. The
Polar H10 heart rate sensor is more responsive to rapidly increasing or decreasing heart rate, so it’s the ideal option also
for interval type of training with quick sprints.
To maintain the best possible performance of the wrist-based heart rate measurement, keep your watch clean
and prevent scratches. After a sweaty training session, we recommend that you wash the watch under running
water with a mild soap and water solution. Then wipe it dry with a soft towel. Let it fully dry before charging.
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WEARING YOUR WATCH WHEN NOT MEASURING HEART RATE FROM YOUR WRIST OR
TRACKING YOUR SLEEP/NIGHTLY RECHARGE
Loosen the wristband a bit for a more comfortable fit and to let your skin breathe. Wear the watch just as you would wear a
normal watch.
Every once in a while it’s a good idea to let your wrist have a breather, especially if you have sensitive skin.
Take off your watch and recharge it. This way both your skin and your watch can have a rest, and be ready for
your next training event.
START A TRAINING SESSION
1. Wear your watch and tighten the wristband.
2. To enter the pre-training mode, press and hold OK in time view or press BACK to enter the main menu and choose
Start training.
From the pre-training mode, you can access quick menu with the LIGHTbutton. The options
displayed in the quick menu depend on the sport you have chosen and whether you are using
GPS.
You can, for example, choose a favorite training target you want to perform and add timers
to your training views. For more information, see Quick menu.
After your choice, the watch returns to the pre-training mode.
3. Browse to your preferred sport.
4. Stay in the pre-training mode until the watch has found your heart rate and the GPS satellite signals (if applicable to
your sport) to make sure your training data is accurate. To catch GPS satellite signals, go outdoors and away from
tall buildings and trees. Keep your watch still with the display upwards and avoid touching the watch during the GPS
signal search.
5.
If you have paired an optional Bluetooth sensor with your watch, the watch will automatically start
searching for the sensor signal as well.
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~ 38h Estimated training time with current settings. By using power save settings,
the estimated training time can be extended.
The circle around the GPS icon will turn orange when the minimum amount of
satellites (4) needed for the GPS fix are found. You can start your session but for better
accuracy wait until the circle turns green.
The circle around the GPS icon will turn green when the GPS is ready. The watch
notifies you with a vibration.
The watch has found your heart rate when your heart rate is shown.
When you're wearing a Polar heart rate sensor that's paired with your watch, the watch
automatically uses the connected sensor to measure your heart rate during training
sessions. A blue circle around the heart rate symbol indicates that your watch uses the
connected sensor to measure your heart rate.
6. When all signals are found, press OK to start training recording.
See During Training for more information on what you can do with your watch during training.
START A PLANNED TRAINING SESSION
You can plan your training and create detailed training targets in the Polar Flow app or the Polar Flow web service and sync
them to your watch.
To start a planned training session scheduled for the current day:
1. Enter the pre-training mode by pressing and holding OK in time view.
2. You'll be prompted to start a training target you've scheduled for the day.
3. Press OK to view the target information.
4. Press OK to return to pre-training mode, and choose the sport profile you want to use.
5. When the watch has found all the signals, press OK. Recording started is displayed and you can start training.
Your watch will guide you towards completing your target during training. See During Training for more information.
Your planned training targets will also be included in the FitSpark training suggestions.
START A MULTISPORT TRAINING SESSION
Multisport allows you to include multiple sports in one training session, and seamlessly switch between sports without
interrupting your training recording. During a multisport training session your transition times between sports are
automatically monitored, allowing you to see how long it took you to switch from one sport to another.
There are two different ways to perform a multisport training session: fixed multisport and free multisport. In a fixed
multisport (multisport profiles in the Polar sports list) like triathlon, the order of the sports is fixed, and they must be
36
performed in that specific order. In free multisport, you can choose what sports you perform and in which order you
perform them by selecting them from the sport list. You can also switch back and forth between sports.
Before starting a multisport training session, make sure that you have set the sport profile settings for each of the sports
that you are going to use for the training session. For more information, see Sport profiles in Flow.
1. Press BACK to enter the main menu, choose Start training, and then browse to a sport profile. Choose Triathlon,
Free multisport or any other multisport profile (can be added in the Flow web service).
2. Once your watch has found all the signals, press OK. Recording started is displayed and you can start training.
3. To change the sport press BACK to go to transition mode.
4. Choose your next sport, and press OK (your transition time is shown) and continue training.
QUICK MENU
You can access the quick menu with the LIGHTbutton from pre-training mode, during a session when paused and during
transition mode in multisport sessions.
The options displayed in the quick menu depend on the sport you have chosen and whether you are using GPS.
Power save settings:
The power save settings allow you to extend your training time by changing the GPSrecording rate,
setting Wrist-based heart rate off and using the Screen saver. These settings let you optimize battery
usage and get more training time for extra long sessions or when the battery is running low.
For more information, see Power save settings.
Backlight:
Set the Backlight always on feature On or Off. With always on chosen the watch display will be
illuminated throughout your training session. The backlight setting will default back to Off after you
finish your training session. Please note that the always on setting will drain your battery much faster
than the default setting.
Share HR with other devices:
In heart rate sensor mode you can turn your watch into a heart rate sensor and share your heart rate
with other Bluetooth devices like training apps, gym equipment or cycling computers. For more
information, see HR sensor mode.
Training suggestions:
In Training suggestions you'll find the daily FitSpark training suggestions.
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Pool length:
When using the Swimming/Pool swimming profile, it’s important that you choose the correct pool
length, as it affects pace, distance and stroke calculation, as well as your SWOLF score. Press OK to
access the Pool length setting and change the previously set pool length if necessary. The default
lengths are 25 meters, 50 meters and 25 yards, but you can also set it manually to a custom length.
The minimum length that can be chosen is 20 meters/yards.
Pool length setting is only available in the pre-training mode from the quick menu.
Calibrate power sensor:
Choose one of the cycling sport profiles and wake up the transmitters by rotating the cranks. Then
choose Calibrate power sensor from the quick menu and follow the on-screen instructions to
calibrate your sensor. For calibration instructions specific to your power sensor, see the
manufacturer's instructions.
This option is shown only if you have paired a power sensor with your watch.
Calibrate stride sensor:
There are two ways to manually calibrate your stride sensor via the quick menu. Choose one of the
running sport profiles and then choose Calibrate stride sensor > Calibrate by running or Calibration
factor from the quick menu.
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Calibrate by running: Start the training session and run a distance you know. The distance has
to be more than 400 meters. When you have run the distance, press OK to take a lap. Set the
actual distance you have run and press OK. The calibration factor is updated.
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Please note that interval timer cannot used during the calibration. If you have set
the interval timer on, the watch will ask you to turn it off to enable manual stride
sensor calibration. You can turn the timer on from the pause mode quick menu
after calibration.
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Calibration factor: Set the calibration factor manually if you know the factor which gives you
accurate distance.
For detailed instructions on manual and automatic calibration of a stride sensor, see Calibrating a
Polar stride sensor with Grit X/Pacer/Vantage.
This option is shown only if you have paired a stride sensor with your watch.
Favorites:
In Favorites you'll find training targets that you have saved as favorites in the Flow web service, and
synced to your watch. Choose a favorite training target you want to perform. After your choice, the
watch returns to the pre-training mode where you can start the training session.
For more information, see Favorites.
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Race pace:
The Race Pace feature helps you keep a steady pace and achieve your target time for a set distance.
Define a target time for the distance - 45 minutes for a 10k run for example and follow how far behind
or ahead you are compared to your pre-set target. You can also check what the steady pace/speed to
meet your target is.
Race Pace can be set on your watch. Just choose the distance and target duration and you’re ready to
go. You can also set a Race Pace target in the Flow web service or app, and sync it to your watch.
For more information, see Race Pace.
Interval timer:
You can set time and/or distance based interval timers to precisely time work and recovery phases in
your interval training sessions.
To add interval timer to your training views for the session, choose Timer for this session > On. You
can use a previously set timer or create a new timer by returning to the quick menu and choosing
Interval timer > Set interval timer:
1. Choose Time-based or Distance-based: Time-based: Define minutes and seconds for the
timer and press OK. Distance-based: Set the distance for the timer and press OK. Set another
timer? is shown. To set another timer, press OK.
2. When completed, the watch returns to pre-training mode where you can start the training
session. The timer starts when you start the training session.
For more information, see During Training.
Countdown timer:
To add countdown timer to your training views for the session, choose Timer for this session > On.
You can use a previously set timer or create a new timer by returning to the quick menu and choosing
Countdown timer > Set timer. Set the countdown time, and press OK to confirm. When completed,
the watch returns to pre-training mode where you can start the training session. The timer starts when
you start the training session.
For more information, see During Training.
Routes:
In Routes, you'll find the routes that you have saved as favorites in the Flow web service Explore view
or in the analysis view of your training session, and synced to your watch. Komoot routes are also
found here.
Choose the route from the list, and then choose where you want to start the route: Start point
(original direction), Mid-route (original direction), End point to reverse direction or Mid-route to
reverse direction.
For more information, see Route Guidance.
Back to start:
The back to start feature guides you back to the starting point of your session. To add the Back to
start view to your training views of the current training session, choose Back to start on, and press
OK.
For more information, see Back to start.
The back to start feature is only available if GPS is set on for the sport profile.
When you choose a training target for your session, the Favorites and Routes options are crossed out in the quick menu.
This is because you can only choose one target for the session. And if you choose a route for your session, the Back to
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start feature will be crossed out in the quick menu because Routes and Back to start features cannot be chosen at the
same time. To change the target, choose the crossed out option and you will be asked if you want to change your target or
route. Confirm with OK to choose another target.
DURING TRAINING
BROWSE THE TRAINING VIEWS
During training you can browse through the training views with UP/DOWN. Note that the available training views and the
information you see on the training views depend on the sport you've chosen and on your edit of the chosen sport profile.
You can add sport profiles on your watch and define the settings for each sport profile in the Polar Flow app and web
service. You can create tailored training views for each sport you do and choose what data you want to follow during your
sessions. For more information, see Sport profiles in Flow.
For example, your training views can have the following information:
Start time and date
Duration of the session
Your heart rate and the heart rate ZonePointer
Distance
Duration
Pace/Speed
Your heart rate and the heart rate ZonePointer
Duration
Calories
Ascent
Your current altitude
Descent
Hill splitter
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Compass
Maximum heart rate
Heart rate graph and your current heart rate
Average heart rate
Power
Time of day
Duration
SET TIMERS
Before you can use timers during training, you need to add the timers to your training views. You can do this either by
setting the timer view on for your current training session from the Quick menu or by adding the timers to the training views
of the sport profile in the Flow web service sport profile settings and syncing the settings to your watch.
See Sport Profiles in Flow for more information.
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Interval Timer
If you set the timer view on for your training session from the Quick menu, the timer starts when you start the
training session. You can stop the timer and start a new timer as instructed below.
If you have added the timer in the training views of the sport profile you are using, you can start the timer as follows:
1. Browse to the Interval timer view and press and hold OK. Choose Start to use a previously set timer or create a new
timer in Set interval timer:
2. Choose Time-based or Distance-based: Time-based: Define minutes and seconds for the timer and press OK.
Distance-based: Set the distance for the timer and press OK.
3. Set another timer? is shown. To set another timer, press OK.
4. When completed, choose Start to start the interval timer. At the end of each interval, the watch notifies you by
vibrating.
To stop the timer, press and hold OK and choose Stop timer.
Countdown Timer
If you set the timer view on for your training session from the Quick menu, the timer starts when you start the
training session. You can stop the timer and start a new timer as instructed below.
If you have added the timer to the training views of the sport profile you are using, start the timer as follows:
1. Browse to the Countdown timer view and press and hold OK.
2. Choose Start to use a previously set timer or choose Set countdown timer to set a new countdown time. When
completed, choose Start to start the countdown timer.
3. At the end of the countdown, the watch notifies you by vibrating. If you want to restart the countdown timer, press
and hold OK and choose Start.
To stop the timer, press and hold OK and choose Stop timer.
LOCK A HEART RATE, SPEED OR POWER ZONE
With the ZoneLock feature you can lock the zone you’re currently in based on heart rate or speed/pace. If you're using a
separate running or cycling power sensor with your watch, you can also use the feature to lock your power zone. The
ZoneLock feature helps you make sure you stay on the chosen zone during training without having to check your watch. If
you go outside the locked zone during training, your watch notifies you with a vibration.
The ZoneLock feature for heart rate, speed/pace and power zones must be set on for each sport profile individually. You
can set it on in the Flow web service sport profile settings under the Heart rate, Speed/Pace or Power settings.
In order to use ZoneLock to lock your speed/pace or power zone, you will also need to add the fullscreen Speed/pace
graph or Power graph view to the training views of the sport profile.
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Lock a heart rate zone
To lock the heart rate zone you are currently in, press and hold OK in the fullscreen HR graph view or in any of the views
that are editable in the Flow.
To unlock the zone, press and hold the OK button again.
Lock a speed/pace zone
To lock the speed/pace zone you are currently in, press and hold OK in the fullscreen Speed/pace graph view .
To unlock the zone, press and hold the OK button again.
Lock a power zone
To lock the power zone you are currently in, press and hold OK in the fullscreen Power graph view.
To unlock the zone, press and hold the OK button again.
MARK A LAP
Press OK to mark a lap. Laps can also be taken automatically. In the sport profile settings in the Polar Flow app or web
service, set Automatic lap to Lap distance, Lap duration, Location-based. If you choose Lap distance, set the distance
after which each lap is taken. If you choose Lap duration, set the duration after each lap is taken. If you choose Location-
based, a lap is taken every time you arrive at the point where you started the session.
SWITCH SPORT DURING A MULTISPORT SESSION
Press BACK, and choose the sport you want to switch to. Confirm your selection with OK.
TRAINING WITH A TARGET
If you have created a quick training target based on duration, distance or calories in the Polar Flow app and synced it to
your watch, you have the following training target view as the default first training view:
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If you've created a target based on duration or distance, you can see how much of your target you
still have remaining before you reach it.
OR
If you've created a target based on calories, you can see how many calories of your target you
have left to burn.
If you have created a phased training target in the Flow app or web service and synced the target to your watch, you have
the following training target view as the default first training view:
l
Depending on the chosen intensity, you can see either your heart rate or speed/pace and
the lower and upper heart rate or speed/pace limit of the current phase.
l
Phase name and phase number/total number of phases
l
Duration/distance covered so far
l
Target duration/distance of the current phase
See Planning your training for instructions on creating training targets.
Change phase during a phased session
If you chose manual phase change when you created the phased target, press OK to continue to the next phase after
finishing a phase.
If your chose automatic phase change, the phase will change automatically when you have finished a phase. The watch
notifies you by vibrating when the phase changes.
Note that when setting very short phases (under 10 seconds) you will not get a vibration alarm when the phase
is over.
View training target information
To view the training target information during training, press and hold OK in the training target view.
Notifications
If you are training outside the planned heart rate zones or speed/pace zones, your watch notifies you with a vibration.
PAUSING/STOPPING A TRAINING SESSION
1. Press BACK to pause your training session.
2. To continue training, press OK. To stop the session, press and hold BACK. You’ll get a summary of your training
session on your watch right after you’ve stopped training.
If you stop your session after pausing, the time elapsed after pausing is not included in the total training time.
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TRAINING SUMMARY
AFTER TRAINING
You'll get a summary of your training session on your watch right after you've stopped training. Get a more detailed and
illustrated analysis in the Polar Flow app or in the Polar Flow web service.
The information shown in your summary depends on the sport profile and data collected. For example, your training
summary can include the following information:
Start time and date
Duration of the session
Distance covered in the session
Heart rate
Your average and maximum heart rate during the session.
Your Cardio Load from the session
Heart rate zones
Training time spent in different heart rate zones
Energy used
Energy used during the session
Carbs
Protein
Fat
For more information, see Energy Sources.
Pace/Speed
Average and maximum pace/speed of the session
Running Index:Your running performance class and numerical value. Find out more from chapter
Running Index.
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Speed zones
Training time spent in different speed zones
Cadence
Your average and maximum cadence for the session
Running cadence is measured with a built-in accelerometer from your wrist
movements. Cycling cadence is shown if you have a Polar Cadence Sensor
Bluetooth® Smart in use.
Altitude
Maximum altitude during the session
Ascended meters/feet during the session
Descended meters/feet during the session
Power
Average power
Maximum power
Muscle load
Power zones
Training time spent in different power zones
Running power is measured from the wrist when using a running type sport profile
and GPS is available. Cycling power is shown when using a cycling type sport profile
and you have an external cycling power sensor in use.
Hill splitter
Total number of uphills and downhills
Total uphill and downhill distance
Press OK to view ascent/descent details per hill
For more information, see Hill Splitter
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Laps/Automatic laps
You can scroll through the following details by pressing OK:
1. Duration of each lap (the best lap is highlighted in yellow)
2. Distance of each lap
3. Average and maximum heart rate of each lap in the color of the heart rate zone
4. Average speed/pace of each lap
Multisport Summary
Multisport summary includes an overall summary of the session as well as sport specific summaries, which include
duration and distance covered in the sport.
To view your training summaries later on your watch:
In time view, use the UP and DOWN buttons to navigate to the Latest training sessions watch
face, and then press OK.
You can view the summaries of your training sessions from the last 14 days. Browse to the
training session you want to view with UP/DOWN and press OK to open the summary. Your watch
can contain a maximum of 20 training summaries.
TRAINING DATA IN POLAR FLOW APP
Your watch syncs with the Polar Flow app automatically after you finish a training session if your phone is within the
Bluetooth range. You can also sync your training data manually from the watch to the Flow app by pressing and holding the
BACK button of your watch when you're signed in to the Flow app and your phone is within the Bluetooth range. In the app
you can analyze your data at a glance after each session. The app allows you to see a quick overview of your training data.
For more information, see Polar Flow App.
TRAINING DATA IN POLAR FLOW WEB SERVICE
Analyze every detail of your training and learn more about your performance. Follow your progress and also share your
best sessions with others.
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FEATURES
SMART COACHING
Whether it’s assessing your day-to-day fitness levels, creating individual training plans, working out at the right intensity or
receiving instant feedback, Smart Coaching offers a choice of unique, easy-to-use features, personalized to your needs and
designed for maximum enjoyment and motivation when training.
Your watch includes the following Polar Smart Coaching features:
• Training Load Pro
• FuelWise™
• Running Performance Test
• Cycling Performance Test
• Walking Test
• Running power from the wrist
• Running Program
• Running Index
• Training benefit
• Smart calories
• Continuous heart rate
• Activity Guide
• Activity Benefit
• Nightly Recharge™ recovery measurement
• Sleep Plus Stages™ sleep tracking
• Serene™ guided breathing exercise
• Fitness Test with wrist-based heart rate
• FitSpark™ daily training guide
TRAINING LOAD PRO
The Training Load Pro™ feature measures how your training sessions strain your body and helps to understand how it
impacts your performance. Training Load Pro gives you a training load level for your cardiovascular system called Cardio
Load, and with Perceived Load you can rate how strained you feel. Training Load Pro also gives you a training load level for
your musculoskeletal system (Muscle Load). When you know how strained each body system is, you can optimize your
training by working the right system at the right time.
Cardio Load
Cardio Load is based on training impulse calculation (TRIMP), a commonly accepted and scientifically proven method to
quantify training load. Your Cardio Load value tells you how much strain your training session put on your cardiovascular
system. The higher the Cardio Load, the more strenuous the training session was for the cardiovascular system. Cardio
Load is calculated after every workout from your heart rate data and session duration.
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Perceived Load
Your subjective feeling is one useful method of estimating training load for all sports. Perceived Load is a value that takes
into account your own subjective experience of how demanding your training session was and the duration of your
session. It's quantified with Rate of Perceived Exertion (RPE), a scientifically accepted method to quantify subjective
training load. Using the RPE scale is especially useful for sports where measuring training load based on heart rate alone
has its limitations, for example strength training.
Rate your session in the Flow mobile app to get your Perceived Load for the session. You can choose from a
scale from 1-10, in which 1 is very, very easy and 10 is maximum effort.
Muscle Load
Muscle Load tells you how much your muscles were strained during your training session. Muscle Load helps you quantify
your training load in high-intensity training sessions, such as short intervals, sprints and hill sessions, when your heart rate
doesn’t have enough time to react to the changes in the intensity.
Muscle load shows the amount of mechanical energy (kJ) that you produced during a running or cycling session. This
reflects your energy output, not the energy input it took you to produce that effort. In general, the fitter you are, the better
the efficiency between your energy input and output. Muscle load is calculated based on power and duration. In case of
running, also your weight counts.
Muscle Load is calculated from your power data, so you only get a Muscle Load value for your running
workouts, and cycling sessions if you’re using a separate cycling power sensor.
Training Load from a single session
Your Training Load from a single session is shown in the summary of your training session on your watch, in the Flow app
and in the Flow web service.
You'll get an absolute training load number for each measured load. The higher the load, the more strain it caused to your
body. In addition, you can see a visual bullet scale interpretation and a verbal description of how hard your training load
from the session was compared to your 90 days training load average.
The scale of bullets and verbal descriptions adapts according to your progress: the smarter you train, the higher loads you
tolerate. As your fitness and tolerance for training improves, a training load that was ranked worth 3 bullets (Medium) a
couple of months ago, could rank for only 2 bullets (Low) later on. This adaptive scale reflects the fact that the same kind
of training session can have a different impact on your body depending on your current condition.
Very high
High
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Medium
Low
Very low
Strain and Tolerance
In addition to the Cardio load from individual training sessions, the new Training Load Pro feature measures your short
term Cardio load (Strain) and long term Cardio load (Tolerance).
Strain shows you how much you have strained yourself with training lately. It shows your average daily load from the past
7 days.
Tolerance describes how prepared you are to endure cardio training. It shows your average daily load from the past 28
days. To improve your tolerance for cardio training, you need to slowly increase your training over a longer period of time.
Cardio Load Status
Cardio load status looks at the relation between your Strain and Tolerance and based on that shows you whether you are
in a detraining, maintaining, productive or overreaching Cardio load status. You will also get personalized feedback based
on your status.
Cardio load status guides you in evaluating the impact your training has on your body and how it affects your progress.
Knowing how your past training affects your performance today allows you to keep your total training volume in control
and optimize the timing of training at different intensities. Seeing how your training status changes after a session helps
you understand how much load was caused by the session.
Cardio load status on your watch
In time view, use the UP and DOWN buttons to navigate to the Cardio Load Status watch face.
1. Cardio load status graph
2. Cardio load status
Overreaching (Load much higher than usual):
Productive (Load slowly increasing)
Maintaining (Load slightly lower than usual)
Detraining (Load way lower than usual)
3. The numeric value for your Cardio load status (=Strain divided by Tolerance.)
4. Strain
5. Tolerance
6. Verbal description of your Cardio load status
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Long term analysis in the Flow app and web service
In the Flow app and web service you can follow how your Cardio Load builds up over time and see how your Cardio loads
have varied over the past week or months. To view your Cardio Load Buildup in the Flow app, tap the vertical three dots
icon in the week summary (Cardio Load Status module) or in the training summary (Training Load Pro module).
To view your Cardio load status and Cardio load buildup in the Flow web service, go to Progress > Cardio Load report.
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The red bars illustrate the cardio load from your training sessions. The higher the bar, the harder
the session was on your cardio system.
The background colors show how hard a session was compared to your session average from the
past 90 days, just like the scale of five bullets and verbal descriptions (Very low, Low, Medium,
High, Very high).
Strain shows how much you have strained yourself with training lately. It shows your average daily
cardio load from the past 7 days.
Tolerance describes how prepared you are to endure cardio training. It shows your average daily
cardio load from the past 28 days. To improve your tolerance for cardio training, slowly increase
your training over a longer period of time.
Learn more about the Polar Training Load Pro feature in this in-depth guide.
FUELWISE™
Stay energized throughout your session with the FuelWise™ fueling assistant. FuelWise™ includes three features that
remind you to refuel and help you maintain adequate energy levels during your long sessions. These features are Smart
carbs reminder, Manual carbs reminder and Drink reminder.
It’s crucial for any serious endurance athlete to maintain adequate energy levels and stay hydrated throughout a long
performance. To perform at your best, you need to fuel your system with carbohydrates and drink regularly in the course of
a long race or a training session. With two useful tools, carbs reminder and drink reminder, FuelWise helps you find the
optimal way to fuel and stay hydrated.
Carbohydrates are ideal for fueling because they can be absorbed and converted into glucose quickly, unlike fat or protein.
Glucose is the primary source of energy used during training. The higher your training intensity, the more glucose you use
in proportion to fat. If your session is shorter than 90 minutes, you don't usually need to fuel with carbs. However, extra
carbs may help you stay more alert and focused even during a shorter session.
53
Training with Fuelwise
FuelWise™ is located in the main menu under Fueling, and consists of three types of reminders during training sessions.
These are Smart carbs reminder, Manual carbs reminder and Drink reminder. The Smart carbs reminder calculates your
refueling need from your estimated session intensity and duration taking your training background and physical details into
account. The Manual carbs reminder and Drink reminder are time-based, which means you'll get a reminder at preset
intervals, every 15 or 30 minutes for example.
When using any of the fueling features the training session is started from the Fueling menu. After setting your reminder
and choosing Next , you'll be taken straight to the pre-training mode. Then choose your sport profile and start your session.
Smart carbs reminder
When using the smart carbs reminder, set the estimated session duration and intensity, and we'll estimate the amount of
carbs you'll need for refueling during your session. When estimating your carbohydrate need for refueling we take your
training background and physical settings including age, gender, height, weight, maximum heart rate, resting heart rate,
VO2max, aerobic heart rate threshold and anaerobic heart rate threshold into account.
Your capability to absorb carbohydrates is estimated from your training background. This limits the maximum amount of
carbohydrates (grams per hour) that the smart carbs reminder can give you. This data is used to pre-calculate the
relationship between your heart rate and carbohydrate consumption rate based on your physical settings. The
recommended carbohydrate intake rate is then adjusted up or down (within min/max limits) based on your heart rate data
and the pre-calculated heart rate vs. carbohydrate consumption rate relationship.
During training, your watch will track your actual energy expenditure and adjust the frequency of the reminders accordingly
but the portion size (carbs in grams) is always the same during a session.
Set smart carbs reminder
1. In the main menu choose Fueling > Smart carbs reminder.
2. Set the estimated duration of your session. The minimum is 30 minutes.
3. Set the estimated intensity of your session. The intensity is set with heart rate zones. See heart rate zones to learn
more about different training intensities.
4. Set the carbs per serving (5 -100 grams) of your preferred sports fuel.
5. Choose Next
After setting the reminder you'll see an overview of your selection. At this point you can still remove the reminder you just
set or add a drink reminder. When you're ready to start your session choose Use now to go to pre-training mode.
When adding a drink reminder to a smart carbs reminder, you'll also get an estimation of your hydration need per reminder.
This is based on the average sweat rate in moderate conditions
Take ( ) g carbs! is shown on the display including vibration when it's time to take some carbs.
Manual carbs reminder
A time-based reminder that helps you stay fueled by reminding you to take some carbs at preset intervals. Can be set to
remind you in 5 to 60-minute intervals.
Set manual carbs reminder
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1. In the main menu choose Fueling > Manual carbs reminder.
2. Set the interval (5-60 minutes) of the reminder.
After setting the reminder you'll see an overview of your selection. At this point you can still remove the reminder you just
set or add a drink reminder. When you're ready to start your session choose Use now to go to pre-training mode.
Take carbs! is shown on the display including vibration when it's time to take some carbs.
Drink reminder
A time-based reminder that helps you stay hydrated by reminding you to drink. Can be set to remind you in 5 to 60-minute
intervals.
Set drink reminder
1. In the main menu choose Fueling > Drink reminder.
2. Set the interval (5-60 minutes) of the reminder.
After setting the reminder you'll see an overview of your selection. At this point you can still remove the reminder you just
set or add a carbs reminder. When you're ready to start your session choose Use now to go to pre-training mode.
Drink! is shown on the display including vibration when it's time to drink.
Learn more about FuelWise™
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RUNNING PERFORMANCE TEST
The Running Performance Test is a tool especially designed for runners allowing them to track their progress and find out
their unique training zones (heart rate, speed and power zones) for running sports. Regular and frequent testing helps you
plan your training wisely and follow changes in your running performance
You can take the test as maximal or submaximal (at least 85 % of your maximum heart rate). The maximal test requires all-
out effort, but it gives you more accurate results. Taking the maximal test is a good way to find out your current individual
maximum heart rate, and get your settings up to date. The load of the maximal running test is considerably heavier
compared to the submaximal test. Therefore, it's recommended that you include only light training sessions in your plan for
the next 1-3 days after the maximal test.
The submaximal test, which requires that at least 85% of HR
max
is exceeded, is a reproducible, safe and non-exhaustive
alternative to the maximal test. You can repeat the submaximal test as often as you wish, and you can also perform it as a
warmup before a training session. It's important that your maximum heart rate is set correctly in your physical settings in
order to get accurate results from the submaximal test as the submaximal test uses your HR
max
when calculating your
results. If you don’t know your HR
max
, you could benefit from doing maximal test first to find out your maximum heart rate.
The idea of the test is to run at a steadily increasing speed, following the given target speed as precisely as possible. To
complete the test successfully you have to run for at least six minutes and reach at least 85 % or your maximum heart rate.
If you have trouble reaching this, your current HR
max
value might be too high. You can change it manually in your physical
settings.
Performing the test
Before taking the test, read the Health and Training section in this user manual or in the Important information sheet that
came in the product package. Do not take the test during illness, injury or if you have any doubts over your health. Take the
test only when you feel recovered. Avoid exercise that causes fatigue on the day preceding the test. Wear running shoes
and clothes that allow freedom of movement.
Take the test in flat terrain, track or road, and repeat it regularly under similar conditions. Run at a steadily increasing speed,
following the given target speed as precisely as possible. Also, the conditions before testing should be fairly similar each
time. For instance, an intense training session the day before or a heavy meal right before testing can influence your test
result. You need to run for at least six minutes and reach at least 85 % or your maximum heart rate to complete the test.
By default the test uses GPS to track your speed but you can also perform the test with a Polar Stride Sensor Bluetooth®
Smart or a STRYDrunning power meter. In this case your speed is measured with the sensor.
Check heart rate sensor is shown if your heart rate cannot be detected during the test.
Speed unavailable, GPS signal lost is shown if the satellite signals cannot be detected during the test.
Have a look at the instructions on your watch in Tests > Running test > How to once more before starting to see a detailed
breakdown of the test, and instructions on performing it.
1. First, define your initial speed for the test in Tests > Running test > Initial speed. The initial speed can be set
between 4-10 min/km. Note that if you set the initial speed too high, you may have you to quit the test too soon.
2. Then go to Tests > Running test > Start and scroll down to see an overview of the test. When you’re ready to start
the test, choose Next.
3. Check the questions concerning your health and accept to go to the pre-training mode.
4. The sport profile is shown in a purple color in the test view. Choose an appropriate indoor or outdoor running sport
profile. Stay in the pre-training mode until the watch has found your heart rate and the GPS satellite signals (GPS
icon turns green).
5. Press the OK button to begin. The watch guides you through the test.
6. The test begins with a warmup phase (~ 10 min). Follow the guidance on the display to complete the warmup.
7. After a proper warmup, choose Start test. Then you need to reach the initial speed for the actual test to start.
During the test: The blue value shows the steadily increasing target speed that you should follow as precisely as possible.
The white value below it shows your current speed.
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The blue curve with the speed values at each end illustrates the allowed range.
At the bottom, you can see your current heart rate, the minimum heart rate required for the submaximal test and your
current maximum heart rate value.
Your watch will ask Was this your maximum effort? if didn't reach or exceed your maximum heart rate value. Your test is
considered submaximal, if your effort wasn't maximal but you reached at least 85 % of your maximum heart rate. Your test
is automatically considered maximal, if you reach or exceed your current maximum heart rate value.
Test results
The Running Performance Test gives you your maximum aerobic power (MAP), maximum aerobic speed (MAS) and
maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) as results. In addition, if you performed the maximal test you get your maximum heart
rate (HR
max
) value. You can view your latest result in Tests > Running test > Latest result.
l
Your maximum aerobic power (MAP) is the lowest exercise intensity where your body reaches its maximum ability
to consume oxygen (VO2
max
). Maximum aerobic power can usually be sustained for a few minutes only.
l
Your maximum aerobic speed (MAS) is the lowest exercise intensity where your body reaches its maximum ability
to consume oxygen (VO2
max
). Maximum aerobic speed can usually be sustained for a few minutes only.
l
Your maximal oxygen uptake (VO2
max
) is your body's maximum capacity to consume oxygen during maximum
effort.
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If you choose to update your sport profile settings with your new MAP, MAS and VO2
max
results, your speed, pace and
power zones, as well as calorie calculation are updated to match your current condition. If you performed the maximal test
you can also update your heart rate zones based on your new HR
max
value.
Note that to update your training zones and HR
max
value you need to sync the results to the Flow app. When opening the
Flow app after syncing you'll be asked if you want to update your values. The sport profile settings for all running type
sports will be updated with the new values.
Whether you should follow power zones, speed/pace zones or heart rate zones in your training, depends on your goals and
training routines. Power zones work in all types of terrains – flat or hilly. Speed zones are reliable only when you run in flat
terrain. Speed or power zones are also a good choice for interval training.
If you want to use the Running Performance Test to track your progress and help you choose the right training intensities,
we recommend that you repeat the maximal test every three months to ensure that your training zones are always up to
date. If you want to follow your progress more closely, you can repeat the submaximal test as often as you wish in between
the maximal tests.
Note that you will not get a Running Index result from your Running Performance Test.
Your weight is used as one input in the Running Performance Test. Note that if you change your weight setting, it also
affects the comparability of your test results.
Detailed analysis in the Flow web service and app
Remember to sync your test result to Polar Flow. To help long-term follow up, we’ve gathered all the test data in one place
in the Polar Flow web service. In the Tests page you can see all the tests you’ve performed and compare their results. You
can see your long-term progress and easily view changes in your performance.
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59
CYCLING PERFORMANCE TEST
The Cycling Performance Test measures the maximum average power you can maintain for 60 minutes. It's also known as
the functional threshold power, FTP-test. The test can be used to determine your individual cycling power zones. When you
have your individual power zones figured out, it's easier to optimize your training. The test is also good for tracking your
cycling performance development over time.
In addition to the 60-minute FTP-test, you can also take a shorter test that lasts for 20, 30 or 40 minutes, in which case we'll
estimate the 60-minute result. Note that with the shorter tests the result may not be as precise as with the 60-minute test.
A shorter test is better for inexperienced cyclists or if you're recovering from an injury. Always take the same type of test to
make the results comparable over time.
We recommend using an indoor bike with a power sensor to get the most reliable results, but you can take the test
outdoors as well. If you take the test outdoors, it's wiser to take a shorter one in order to minimize stopping and power
changes. Choose a route on flat terrain, and avoid traffic lights or any other reasons to stop.
To take the Cycling Performance Test you need a compatible cycling power sensor. For a complete list a compatible
cycling power sensors see WHICH THIRD-PARTY POWER SENSORS ARE COMPATIBLE WITH Grit X/Pacer/Vantage? The
power sensor also needs to be paired with your watch. For detailed pairing instructions see Pairing sensors with your
watch.
Performing the test
Before taking the test, read the Health and Training section in this user manual or in the Important information sheet that
came in the product package. The test is very demanding so do not take the test if you do not feel recovered from training.
Wear cycling shoes and clothes that allow freedom of movement.
Also, check that your weight is set correctly in your physical settings. This is important so that you can compare your
results over time. In your first test, we'll guide you with a power target that's based on your background information. This
helps you maintain a steady power throughout the test. When you repeat the test, the target is based on your earlier results.
The cycling test includes warmup, test and cool down phases. The warmup phase is power-based, and the cool down
phase is based on heart rate. Note that the warmup and cooldown phases are optional. You can skip them if you wish.
1. On your watch go to Tests > Cycling test > Duration, and choose 20, 30, 40 or 60 minutes.
2. Then go to Tests > Cycling test > Start and scroll down to see an overview of the test. When you’re ready to start
the test, choose Next.
3. Check the questions concerning your health and accept to go to the pre-training mode.
4. The sport profile is shown in a purple color in the test view. Choose an appropriate indoor or outdoor cycling sport
profile. Stay in the pre-training mode until the watch has found your cycling power sensor.
5. Press the OK button to begin.
6. The test begins with a warmup phase. The warmup should be about 20 minutes of easy riding in the beginning.
Include 2-3 full-on sprints in the middle of the warmup, about 1-minute each with recovery. Now you should be well
warmed up and ready to take the full-on test. If you choose to do a shorter warmup, make sure to include the fast
sprints and recovery moments nonetheless. The warmup also allows you to check that everything works as it
should and that your bike is adjusted optimally for you.
7. After a proper warmup, choose Start test.
8. Speed up and find the maximum power you believe you can keep up for the whole test. The test view shows your
power in watts. The red value tells your current power and the white value your estimated target power. Try to keep
your pace close to the target, and make sure you stay on the same power level throughout the test. Slowing down
will make the results less reliable.
9. The test phase ends after the pre-defined time is over.
We recommend performing the cooldown phase after the test.
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Test results
The test summary shows your FTP value which shows power in watts, your maximum heart rate and your maximal oxygen
uptake known as VO2max. You can view your latest result in Tests > Cycling test > Latest result.
Dividing FTP with a cyclist's weight produces a comparable value, called power-to-weight ratio- which can be compared
with other cyclists of the same sex. The more power you can produce in your current weight, the better your power-to-
weight ratio is. This reflects your aerobic fitness. We use a simplified, 8-tiered result table ranging from untrained to world-
class when giving you feedback based on your power-to-weight ratio.
In your first test, the result is compared with other cyclists of the same sex as you. When you repeat the test, the result is
compared to your previous test results and test feedback is also based on them.
If you want to use the Cycling Performance Test to track your progress and help you choose the right training intensities,
we recommend that you repeat the maximal test every three months to ensure that your training zones are always up to
date.
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Note that to update your training zones and HR max value you need to sync the results to the Flow app. When opening the
Flow app after syncing you'll be asked if you want to update your values. The sport profile settings for all cycling type
sports will be updated with the new values.
Detailed analysis in the Flow web service and app
Remember to sync your test result to Polar Flow. To help long-term follow up, we’ve gathered all the test data in one place
in the Polar Flow web service. In the Tests page you can see all the tests you’ve performed and compare their results. You
can see your long-term progress and easily view changes in your performance.
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WALKING TEST
The walking test is a simple, safe and repeatable way to measure your VO
2max
, and to keep track of how your aerobic
fitness is developing. Understanding your aerobic fitness level is the cornerstone of efficient training. This makes the
walking test a valuable tool for anyone from occasional to regular trainers. We recommended taking the test when starting
a training program, and repeating the test every three months. However, there's no reason why you shouldn't take it more
often if you wish.
The idea is to walk as far as you can in fifteen minutes - at a steady pace. This means faster than your usual, comfortable
walking speed. Aim at raising your heart rate above 65% of your maximum during the warmup, and keep it there throughout
the test by walking at a fast, brisk pace. Your VO
2max
result is based on the distance you walk, your heart rate during the
test, and personal characteristics (age, sex, height and weight). In principle, the higher your walking speed and the lower
your heart rate, the better your aerobic fitness.
Performing the test
Before taking the test, read the Health and Training section in this user manual or in the Important information sheet that
came in the product package. Do not take the test during illness, injury or if you have any doubts over your health. Also
make sure your physical settings – including height, weight, age as well as which hand you wear your watch on – are up to
date. We use them in calculating the result. GPS(GNSS) is used to track your speed, therefore the test needs to be taken
outdoors.
Take the test in flat terrain, track or road in a location that has an unobstructed view of the sky for optimal GPS(GNSS)
performance. Avoid routes with traffic lights or other possible hindrances that might force you to stop or slow down. Tall
buildings, tunnels, partially covered stadiums and trees can also affect GPS(GNSS) accuracy.
The conditions before testing should be fairly similar each time. For instance, you can mess up the results if you have an
intense training session the day before or a heavy meal right before testing. During the test, you should walk as fast as you
can, at a steady pace. Running is not allowed. Try to keep your heart rate above 65% of your maximum heart rate. There’s
no upper limit. The longer your walking distance, the better your result. If your heart rate is too low, the watch will alert you.
It means you need to walk faster to raise your heart rate.
The walking test including warmup and cool down phases takes about 25 minutes to perform. It's comprised of warmup (5
minutes) , test (15 minutes) and cool down (5 minutes) phases. Have a look at the instructions on your watch in Tests >
Walking test > How to once more before starting to see a detailed breakdown of the test, and instructions on performing it.
1. Go to Tests > Walking test > Start, and scroll down to see an overview of the test. When you’re ready to start the
test, choose Next.
2. Check the questions concerning your health and accept to go to the pre-training mode.
3. The walking sport profile is used for the test. It’s shown in a purple color in the test view. Stay in the pre-training
mode until the watch has found your heart rate and the GPS satellite signals (GPS icon turns green).
4. Get started with a proper warmup. Aim at raising your heart rate above 65% of your maximum heart rate by walking
at a fast, brisk pace. Follow the guidance on the display to complete the warmup.
5. When you've reached at least 65% of your maximum heart rate or warmed up for at least three minutes the test can
be started. Choose Start test to start the actual test.
6. Keep your heart rate above 65% of your maximum heart rate during the test.
7. The test phase ends after 15 minutes. Press the OK button to confirm and continue to the cool down phase.
8. Cool down by walking slowly to promote your recovery.
9. After finishing the cool down you'll see the distance you walked on the display.
10. Press the BACK button once to pause your session, once paused press and hold the BACK button to end the
session.
During the test: Your current heart rate and the heart rate value above which you need to stay are shown at the top of the
display. At the bottom of the display you'll see the time elapsed.
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Test results
l
The test summary shows your VO
2max
. The result is also classified based on gender and
age group ranging from very low to elite.
l
Test distance (the distance you walked during the test)
l
Test heart rate (your average heart rate from the last 5 minutes of the test)
l
Test speed/pace (your average speed/pace during the test)
l
Tips for next time (these tips are meant to enhance the repeatability of the test and they're
only shown on your watch)
You can view your latest result in Tests > Walking test > Latest result.
Note that to update your VO
2max
value based on your test result you need to sync the results to the Flow app. When
opening the Flow app after syncing you'll be asked if you want to update it.
Detailed analysis in the Flow web service and app
Remember to sync your test result to Polar Flow. To help long-term follow up, we’ve gathered all the test data in one place
in the Polar Flow web service. In the Tests page you can see all the tests you’ve performed and compare their results. You
can see your long-term progress and easily view changes in your performance.
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RUNNING POWER FROM THE WRIST
Running power is a great complement to heart rate monitoring – it helps you monitor the external load of your running.
Power responds to changes in intensity faster than your heart rate, which is why Running Power is a great guiding metric in
interval and hill sessions. You can also use it to maintain a steady effort level during your run, for example in a race.
The calculation is done with Polar’s proprietary algorithm, and it is based on your GPS and barometer data. Your weight
also affects the calculation, so make sure its up-to-date.
Running power and muscle load
Polar uses running power to calculate Muscle load, one parameter of Training Load Pro. Running causes musculoskeletal
stress, and Muscle load tells you how much your muscles and joints were strained during your training session. It shows
the amount of mechanical work (kJ) that you produced during your running sessions (and cycling sessions if you’re using a
cycling power meter). Muscle load helps you quantify your training load in high-intensity running training sessions, such as
short intervals, sprints and hill sessions, when your heart rate doesn’t have enough time to react to the changes in the
intensity.
How running power is shown on your watch
Running power is automatically calculated for your running sessions done with running type sport profiles with GPS
available.
Choose the power data you want to view during your sessions by customizing your training views in the Flow web service
sport profile settings.
During your run you can view the following data:
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l
Maximum power
l
Average power
l
Lap power
l
Maximum lap power
l
Automatic lap power average
l
Automatic lap power maximum
Choose how power is shown during sessions and in the Flow web service and app:
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Watts W
l
Watts per kilogram W/kg
l
Percentage of MAP (% of MAP)
After your session in the training summary on your watch you’ll see:
l
Your average power as Watts
l
Your maximum power as Watts
l
Muscle Load
l
Time spent in power zones
How running power is shown in the Polar web service and app
Detailed graphs for analysis are available in the Flow web service and app. See your power values from your session, and
how they were distributed compared to heart rate, and how incline, decline and different speeds affected them.
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POLAR RUNNING PROGRAM
Polar Running program is a personalized program based on your fitness level, designed to make sure that you train right
and avoid overreaching. It’s intelligent, and adapts based on your development, and lets you know when it might be a good
idea to cut back a little and when to step it up a notch. Each program is tailored for your event, taking your personal
attributes, training background and preparation time into account. The program is free, and available in the Polar Flow web
service at www.polar.com/flow.
Programs are available for 5k, 10k, half marathon and marathon events. Each program has three phases: Base building,
Build-up and Tapering. These phases are designed to gradually develop your performance, and make sure you’re ready on
race day. Running training sessions are divided into five types: easy jog, medium run, long run, tempo run and interval. All
sessions include warm-up, work, and cool-down phases for optimal results. In addition, you can choose to do strength,
core, and mobility exercises to support your development. Each training week consists of two to five running sessions, and
the total running training session duration per week varies from one to seven hours depending on your fitness level. The
minimum duration for a program is 9 weeks, and the maximum is 20 months.
Learn more about the Polar Running Program in this in-depth guide. Or read more about how to get started with the
Running Program.
To see a video, click on one of the following links:
Get Started
How to use
Create a Polar Running Program
1. Log into the Flow web service at www.polar.com/flow.
2. Choose Programs from the Tab.
3. Choose your event, name it, set the event date, and when you wish to start the program.
4. Fill in the physical activity level questions.*
5. Choose if you want to include supporting exercises in the program.
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6. Read and fill in the physical activity readiness questionnaire.
7. Review your program, and adjust any settings if necessary.
8. When you’re done, choose Start program.
*If four weeks of training history is available, these will be pre-filled.
Start a running target
Before starting a session, make sure you’ve synced your training session target to your device. The sessions are synced to
your device as training targets.
To start a training target scheduled for the current day:
1. Enter the pre-training mode by pressing and holding OK in time view.
2. You'll be prompted to start a training target you've scheduled for the day.
3. Press OK to view the target information.
4. Press OK to return to pre-training mode, and choose the sport profile you want to use.
5. When the watch has found all the signals, press OK. Recording started is displayed and you can start training.
Follow your progress
Sync your training results from your device to the Flow web service via the USB cable or Flow app. Follow your progress
from the Programs tab. You’ll see an overview of your current program, and how you’ve progressed.
RUNNING INDEX
Running Index offers an easy way to monitor running performance changes. The Running index score is an estimate of
your maximal aerobic running performance (VO2max). By recording your Running Index over time, you see how efficient
your running is and how you improve your running performance. Improvement means that running at a given pace requires
less of an effort, or that your pace is faster at a given level of exertion.
To receive the most accurate information on your performance, make sure you have set your HR
max
value.
Running Index is calculated during every training session when heart rate and the GPS function is on/Stride Sensor is in
use, and when the following requirements apply:
l
Sport profile used is a running type sport (Running, Road Running, Trail running etc.)
l
Pace should be 6 km/h / 3.7 mph or faster and duration 12 minutes minimum.
Calculation begins when you start recording the session. During a session, you may stop twice, for example, at traffic lights
without interrupting the calculation. After your session, your watch displays a Running Index value and stores the result in
the training summary.
When using a Polar Stride Sensor Bluetooth Smart in a running session and GPS is set off, the sensor needs to be
calibrated in order to get a Running Index result.
You can view your Running Index in the summary of your training session on your watch. Follow your progress
and see race time estimations in the Polar Flow web service.
Compare your result to the table below.
Short-term analysis
Men
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Age/Years Very low Low Fair Moderate Good Very good Elite
20-24 < 32 32-37 38-43 44-50 51-56 57-62 > 62
25-29 < 31 31-35 36-42 43-48 49-53 54-59 > 59
30-34 < 29 29-34 35-40 41-45 46-51 52-56 > 56
35-39 < 28 28-32 33-38 39-43 44-48 49-54 > 54
40-44 < 26 26-31 32-35 36-41 42-46 47-51 > 51
45-49 < 25 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-43 44-48 > 48
50-54 < 24 24-27 28-32 33-36 37-41 42-46 > 46
55-59 < 22 22-26 27-30 31-34 35-39 40-43 > 43
60-65 < 21 21-24 25-28 29-32 33-36 37-40 > 40
Women
Age/Years Very low Low Fair Moderate Good Very good Elite
20-24 < 27 27-31 32-36 37-41 42-46 47-51 > 51
25-29 < 26 26-30 31-35 36-40 41-44 45-49 > 49
30-34 < 25 25-29 30-33 34-37 38-42 43-46 > 46
35-39 < 24 24-27 28-31 32-35 36-40 41-44 > 44
40-44 < 22 22-25 26-29 30-33 34-37 38-41 > 41
45-49 < 21 21-23 24-27 28-31 32-35 36-38 > 38
50-54 < 19 19-22 23-25 26-29 30-32 33-36 > 36
55-59 < 18 18-20 21-23 24-27 28-30 31-33 > 33
60-65 < 16 16-18 19-21 22-24 25-27 28-30 > 30
The classification is based on a literature review of 62 studies where VO
2max
was measured directly in healthy adult
subjects in the USA, Canada and 7 European countries. Reference: Shvartz E, Reibold RC. Aerobic fitness norms for males
and females aged 6 to 75 years: a review. Aviat Space Environ Med; 61:3-11, 1990.
There may be some daily variation in the Running Indexes. Many factors influence Running Index. The value you receive on
a given day is affected by changes in running circumstances, for example different surface, wind or temperature, in
addition to other factors.
Long-term analysis
The single Running Index values form a trend that predicts your success in running certain distances. You can find your
Running Index report in the Polar Flow web service under the PROGRESS tab. The report shows you how your running
performance has improved over a longer time period. If you're using the Polar Running program to train for a running event,
you can follow your Running Index progress to see how your running is improving towards the goal.
The following chart estimates the duration that a runner can achieve in certain distances when performing maximally. Use
your long-term Running Index average in the interpretation of the chart. The prediction is best for those Running Index
values that have been received at speed and running circumstances similar to the target performance.
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Running Index Cooper test (m) 5 km (h:mm:ss) 10 km (h:mm:ss) 21.098 km (h:m-
m:ss)
42.195 km (h:m-
m:ss)
36 1800 0:36:20 1:15:10 2:48:00 5:43:00
38 1900 0:34:20 1:10:50 2:38:00 5:24:00
40 2000 0:32:20 1:07:00 2:29:30 5:06:00
42 2100 0:30:40 1:03:30 2:21:30 4:51:00
44 2200 0:29:10 1:00:20 2:14:30 4:37:00
46 2300 0:27:50 0:57:30 2:08:00 4:24:00
48 2400 0:26:30 0:55:00 2:02:00 4:12:00
50 2500 0:25:20 0:52:40 1:57:00 4:02:00
52 2600 0:24:20 0:50:30 1:52:00 3:52:00
54 2700 0:23:20 0:48:30 1:47:30 3:43:00
56 2800 0:22:30 0:46:40 1:43:30 3:35:00
58 2900 0:21:40 0:45:00 1:39:30 3:27:00
60 3000 0:20:50 0:43:20 1:36:00 3:20:00
62 3100 0:20:10 0:41:50 1:32:30 3:13:00
64 3200 0:19:30 0:40:30 1:29:30 3:07:00
66 3300 0:18:50 0:39:10 1:26:30 3:01:00
68 3350 0:18:20 0:38:00 1:24:00 2:55:00
70 3450 0:17:50 0:36:50 1:21:30 2:50:00
72 3550 0:17:10 0:35:50 1:19:00 2:45:00
74 3650 0:16:40 0:34:50 1:17:00 2:40:00
76 3750 0:16:20 0:33:50 1:14:30 2:36:00
78 3850 0:15:50 0:33:00 1:12:30 2:32:00
TRAINING BENEFIT
Training Benefit gives you textual feedback on the effect of each training session helping you to better understand the
effectiveness of your training. You can see the feedback in Flow app and Flow web service. To get the feedback, you
need to have trained at least a total of 10 minutes in the heart rate zones.
Training Benefit feedback is based on heart rate zones. It reads into how much time you spend and how many calories you
burn in each zone.
The descriptions of different training benefit options are listed in the table below
Feedback Benefit
Maximum training+ What a session! You improved your sprint speed and the nervous system of your muscles,
which make you more efficient. This session also increased your resistance to fatigue.
Maximum training What a session! You improved your sprint speed and the nervous system of your muscles,
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Feedback Benefit
which make you more efficient.
Maximum & Tempo training What a session! You improved your speed and efficiency. This session also significantly
developed your aerobic fitness and your ability to sustain high intensity effort for longer.
Tempo & Maximum training What a session! You significantly improved your aerobic fitness and your ability to sustain
high intensity effort for longer. This session also developed your speed and efficiency.
Tempo training+ Great pace in a long session! You improved your aerobic fitness, speed, and ability to sus-
tain high intensity effort for longer. This session also increased your resistance to fatigue.
Tempo training Great pace! You improved your aerobic fitness, speed, and ability to sustain high intensity
effort for longer.
Tempo & Steady state train-
ing
Good pace! You improved your ability to sustain high intensity effort for longer. This ses-
sion also developed your aerobic fitness and the endurance of your muscles.
Steady state & Tempo train-
ing
Good pace! You improved your aerobic fitness and the endurance of your muscles. This
session also developed your ability to sustain high intensity effort for longer.
Steady state training + Excellent! This long session improved the endurance of your muscles and your aerobic fit-
ness. It also increased your resistance to fatigue.
Steady state training Excellent! You improved the endurance of your muscles and your aerobic fitness.
Steady state & Basic train-
ing, long
Excellent! This long session improved the endurance of your muscles and your aerobic fit-
ness. It also developed your basic endurance and your body's ability to burn fat during
exercise.
Steady state & Basic train-
ing
Excellent! You improved the endurance of your muscles and your aerobic fitness. This ses-
sion also developed your basic endurance and your body's ability to burn fat during exer-
cise.
Basic & Steady state train-
ing, long
Great! This long session improved your basic endurance and your body's ability to burn fat
during exercise. It also developed the endurance of your muscles and your aerobic fitness.
Basic & Steady state train-
ing
Great! You improved your basic endurance and your body's ability to burn fat during exer-
cise. This session also developed the endurance of your muscles and your aerobic fitness.
Basic training, long Great! This long, low intensity session improved your basic endurance and your body's abil-
ity to burn fat during exercise.
Basic training Well done! This low intensity session improved your basic endurance and your body's abil-
ity to burn fat during exercise.
Recovery training Very nice session for your recovery. Light exercise like this allows your body to adapt to
your training.
SMART CALORIES
The most accurate calorie counter on the market calculates the number of calories burned based on your individual data:
l
Body weight, height, age, gender
l
Individual maximum heart rate (HR
max
)
l
The intensity of your training or activity
l
Individual maximal oxygen uptake (VO2
max
)
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The calorie calculation is based on an intelligent combination of acceleration and heart rate data. The calorie calculation
measures your training calories accurately.
You can see your cumulative energy expenditure (in kilocalories, kcal) during training sessions, and your total kilocalories of
the session afterwards. You can also follow your total daily calories.
CONTINUOUS HEART RATE
The Continuous heart rate feature measures your heart rate around the clock. It enables a more accurate measurement of
daily calorie consumption and your overall activity because also physical activities with very little wrist movement, such as
cycling, can now be tracked.
Continuous heart rate on your watch
You can turn the Continuous heart rate feature on, off or to night-time only mode on your watch in Settings > General
settings > Continuous HR tracking. If you choose Night-time only mode, set heart rate tracking to begin at the earliest time
you might go to bed.
The feature is off by default. Keeping the Continuous Heart Rate feature on in your watch will drain the battery
quicker. Continuous heart rate tracking needs to be enabled for Nightly Recharge to function. If you want to
save battery and still use Nightly Recharge, set the continuous heart rate tracking to be on only at night.
In time view, use the UP and DOWN buttons to navigate to the heart rate watch face. Press OK to open a detailed view.
When the feature is on, the watch continuously measures your heart rate and displays it on the
Heart rate watch face. When opening the details, you can check your highest and lowest heart rate
readings of the day and also view what your lowest heart rate reading of the previous night was.
The watch tracks your heart rate in 5-minute intervals and records the data for later analysis in the
Flow app or web service. If the watch detects that your heart rate is elevated, it starts to record
your heart rate continuously. Continuous recording can also start based on your wrist movements,
for example, when you’re walking with a fast enough pace for at least one minute. The continuous
recording of your heart rate stops automatically when your activity level drops low enough. When
your watch detects that your arm is not moving or when your heart rate is not elevated it tracks
your heart rate in 5-minute cycles to find your lowest reading of the day.
In some cases, it is possible that you’ve seen a higher or lower heart rate on your watch during the
day than is shown in the continuous heart rate summary as the highest or lowest reading of your
day. This can happen if the reading you’ve seen falls outside the tracking interval.
The LEDs on the back of your watch are always on when the continuous heart rate
feature is on and the sensor on the back is in touch with your skin. For instructions on
how to wear your watch for accurate heart rate readings from the wrist, see Wrist-
based heart rate measurement.
You can follow the Continuous Heart Rate data in more detail and in longer periods in Polar Flow, either in web or in the
mobile app. Learn more about the Continuous Heart Rate feature in this in-depth guide.
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24/7 ACTIVITY TRACKING
Your watch tracks your activity with an internal 3D accelerometer that records your wrist movements. It analyzes the
frequency, intensity and regularity of your movements together with your physical information, allowing you to see how
active you really are in your everyday life, on top of your regular training. You should wear your watch on your non-dominant
hand to ensure you get the most accurate activity tracking.
Activity Goal
You'll get your personal activity goal when you set up your watch. The activity goal is based on your personal data and
activity level setting, which you can find on your watch (Settings > Physical settings > Activity level), in the Polar Flow app
or in the Polar Flow web service.
If you want to change your goal, open your Flow app, tap your name/profile photo in the menu view, and swipe down to see
Activity goal. Or go to flow.polar.com and sign in to your Polar account. Then click your name > Settings > Activity goal.
Choose one of the three activity levels that best describes your typical day and activity. Below the selection area, you can
see how active you need to be to reach your daily activity goal on the chosen level.
The time you need to be active during the day to reach your activity goal depends on the level you have chosen and the
intensity of your activities. Meet your goal faster with more intense activities or stay active at a slightly more moderate
pace throughout the day. Age and gender also affect the intensity you need to reach your activity goal. The younger you are,
the more intense your activity needs to be.
Activity data on your watch
In time view, use the UP and DOWN buttons to navigate to the Activity watch face.
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The circle around the watch face and the percentage below time and date show your progress
towards your daily activity goal. The circle fills with light blue color as you are active.
In addition, you can see the following details of your day’s accumulated activity:
l
Steps you've taken so far. The amount and type of body movements are registered and turned into an estimation of
steps.
l
Active time tells you the cumulative time of body movements that benefit your health.
l
Calories you've burned through training, activity and BMR (Basal metabolic rate: the minimum metabolic activity
required to maintain life).
Inactivity alert
It's widely known that physical activity is a major factor in maintaining health. In addition to being physically active, it's
important to avoid prolonged sitting. Sitting for long periods of time is bad for your health, even on those days when you
train and gain enough daily activity. Your watch spots if you’re being inactive for too long during your day and this way
helps you to break up your sitting to avoid the negative effects it has on your health.
If you’ve been still for 55 minutes, you'll get an inactivity alert: It's time to move is shown along with a small vibration. Stand
up and find your own way to be active. Take a short walk, stretch, or do some other light activity. The message goes away
when you start moving or press the button. If you don't get active in five minutes, you'll get an inactivity stamp, which you
can see on the Flow app and Flow web service after syncing. The Flow app and Flow web service show you the whole
history of how many inactivity stamps you have received. This way you can check back on your daily routine and make
changes towards a more active life.
Activity data in the Flow App and web service
With the Flow app you can follow and analyze your activity data on the go and sync it wirelessly from your watch to the
Flow web service. The Flow web service gives you the most detailed insight into your activity information. With the help of
the activity reports (under the REPORTS tab), you can follow the long-term trend of your daily activity. You can choose to
view either daily, weekly or monthly reports.
Learn more about the 24/7 Activity tracking feature in this in-depth guide.
ACTIVITY GUIDE
The Activity Guide feature shows how active you've been during the day, and tells you how much you need to still do to
reach the recommendations for physical activity per day. You can check how you’re doing in reaching your activity goal for
the day either from your watch, from the Polar Flow app or web service.
For more information, see 24/7 Activity Tracking.
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ACTIVITY BENEFIT
Activity benefit gives you feedback on the health benefits that being active has given you, and also on what kind of
unwanted effects sitting for too long has caused to your health. The feedback is based on international guidelines and
research on the health effects of physical activity and sitting behavior. The core idea is: the more active you are, the more
benefits you get!
Both the Flow app and Flow web service show the activity benefit of your daily activity. You can view the activity benefit on
daily, weekly and monthly basis. In the Flow web service, you can also view the detailed information on health benefits.
For more information, see 24/7 Activity Tracking.
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NIGHTLY RECHARGE™ RECOVERY MEASUREMENT
Nightly Recharge™ is an overnight recovery measurement that shows you how well you recover from the demands of your
day. Your Nightly Recharge status is based on two components: how you slept (sleep charge) and how well your
autonomic nervous system (ANS) calmed down during the early hours of your sleep (ANS charge). Both components are
formed by comparing your last night to your usual levels from the past 28 days. Your watch automatically measures both
sleep charge and ANS charge during the night.
You can see your Nightly Recharge status on your watch and in the Polar Flow app. Based on what we've measured from
you, you get personalized daily tips in Polar Flow app on exercise, and tips on sleep and regulating your energy levels on
those particularly rough days. Nightly Recharge helps you make optimal choices in your everyday life to maintain overall
well-being and reach your training goals.
How tostart using Nightly Recharge?
1. Continuous heart rate tracking needs to be enabled for Nightly Recharge to function. To
enable Continuous HR tracking go to Settings > General Settings > Continuous HR
tracking and choose On or Night-time only.
2. Tighten the wristband firmly around your wrist and wear the watch when you sleep. The
sensor on the back of the watch must be in constant touch with your skin. For more
detailed wearing instructions, see Wrist-based heart rate measurement.
3. You need to wear your watch for three nights before you start to see the Nightly Recharge
status on your watch. This is how long it takes to establish your usual level. Before you get
your Nightly Recharge you can view your sleep and ANS measurement details (heart rate,
heart rate variability and breathing rate). After three successful nightly measurements you
can see your Nightly Recharge status on your watch.
Nightly Recharge on your watch
Already awake? is shown on the Nightly Recharge watch face when your watch has detected a minimum of four hours of
sleep. Press OK to tell the watch that you're awake. Confirm with OK and the watch summarizes your Nightly Recharge
instantly. The Nightly Recharge status tells you how restorative last night was. Scores for both ANS charge and sleep
charge are taken into account when calculating your Nightly Recharge status. Nightly Recharge status has the following
scale: very poor – poor – compromised – OK – good – very good.
In time view, use the UP and DOWN buttons to navigate to the Nightly Recharge watch face. Press OK to open detailed
Nightly recharge view.
Scroll down to ANS charge details/Sleep charge details and press OK to see further information about your ANS charge
and your sleep charge.
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1. Nightly Recharge status graph
2. Nightly Recharge status Scale: very poor – poor – compromised – OK – good – very good.
3. ANS charge graph
4. ANS charge The scale is from -10 to +10. Around zero is your usual level.
5. ANS charge status Scale: much below usual – below usual – usual – above usual – much above usual.
6. Heart rate bpm (4 h average)
7. Beat-to-beat interval ms (4 h average)
8. Heart rate variability ms (4 h average)
9. Breathing rate br./min (4 h average)
10. Sleep score graph
11. Sleep score (1 - 100) A score that summarizes your sleep time and sleep quality into a single number.
12. Sleep charge status = Sleep score compared to your usual level. Scale: much below usual – below usual – usual –
above usual – much above usual.
13. Sleep data details. See "Sleep data on your watch" on page79 for more detailed information.
Nightly Recharge in the Flow app
You can compare and analyze your Nightly Recharge details from different nights in the Polar Flow app. Choose Nightly
Recharge from the Flow app menu to see the details of your last night's Nightly Recharge. Swipe the display right to see
the Nightly Recharge details for previous days. Tap the ANS charge or sleep charge box to open detailed view of ANS
charge or sleep charge.
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ANS charge details in the Flow app
ANS charge gives you information on how well your autonomic nervous system
(ANS) calmed down during the night. The scale is from -10 to +10. Around zero is
your usual level. The ANS charge is formed by measuring your heart rate, heart rate
variability and breathing rate during roughly the first four hours of sleep.
A normal heart rate value for adults can range between 40 and 100 bpm. It is
common for your heart rate values to vary between nights. Mental or physical stress,
exercising late at night, illness, or alcohol can keep your heart rate up during the early
hours of your sleep. It's best to compare your last night's value to your usual level.
Heart rate variability (HRV) refers to the variation between successive heart beats.
In general, high heart rate variability is linked to general good health, high
cardiovascular fitness and resilience to stress. It can vary greatly from person to
person, ranging from 20 to 150. It's best to compare your last night's value to your
usual level.
Breathing rate shows your average breathing rate during roughly the first four hours
of sleep. It is calculated from your beat-to-beat interval data. Your beat-to-beat
intervals shorten when you breathe in and lengthen when you breathe out. During
sleep, breathing rate slows down and varies mainly along with sleep stages. Typical
values for a healthy adult at rest range from 12 to 20 breaths per minute. Higher
values than usual may indicate a fever or impending illness.
Sleep charge details in Polar Flow
For sleep charge information in the Polar Flow app, see "Sleep data in the Flow app and web service" on page80.
Personalized tips in the Flow app
Based on what we've measured from you, you get personalized daily tips in the Polar Flow app on exercise, and tips on
sleep and regulating your energy levels on those particularly rough days. Tips for the day are displayed on the opening
view of Nightly Recharge in the Flow app.
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For exercise
You get an exercise tip every day. It tells you if you should take it easy or go for it. The tips are based on:
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Nightly Recharge status
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ANS charge
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Sleep charge
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Cardio load status
For sleep
If you didn't sleep as well as usual, you get a sleep tip. It tells you how to improve the aspects of your sleep that weren't as
good as usual. Besides parameters we measure from your sleep, we take into account:
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sleep rhythm over a longer period of time
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Cardio load status
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exercise on the previous day
For regulating energy levels
If your ANS charge status or sleep charge is particularly low, you get a tip that helps you get through the days with a lower
recharge. They are practical tips on how to calm down when you're in overdrive, and how to energize when you need a
boost.
Learn more about the Nightly Recharge in this in-depth guide.
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SLEEP PLUS STAGES™ SLEEP TRACKING
Sleep Plus Stages automatically tracks the amount and quality of your sleep and shows you how long you spent in each
sleep stage. It gathers your sleep time and sleep quality components into one easily glanceable value, sleep score. Sleep
score tells you how well you slept compared to the indicators of a good night’s sleep based on the current sleep science.
Comparing the components of the sleep score to your own usual level help you recognize which aspects of your daily
routine may affect your sleep and may need adjusting. Nightly breakdowns of your sleep are available on your watch and in
the Polar Flow app. Long-term sleep data in the Polar Flow web service helps you analyze your sleep patterns in detail.
How to start tracking your sleep with Polar Sleep Plus Stages™
1. The first thing you need to do is set your preferred sleep time in the Polar Flow or on your watch. In the Flow app,
tap your profile, and choose Your preferred sleep time. Choose your preferred time and tap Done. Or sign into
your Flow account or create a new one at flow.polar.com, and choose Settings > Physical settings > Your
preferred sleep time. Set your preferred time and choose Save. Set your preferred sleep time on your watch from
Settings > Physical settings > Your preferred sleep time.
Sleep time preference is the amount of sleep you want to get each night. By default, it is set to the average
recommendation for your age group (eight hours for adults from 18 to 64 years). If you feel that eight hours of
sleep is too much or too little for you, we recommend you adjust your preferred sleep time to meet your individual
needs. By doing this, you’ll get accurate feedback on how much sleep you got in comparison to your preferred
sleep time.
2. Continuous heart rate tracking needs to be enabled for Sleep Plus Stages to function. To enable Continuous HR
tracking go to Settings > General Settings > Continuous HR tracking and select On or Night-time only. Tighten
the wristband firmly around your wrist. The sensor on the back of the watch must be in constant touch with your
skin. For more detailed wearing instructions, see Wrist-based heart rate measurement.
3. Your watch detects when you fall asleep, when you wake up and how long you spent sleeping. The Sleep Plus
Stages measurement is based on recording the movements of your non-dominant hand with a built-in 3D
acceleration sensor and recording your heart’s beat-to-beat interval data from your wrist with an optical heart rate
sensor.
4. In the morning you can see your sleep score (1-100) from your watch. You get sleep stages information (light
sleep, deep sleep, REM sleep) and a sleep score after one night, including feedback on sleep themes (amount,
solidity and regeneration). After the third night, you get a comparison to your usual level.
5. You can record your own perception of your sleep quality in the morning by rating it on your watch or in the Flow
app. Your own rating is not taken into account in the sleep charge calculation, but you can record your own
perception and compare it to the sleep charge assessment you get.
Sleep data on your watch
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When you wake up you can access your sleep details via the Nightly Recharge watch face. Press
OK to open the Nightly recharge status details and then scroll down to Sleep charge details with
the DOWN button. Press OK to open the details.
You can also stop the sleep tracking manually. Already awake? is shown on the Nightly recharge
watch face when your watch has detected a minimum of four hours of sleep. Press OK to tell the
watch that you're awake. Confirm with OK and the watch summarizes your sleep instantly.
The sleep charge details view displays the following information:
1. Sleep score status graph
2. Sleep score (1-100) A score that summarizes your sleep time and sleep quality into a
single number.
3. Sleep charge = Sleep score compared to your usual level. Scale: much below usual –
below usual – usual – above usual – much above usual.
4. Sleep time tells you the total duration between when you fell asleep and when you woke
up.
5. Actual sleep (%) tells the time spent asleep between the time you fell asleep and when
you woke up. More specifically, it is your sleep time minus the interruptions. Only the time
you actually spend asleep is included in actual sleep.
6. Continuity (1-5): Sleep continuity is a rating of how continuous your sleep time was. Sleep
continuity is evaluated on a scale from one to five: fragmented – fairly fragmented – fairly
continuous – continuous – very continuous.
7. Long interruptions (min) tells the time you spent awake during the interruptions longer
than one minute. During a normal night's sleep there are numerous short and long
interruptions when you actually awaken from your sleep. Whether you remember these
interruptions or not depends on their duration. The shorter ones we don’t usually
remember. The longer ones, for instance when one might get up for a sip of water, we can
remember. Interruptions are illustrated as yellow bars on your sleep timeline.
8. Sleep cycles: A normal sleeper typically goes through 4-5 sleep cycles over the course of
a night. This equals to a sleep time of approximately 8 hours.
9. REM sleep %: REM stands for rapid eye movement. REM sleep is also called paradoxical
sleep as your brain is active but your muscles are inactive to avoid acting out dreams.
Just as deep sleep restores your body, REM sleep restores your mind, and enhances
memory and learning.
10. Deep sleep %: Deep sleep is the stage of sleep in which it is hard to be awakened since
your body is less responsive to environmental stimuli. Most deep sleep occurs during the
first half of the night. This sleep stage restores your body and supports your immune
system. It also affects certain aspects of memory and learning. The stage of deep sleep is
also called slow wave sleep.
11. Light sleep %: Light sleep serves as a transition stage between wakefulness and the
deeper stages of sleep. You can be easily awoken from light sleep since your
responsiveness to the environmental stimuli remains quite high. Light sleep also
promotes mental and physical recovery, although REM and deep sleep are the most
important sleep stages in that regard.
Sleep data in the Flow app and web service
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How you sleep is always individual — instead of comparing your sleep stats to others, follow your own long-term sleeping
patterns to get a full understanding of how you sleep. Sync your watch with the Flow app after waking up to see your last
night’s sleep data in Polar Flow. Follow your sleep on a daily and weekly basis in the Flow app, and see how your sleeping
habits and activity during the day affect your sleep.
Choose Sleep from the Flow app menu to see your sleep data. In the Sleep structure view you see how your sleep has
progressed through different sleep stages (light sleep, deep sleep and REM sleep) and any interruptions to your sleep.
Usually sleep cycles proceed from light sleep into deep sleep and then to REM sleep. Typically, a night's sleep consists of
4 to 5 sleep cycles. This equals to approximately 8 hours of sleep. During a normal night's sleep there are numerous short
and long interruptions. The long interruptions are displayed with the tall orange bars in the sleep structure graph.
The six components of the sleep score are grouped under three themes: amount (sleep time), solidity (long interruptions,
continuity and actual sleep) and regeneration (REM sleep and deep sleep). Each bar in the graph represents the score for
each component. Sleep score is the average of these scores. By choosing the weekly view you can see how your sleep
score and sleep quality (solidity and regeneration themes) vary during the week.
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The Sleep rhythm section provides a weekly view of your sleep time and sleep stages.
To view your long-term sleep data with sleep stages in the Flow web service go to Progress, and choose the Sleep report
tab.
Sleep report gives you a long-term view to your sleep patterns. You can choose to view your sleep details for a 1-month,
3-month or 6-month period. You’re able to see averages for the following sleep data: fell asleep, woke up, sleep time, REM
sleep, deep sleep and interruptions to your sleep. You can view a nightly breakdown of your sleep data by hovering your
mouse over the sleep graph.
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Learn more about the Polar Sleep Plus Stages in this in-depth guide.
SLEEPWISE™
Polar SleepWiseTM helps you grasp how sleep contributes to your daytime alertness level and readiness to perform. In
addition to the amount and quality of your recent sleep, we also take the effect of sleep rhythm into account. SleepWise
shows how your recent sleep boosts your daytime alertness and readiness to perform. This is what we call Boost from
sleep. It helps you reach and maintain a healthy sleep rhythm and it describes how your recent sleep affects your daytime
alertness. Better alertness adds up to better readiness to perform by improving reaction time, accuracy, judgement and
decision-making.
To ensure personalized feedback, please make sure that your Preferred sleep time setting matches your real sleep need.
SleepWise is completely automatic and all you need to do is to track your sleep with Sleep Plus Stages compatible Polar
watch. It is available in the Polar Flow app.
Daily Boost from sleep
Note that you need to have at least five sleep results within the last seven days in order to see your Boost from sleep
forecasts. In case you haven't worn your watch or if the sleep tracking was not successful, you can also add sleep times
manually in the app to increase your sleep result count.
To see your Boost from sleep forecasts in the Polar Flow app, choose Boost from sleep from the menu or get a glance of
the daily Boost from sleep forecast from the card in the Diary. Tapping the card opens the daily Boost from sleep view.
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Boost from sleep view opens:
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In the morning, you can see a forecast for how your sleep boost is expected to vary throughout the day, and plan alertness
boosting activities accordingly (such as naps, coffee, or a walk outside). This provides simple visual and numeric feedback
on any changes in your sleep rhythm. This way, you can easily recognize if the changes are for better or for worse. This
helps helps you understand how the effects of sleep accumulate in the long run. It makes the impact of sleep debt and
irregular sleep-wake rhythm visible.
Boost score summarizes the daily forecast into one number in order to make it easy to compare between days. Your boost
score may be excellent, good, fair, or modest. Excellent boost score means that you get all the benefits of good sleep to
support your day. Your boost score may be modest if you, for example, have a lot of sleep debt. You might see repeating
patterns in the trend, for instance, because of weekends.
The daily Forecast graph shows how your recent sleep is expected to boost you throughout the day.
The lighter the shade and higher the bar, the higher the boost level. It means you're likely to feel sharp and ready to
perform. The darker the shade and lower the boost. It means you may feel less alert – even drowsy.
Boost levels
Please notice that our forecast is based on sleep only. It doesn't react to anything else you might or might not do during the
day. In other words, the graph won't react to the cups of coffee you might consume or the cold showers or brisk walks you
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might take. Inner motivation also plays a role in how sharp you feel. No matter how high your sleep-based boost level,
you're likely to start feeling drowsy during the course of a very boring lecture. On the other hand, you might feel quite sharp
even after a bad night's sleep, if you have a truly interesting task at hand. By following the daily forecast, you'll learn that
your boost level tends to dip in the afternoon for some time and then go up again. There's no reason to worry about this
afternoon slump though. It's regulated by your internal rhythm and is natural to all human beings. By studying the course of
your past forecasts, you can learn how today's boost levels are not only affected by last night's sleep but also your recent
sleep history. Staying up late on weekends, for example, can affect several days.
Sleep gate anticipates the time when your body is ready to fall asleep. However, your body's internal rhythm might not
always align with your everyday commitments. That's why your sleep gate is not always your ideal bedtime in real life. This
could be the case, for example, when you go back to work after a break – be it a longer vacation or just a weekend break.
Weekly sleep
In the Weekly sleep view you can compare and analyze your Sleep details from different nights. Tap the calendar icon to
access it.
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Boost from sleep graph shows how your sleep has affected your days lately. Based on this, you can consider making
changes to your sleep schedule.
Sleep & Internal rhythm graph shows how much your actual sleep rhythm deviates from your body's internal circadian
rhythm. Syncing these two rhythms – actual and internal – has many health benefits. Sticking to regular bedtimes and
wake-up times can help you sync them. You can see how your behavior affects your internal rhythm. For example, staying
up late on weekends or traveling over time zones may upset the sync of your rhythms.
Sleep gate anticipates the time when your body is ready to fall asleep. This may be clearly recognizable from your data or
not. Irregular sleep rhythm or unusual sleeping hours can mess your internal rhythm and make sleep gate less prominent.
Sleep gate recognizability
You can expect your sleep gate to be clearly recognizable (3/3), if your sleep rhythm is regular. In case your sleep rhythm
changes drastically, your sleep gate is difficult to recognize.
Internal rhythm
Your body's internal rhythm means there are times when your body naturally wants to be asleep or awake. The purple lines
in the graph show your sleep window – the time span when your body would've naturally wanted to be asleep. The blue
bars show your actual sleep rhythm. Syncing these two rhythms – actual and internal – has many health benefits. Sticking
to regular bedtimes and wake-up times can help you sync them.
Many people working office hours tend to stay up late and sleep in on weekends. This is how they end up shifting their
sleep gate towards staying up late on Sunday night as well. In this very typical case of social jet lag, trouble falling asleep
on Sunday night may result in starting a new working week sleep-deprived. Going by the book, the trick to avoid Sunday
insomnia and sleep-deprived Mondays is to go to bed and get up at the same time every day. However, if you've ended up
staying up late, you should rather compensate that with a nice early afternoon nap instead of sleeping in.
Scientific background
Polar SleepWise feature utilizes sleep tracking and biomathematical modeling for predicting daytime alertness based on
how one has slept recently. To predict how sleep boosts one’s alertness, Polar model evaluates sleep amount, quality, and
timing against personal sleep need and one’s body’s internal circadian rhythm. The model predicts one's boost levels hour-
by-hour, daily boost score, sleep gate, and sleep window. A sleep gate marks the start of one's sleep window - the time
when one's body would naturally want to be asleep. It takes from 1 to 2 weeks for SleepWise to collect enough data to
reach full reliability.
Biomathematical modeling is a generally accepted means to predict how different sleep schedules impact on alertness
during waking hours. Several biomathematical models have been introduced in the scientific literature. While the details
and terminology between the models differ, the models typically consider time awake, sleep-wake history, and the
circadian rhythm. The outputs of the models have typically been validated against a psychomotor vigilance task after
modest or severe sleep restrictions. The psychomotor vigilance task is a simple task where one presses a button as soon
as the light appears on a screen. Results from such a task correlate with maintaining attention, problem solving, and
decision making.
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SERENE™ GUIDED BREATHING EXERCISE
Serene™ is a guided deep breathing exercise that helps you relax your body and mind and manage stress. Serene guides
you to breathe at a slow, regular rhythm – six breaths per minute, which is the optimal breathing rate for stress-relieving
effects. When you breathe slowly, your heart beat starts to synchronize with the rhythm of your breathing and your heart’s
beat-to-beat intervals start to vary more.
During the breathing exercise your watch helps you maintain a regular slow breathing rhythm with an animation on the
watch display and by vibrating. Serene measures your body’s response to the exercise and gives you real-time biofeedback
on how you're doing. After the exercise, you get a summary of the time you spent on the three serenity zones. The higher
the zone, the better the synchronization with the optimal rhythm was. The more time you spend in the higher zones, the
more benefits you can expect to feel in the long-term. When you use the Serene breathing exercise regularly, it can help you
manage stress, improve the quality of your sleep and give you a sense of improved overall well-being.
Serene breathing exercise on your watch
The Serene breathing exercise guides you to breathe deeply and slowly to calm down the body and mind. When you
breathe slowly, your heart beat starts to synchronize with the rhythm of your breathing. Your heart's beat-to-beat intervals
vary more when your breathing is deeper and slower. Deep breathing produces measurable responses in the heart’s beat-
to-beat intervals. When you breath in, intervals between consecutive heart beats shorten (heart rate speeds up) and when
you breath out, intervals between consecutive heart beats lengthen (heart rate slows down). The variance of your heart's
beat-to-beat intervals is greatest when you are closest to the 6 breathing cycles per minute rhythm (inhale + exhale = 10
seconds). This is the optimal rate for stress-relieving effects. This is why your success is measured not only from the
synchronization, but also from how close you were to the optimal breathing rate.
The default duration of Serene breathing exercise is 3 minutes. You can adjust the duration of the breathing exercise in
range between 2-20 minutes. You can also adjust inhale and exhale durations if needed. Fastest breathing frequency can
be 3 seconds for inhale and 3 seconds for exhale resulting 10 breaths per minute. Slowest breathing frequency is 5
seconds for inhale and 7 seconds for exhale resulting 5 breaths per minute.
Check that your position allows you to keep your arms relaxed and your hands still throughout the entire breathing
exercise. This allows you to relax properly and ensures that your Polar watch can accurately measure the effects of the
session.
1. Wear your watch snugly just behind the wrist bone.
2. Sit or lie down comfortably.
3. On your watch, choose Serene and then choose Start to start breathing exercise. Exercise starts with a 15
seconds preparatory phase.
4. Follow the breathing guidance on the display or through the vibration.
5. You can end the exercise by pressing the BACK button at any time.
6. The main guiding element in the animation changes color according to which serenity zone you're currently in.
7. After the exercise, you'll see your results displayed on your watch as time spent in the different serenity zones.
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The serenity zones are Amethyst, Sapphire and Diamond. The serenity zones tell you how well your heartbeat and
breathing are in sync and how close you are to the optimal breathing rate of six breaths per minute. The higher the zone,
the better the synchronization with the optimal rhythm. For the highest serenity zone, Diamond, you need to sustain a
slow target rhythm of around six breaths per minute, or slower. The more time you spend in the higher zones, the more
benefits you can expect to feel in the long-term.
Breathing exercise result
After the exercise, you get a summary of the time you spent on the three serenity zones.
Learn more about the Serene™ guided breathing exercise in this in-depth guide.
FITNESS TEST WITH WRIST-BASED HEART RATE
The Polar Fitness Test with wrist-based heart rate is an easy, safe and quick way to estimate your aerobic (cardiovascular)
fitness at rest. It's a simple 5-minute fitness level assessment that gives you an estimate of your maximal oxygen uptake
(VO2max). The Fitness Test calculation is based on your resting heart rate, heart rate variability and your personal
information: gender, age, height, weight, and self-assessment of your physical activity level called the training background.
The Polar Fitness Test is developed for use by healthy adults.
Aerobic fitness relates to how well your cardiovascular system works to transport oxygen to your body. The better your
aerobic fitness, the stronger and more efficient your heart is. Good aerobic fitness has many health benefits. For example,
it helps in decreasing the risk of high blood pressure and your risk of cardiovascular diseases and stroke. If you want to
improve your aerobic fitness it takes, on average, six weeks of regular training to see a noticeable change in your fitness
test result. Less fit individuals see progress even more rapidly. The better your aerobic fitness, the smaller the
improvements in your result.
Aerobic fitness is best improved by training types that use large muscle groups. Such activities include running, cycling,
walking, rowing, swimming, skating, and cross-country skiing. To monitor your progress, start by performing the test a
couple of times during the first two weeks in order to get a baseline value, and then repeat the test approximately once a
month.
To make sure the test results are reliable, the following basic requirements apply:
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You can perform the test anywhere - at home, at the office, at a health club - provided the testing environment is
peaceful. There should be no disturbing noises (e.g. television, radio, or telephone) and no other people talking to
you.
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Always take the test in the same environment and at the same hour.
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Avoid eating a heavy meal or smoking 2-3 hours prior to testing.
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Avoid heavy physical exertion, alcohol, and pharmaceutical stimulants on the test day and the previous day.
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You should be relaxed and calm. Lie down and relax for 1-3 minutes before starting the test.
Before the test
Before starting the test, make sure your physical settings including training background are accurate in Settings > Physical
settings.
Wear your watch snugly on top of your wrist, at least a finger’s width up from the wrist bone. The heart rate sensor on the
back of your watch must be in constant touch with your skin.
Performing the test
On your watch, choose Fitness test > Relax and start the test. The watch starts searching for your heart rate.
When your heart rate is found Lie down & relax is shown on the display. Stay relaxed and limit body movements and
communication with other people.
You can interrupt the test in any phase by pressing BACK. Test canceled is shown.
If the watch cannot receive your heart rate signal, the message Test failed is shown. In which case, you should check that
the heart rate sensor on the back of the watch is in constant touch with your skin. See Wrist-based heart rate measurement
for detailed instructions on wearing your watch when measuring heart rate from your wrist.
Test results
When the test is over, your watch notifies you by vibrating and shows a description of your fitness test result and your
estimated VO
2max
.
Update to VO2
2max
to physical settings? is shown.
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Press OK to save the value to your Physical settings.
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Press BACK to cancel only if you know your recently measured VO
2max
value, and if it differs more than one fitness
level class from the result.
Your latest test result is shown in Tests > Fitness test > Latest result. Only your most recently performed test result is
shown.
For a visual analysis of your Fitness test results, go to the Flow web service and select the test from your Diary to view
details from it.
Your watch syncs with the Flow app automatically after the test if your phone is within the Bluetooth range.
Fitness level classes
Men
Age / Years Very low Low Fair Moderate Good Very good Elite
20-24 < 32 32-37 38-43 44-50 51-56 57-62 > 62
25-29 < 31 31-35 36-42 43-48 49-53 54-59 > 59
30-34 < 29 29-34 35-40 41-45 46-51 52-56 > 56
35-39 < 28 28-32 33-38 39-43 44-48 49-54 > 54
40-44 < 26 26-31 32-35 36-41 42-46 47-51 > 51
45-49 < 25 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-43 44-48 > 48
50-54 < 24 24-27 28-32 33-36 37-41 42-46 > 46
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Age / Years Very low Low Fair Moderate Good Very good Elite
55-59 < 22 22-26 27-30 31-34 35-39 40-43 > 43
60-65 < 21 21-24 25-28 29-32 33-36 37-40 > 40
Women
Age / Years Very low Low Fair Moderate Good Very good Elite
20-24 < 27 27-31 32-36 37-41 42-46 47-51 > 51
25-29 < 26 26-30 31-35 36-40 41-44 45-49 > 49
30-34 < 25 25-29 30-33 34-37 38-42 43-46 > 46
35-39 < 24 24-27 28-31 32-35 36-40 41-44 > 44
40-44 < 22 22-25 26-29 30-33 34-37 38-41 > 41
45-49 < 21 21-23 24-27 28-31 32-35 36-38 > 38
50-54 < 19 19-22 23-25 26-29 30-32 33-36 > 36
55-59 < 18 18-20 21-23 24-27 28-30 31-33 > 33
60-65 < 16 16-18 19-21 22-24 25-27 28-30 > 30
The classification is based on a literature review of 62 studies where VO
2max
was measured directly in healthy adult
subjects in the USA, Canada and 7 European countries. Reference: Shvartz E, Reibold RC. Aerobic fitness norms for males
and females aged 6 to 75 years: a review. Aviat Space Environ Med; 61:3-11, 1990.
VO
2max
A clear link exists between maximal oxygen consumption (VO2
max
) of the body and cardiorespiratory fitness because
oxygen delivery to tissues is dependent on lung and heart function. VO2
max
(maximal oxygen uptake, maximal aerobic
power) is the maximal rate at which oxygen can be used by the body during maximal exercise; it is related directly to the
maximal capacity of the heart to deliver blood to the muscles. VO2
max
can be measured or predicted by fitness tests (e.g.
maximal exercise tests, submaximal exercise tests, Polar Fitness Test). VO2
max
is a good index of cardiorespiratory fitness
and a good predictor of performance capability in endurance events such as distance running, cycling, cross-country
skiing, and swimming.
VO2
max
can be expressed either as milliliters per minute (ml/min = ml ■ min-1) or this value can be divided by the person’s
body weight in kilograms (ml/kg/min = ml ■ kg-1■ min-1).
FITSPARK™ DAILY TRAINING GUIDE
The FitSpark™ training guide offers ready-made daily on-demand workouts available easily right on your watch. The
workouts are built to match your fitness level, training history and your recovery and readiness, based on your Nightly
Recharge status from the previous night. FitSpark gives you 2-4 different workout options every day: one that suits you
best and 1-3 other options to choose from. You get a maximum of four suggestions per day and there are 19 different
workouts in total. Suggestions include workouts from the cardio, strength and supportive training categories.
FitSpark workouts are ready-made training targets defined by Polar. The workouts include instructions on how to perform
the exercises and real-time step-by-step guidance to ensure you exercise safely and with proper technique. All workouts
are time-based, and they are adjusted based on your current fitness level, making the sessions suitable for everyone,
regardless of fitness level. The FitSpark workout suggestions are updated after each training session (including training
sessions done without FitSpark), at midnight and when you wake up. FitSpark keeps your training versatile with different
types of daily workouts to choose from.
How is your fitness level determined?
Your fitness level is determined for every workout suggestion based on your:
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Training history (average weekly heart rate zone realization from the previous 28 days)
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VO2max (from the Fitness test on your watch)
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Training background
You can start using the feature without any training history. However, FitSpark will work optimally after 7 days of use.
The higher the fitness level is, the longer the durations of the training targets are. The most demanding
strength targets are not available at low fitness levels.
What type of exercises are included in the training categories?
In cardio sessions you’re guided to train in different heart rate zones for different durations. Sessions include time-based
warm-up, work and cool-down phases. Cardio sessions can be completed with any sport profile on your watch.
Strength sessions are circuit training type workouts consisting of strength training exercises with time-based guidance.
Bodyweight workouts can be done using your own body as resistance - there is no need for additional weights. In circuit
training workouts you need a bumper plate, a kettlebell or dumbbells to perform the exercises.
Supportive sessions are circuit training type workouts consisting of strength and mobility exercises with time-based
guidance.
FitSpark on your watch
In time view, use the UP and DOWN buttons to navigate to the FitSpark watch face.
The Fitspark watch face includes the following views for different training categories:
PROGRAM WATCH FACE: If you have an active Running Program in Polar Flow your FitSpark suggestions
are based on the Running Program training targets.
Press OK in the Fitspark watch face to view the workout suggestions. The most suitable workout for you based on your
training history and fitness level is shown first. Scroll down to see other optional workout suggestions. Choose a workout
suggestion by pressing OK to see detailed breakdown of the workout. Scroll down to see the exercises included in the
workout (strength and supportive workouts) and choose an individual exercise for detailed instructions on how to
perform the exercise. Scroll to Start and press OK to choose the training target and then choose the sport profile to start
the training target.
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During training
Your watch gives you guidance during training, which includes training information, time-based phases with heart rate
zones for cardio targets and time-based phases with exercises for strength and supportive targets.
Strength training and supportive training sessions are based on ready-made workout plans with exercise animations and
real-time step-by-step guidance. All sessions include timers and vibrations that let you know when it's time to switch to
the next phase. Continue each movement for 40 seconds, then rest until the minute is full and start the next movement.
When you’ve completed all rounds of the first set, start the next set manually. You can end a training session any time you
like. You cannot skip or re-arrange training phases.
Training results on your watch and in Polar Flow
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You'll get a summary of your training session on your watch right after you've finished the session. You'll get a more
detailed analysis in the Polar Flow app or in the Polar Flow web service. For cardio training targets you get a basic training
result, which shows the phases of the session with heart rate data. For strength and supportive training targets you get
detailed training results, which include your average heart rate and time spent on each exercise. These are displayed as a
list, and each exercise is also displayed on the heart rate curve.
Training may include some risk. Before beginning a regular training program please read the Minimizing risks
when training guidance.
POSITIONING SATELLITES
Your watch has built-in GPS (GNSS) that provides speed, pace, distance and altitude measurement for a range of outdoor
sports, and allows you to see your route on map in the Flow app and web service after your session.
You can change the satellite navigation system your watch uses in addition to GPS. The setting is located on your watch in
General settings > Positioning satellites. You can choose GPS + GLONASS, GPS + Galileo or GPS + QZSS. The default
setting is GPS + GLONASS. These options give you the possibility to test different satellite navigation systems and find out
if they can give you improved performance in areas covered by them.
GPS + GLONASS GLONASS is a Russian global satellite navigation system. It is the default setting as its global
satellite visibility and reliability is the best of these three, and in general we recommend using it.
GPS + Galileo Galileo is a global navigation satellite system created by the European Union.
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GPS + QZSS QZSS is a four-satellite regional time transfer system and a satellite-based augmentation system
developed to enhance GPS in the Asia-Oceania regions, with a focus on Japan.
ASSISTED GPS
The watch uses Assisted GPS (A-GPS) to acquire a fast satellite fix. The A-GPS data tells your watch the predicted
positions of the GPS satellites. This way the watch knows where to search for the satellites and thus makes defining your
initial location faster.
The A-GPS data updates once a day. The latest A-GPS data file is automatically updated to your watch each time you sync
it with the Flow web service via FlowSync software or via the Flow app.
A-GPS expiry date
The A-GPS data file is valid for up to 14 days. Positioning accuracy is relatively high during the first three days, and
progressively decreases during the remaining days. Regular updates help to ensure a high level of positioning accuracy.
You can check the expiry date for the current A-GPS data file from your watch. Go to Settings > General settings > About
your watch > Assisted GPS expires. If the data file has expired, sync your watch with the Flow web service via FlowSync
software or with the Flow app to update A-GPS data.
Once the A-GPS data file has expired, more time may be required for acquiring your current position.
For best GPS performance, wear the watch on your wrist with the display facing up. Due to the location of the
GPS antenna on the watch, it is not recommended to wear it with the display on the underside of your wrist.
When wearing it on the handlebars of a bike, make sure the display is facing up.
ROUTE GUIDANCE
The route guidance feature guides you along routes that you have recorded in previous sessions or routes that you've
imported into Flow from a third-party service like komoot or Strava for example. You can also import route files directly into
Flow in GPX or TCX file format.
You can choose to go to the route start point, route end point or nearest point on the route (mid-route). First your watch will
guide you to your chosen start point on the route. Once on the route, your watch will guide you all the way through and keep
you on track. Just follow the guidance on the display. At the bottom of the display you’ll see how much distance you still
have left.
ROUTE AND ELEVATION PROFILES
After choosing a route you'll see an overview of the route, and the elevation profile of it. This helps you identify which route
is which, and what to expect from your session.
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TOTAL ASCENT AND DESCENT FOR PLANNED ROUTES
When starting a planned route you'll see the total ascent and descent on your route. As you go along the route the
ascent/descent values will update and you'll always see the total ascent and descent still left on the route. You'll also see
your current ascent/descent grade. At all times you'll know exactly where you are and how much you have left to go.
When doing an unplanned route you'll see the ascent and descent for the previous kilometer as well as your current
ascent/descent grade.
You can use komoot to plan detailed routes on maps and transfer the routes to your watch via Flow.
ADDING A ROUTE TO YOUR WATCH
To add a route to your watch you must save it as a favorite in the Flow web service or app , and sync it to your watch. For
more information see MANAGE FAVORITES AND TRAINING TARGETS IN POLAR FLOW.
START A TRAINING SESSION WITH ROUTE GUIDANCE
1. Choose the sport profile you want to use, and in pre-training mode, press the LIGHT button to enter the quick menu.
2. Choose Routes from the list, and then choose the route you want to do.
3. Add a carbs reminder or drink reminder if you wish, and then choose Start.
4. Choose where you want to start the route: Start point, Mid-route, End point to reverse direction or Mid-route to
reverse direction.
5. Stay in the pre-training mode until the watch has found your heart rate and the GPS satellite signals, and start your
session by pressing OK. You may be asked to the calibrate the compass before starting your session. If so, follow
the instructions on the display to calibrate it.
6. Your watch will guide you to the route. Route start found is displayed when you reach it, and then you're ready to go.
Route-end point reached is shown when you're finished.
ZOOM
Zoom in or out on your route. Press OK and choose Zoom in/out, and then use the + and - buttons to adjust the route view.
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CHANGE ROUTE ON-THE-FLY
Switch to a different route during your session.
1. Press BACK to pause your session, and press the LIGHT button to enter the quick menu.
2. Choose Routes, the watch then asks you Want to change your route?, choose Yes, and choose a route from the list.
3. Choose Start when you're ready.
BACK TO START
The back to start feature guides you back to the starting point of your session.
To use the back to start feature for one session:
1. In pre-training mode, press the LIGHT button to enter the quick menu.
2. Choose Back to start from the list, and choose on.
You can also set back to start on during a training session by pausing your session and opening the quick menu with the
LIGHT button and by scrolling to Back to start, and choosing on.
If you add the back to start training view to a sport profile in Polar Flow, it is always set on for that sport profile and it does
not need to be switched on every session.
To return to your starting point:
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Keep your watch in a horizontal position in front of you.
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Keep moving in order for your watch to determine which direction you are going. An arrow will point in the direction
of your starting point.
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To get back to the starting point, always turn in the direction of the arrow.
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Your watch also shows the bearing and the direct distance (beeline) between you and the starting point.
When in unfamiliar surroundings, always keep a map at hand in case the watch loses the satellite signal or the battery runs
out.
RACE PACE
The race pace feature helps you to keep a steady pace and achieve your target time for a set distance. Define a target time
for the distance - 45 minutes for a 10k run for example and follow how far behind or ahead you are compared to your pre-
set target.
Race pace can be set on your watch, or you can also set a Race Pace target in the Flow web service or app, and sync it to
your watch.
If you have scheduled race pace target for that day your watch suggests you to start it when entering pre-training mode.
Create a race pace target on your watch
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You can create race pace target from the Quick menu in pre-training mode.
1. Enter pre-training mode by pressing and holding OK in time view or by pressing BACK to enter the main menu and
choose Start training
2. In pre-training mode, press the LIGHT button to enter the quick menu.
3. Choose Race pace from the list and set the distance and duration. Press OK to confirm. The watch displays the
pace/speed required to meet your target time and then returns to pre-training mode where you can start the training
session.
STRAVA LIVE SEGMENTS
Strava Segments are previously defined sections of road or trail where athletes can compete for time in cycling or running.
Segments are defined in Strava.com and can be created by any Strava user. You can use segments to compare your own
times, or to compare with other Strava users' times who have also completed the segment. Each segment has a public
leaderboard with King/Queen of the Mountain (KOM/QOM) who has the best time for that segment.
Note that you need to have a Strava Summit Analysis pack to use the Strava Live Segments feature on your Polar Pacer
Pro. Once you have activated Strava Live Segments and exported segments to your Flow account and synced them to your
Pacer Pro you will receive an alert on your watch when approaching any of your favorite Strava segments.
When performing a segment, you'll get real-time performance data displayed on your watch showing whether you are
ahead or behind your personal record (PR) of the segment. Your results are calculated and displayed instantly on your
watch when the segment ends, but you need to check the final results at Strava.com.
CONNECT YOUR STRAVA AND POLAR FLOW ACCOUNTS
You can connect your Strava and Polar Flow accounts in the Polar Flow web service OR in the Polar Flow app.
In the Polar Flow web service go to Settings > Partners > Strava > Connect.
or
In the Polar Flow app go to General Settings > Connect > Strava (swipe the button to connect).
IMPORT STRAVA SEGMENTS TO YOUR POLAR FLOW ACCOUNT
1. In your Strava account, choose the segments you wish to import to your Polar Flow Favorites/Pacer Pro. This is
done by choosing the star icon next to a segment name.
2. Then in the Polar Flow web service's Favorites page choose the Update Strava Live Segments button to import the
starred Strava Live Segments to your Polar Flow account.
3. Your Pacer Pro can have a maximum of 100 favorites at a time. Choose the segments you want to transfer to your
Pacer Pro by clicking the selection boxes on the left of the Strava Live Segments list to move them to the sync list
for your Pacer Pro on the right. You can change the order of your favorites on the Pacer Pro by dragging and
dropping them.
4. Sync your Pacer Pro to save your changes to the watch.
For more information on managing your favorites in the Polar Flow web service and app, see Manage favorites and training
targets in Polar Flow.
Find out more about Strava segments at Strava Support.
START A SESSION WITH STRAVA LIVE SEGMENTS
Strava Live Segments require GPS. Make sure you have GPS set on in the running and cycling sport profiles you wish to
use.
When you start a running or cycling training session, the nearby Strava segments (50 kilometers or closer in cycling or 10
kilometers or closer in running) synced to your watch are shown in the Strava segments training view. Scroll to the Strava
segments view with the UP and DOWN buttons during sessions.
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When you approach a segment (200 meters or closer in cycling or 100 meters or closer in running) you’ll get an alert on
your watch, and the distance remaining to the segment will be counted down. You can cancel the segment by pressing the
back button on your watch.
You’ll get another alert when you reach the starting point of the segment. Recording of the segment starts automatically,
and both the name of the segment and your personal record time for the segment are shown on your watch.
The display shows if you are behind or ahead of your personal best (or KOM/QOM if you are doing the segment for the first
time), as well as your speed/pace and distance left.
After you've completed the segment, your watch displays your time, and the difference to your personal best time. The PR
symbol is displayed if you set new personal record.
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HILL SPLITTER™
Hill Splitter™ tells you how you performed on the uphill and downhill sections of your session. Hill Splitter™ automatically
detects all uphills and downhills by using your GPS-based speed and distance, and barometric altitude data. It shows you
detailed insights into your performance, such as distance, speed, ascent and descent, for every detected hill on your
course. You get data about the elevation profile of your training session, and you can compare hill stats between different
sessions. Detailed information about each hill is recorded automatically, no need to take laps manually.
Hill Splitter adapts to the terrain in each session. In practice this means that when doing a session in relatively flat terrain,
even small hills are counted. Then again when training in areas with large variation in elevation such as mountains, the
smallest hills are not counted. This adaptation is always session specific.
The minimum ascent or descent counted as a hill differs depending on your sport profile. In downhill sports (snowboarding,
downhill skiing, backcountry skiing and telemark skiing) it's 15 meters, and in all other sports it's 10 meters.
Hill Splitter requires 1 second GPSrecording rate. It cannot be used with 1 minute or 2 minute recording rates.
ADD THE HILL SPLITTER VIEW TO A SPORT PROFILE
By default the Hill Splitter training view is on in all running, cycling and downhill type sport profiles, but it can be added to
any sport profile that uses GPS and barometric altitude.
In the Flow web service:
1. Go to Sport Profiles, and choose edit on the sport profile you wish to add it to.
2. Choose Related to device
3. Choose Pacer Pro > Training views > Add new > Fullscreen > Hill Splitter and save.
In the Flow mobile app:
1. Go to the main menu, and, choose Sport profiles.
2. Choose a sport and tap Edit.
3. Add the Hill Splitter training view.
4. When you're ready, tap Done.
Remember to sync the settings to your Polar device.
TRAINING WITH HILL SPLITTER
After starting your session, scroll to the Hill Splitter view with the UP/DOWN buttons. Details you can view during your
session include:
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Distance : The distance of the
current segment (flat, uphill or
downhill)
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Ascent/descent of current
segment
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Speed
Note that there is some delay when switching from a hill to flatland. This is to make sure that the hill is over. Even though
the switch from a hill to flatland shown in the Hill Splitter training view is delayed, the end of the hill is marked correctly in
the data, so when viewing your training summary in Flow web service or app it is shown correctly.
Hill details pop-up
In downhill sports (snowboarding, downhill skiing, backcountry skiing and telemark skiing) you'll get a pop-up with details
from your previous hill after finishing it, and then going back uphill for 15 meters. This is designed so that you'll get the pop-
up when heading back up on a ski-lift.
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Distance : The distance of the current segment (flat, uphill or downhill)
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Ascent/descent of current segment
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Average speed
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Hill number
HILL SPLITTER SUMMARY
After your session, you'll see the following information in the training summary:
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Number of uphills and downhills
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Total uphill and downhill distance
DETAILED ANALYSIS IN THE FLOW WEB SERVICE AND APP
View detailed data for each uphill, downhill and flat segment in the Flow web service after syncing your data to it after your
session. An overview of your session is also available in the Flow app.
The data available for each segment depends on the sport profile and sensors you used but it can for example include
altitude, power, heart rate, cadence and speed data.
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KOMOOT
Plan detailed routes on maps with komoot and transfer the routes to your watch for turn-by-turn route guidance on the go!
Whether road cycling, hiking, bikepacking or mountain biking, komoot’s superior planning and navigation technology allows
you to easily discover more of the great outdoors.
Create a komoot account if you don't have one. When you sign up for komoot, you get a free region to test all of their core
features. Komoot recommends to unlock your home region as your free region. Then connect komoot to Polar Flow, and
get your komoot routes on your watch. Every time you sync your watch your Flow routes sync back to komoot
automatically.
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For help using Komoot, see their support site at support.komoot.com/hc/en-us
Komoot routes require 1 second GPSrecording rate. It cannot be used with 1 minute or 2 minute recording
rates.
CONNECT YOUR KOMOOT AND POLAR FLOW ACCOUNTS
First, make sure you have a polar Flow account and a komoot account. You can connect your komoot and Polar Flow
accounts in the Polar Flow web service or in the Polar Flow app.
In the Polar Flow web service go to Settings > Partners > Komoot > Connect.
or
In the Polar Flow app go to General Settings > Connect > Komoot (swipe the button to connect).
After connecting your komoot and Polar Flow accounts, all of your planned komoot tours that start in a region
that you have unlocked in your Komoot account will be synced to your favorites in Flow.
SYNC KOMOOT ROUTES TO YOUR WATCH
You can choose the routes you want to transfer to your watch in the Polar Flow web service or app. Your watch can have a
maximum of 100 favorites at a time.
In the Flow web service, click the Favorites icon on the menu bar on top of the page to enter your Favorites page.
1. Choose the routes by clicking the selection boxes on the left of the routes list to move them to the sync list for your
watch on the right. If you have planned new routes with komoot, you can update them to the routes list by clicking
the button.
2. You can change the order of the routes on the watch by dragging and dropping them. You can remove individual
routes by clicking X or all routes at once by clicking CLEAR. Note that they still remain available in your favorites
even if you remove them from your watch.
3. Sync your watch to save your changes to it.
In the Flow app, go to Devices menu and onto the device page. Scroll down the page and tap Add/remove to see your
current favorites on the watch.
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1.
You can reorder the routes on the watch by tapping and holding (iOS)/ (Android) on the right and dragging
the routes where you want them.
2. To add or remove a route, tap Add/remove again to access all your favorites.
3. You can sort the favorites by Name, Modified and Type.
4. To remove a route from the watch, turn the switch to left. To add a route, turn the switch to right.
5. Sync your watch with the app to save the changes.
For more information on managing your favorites in the Polar Flow web service and app, see Manage favorites
and training targets in Polar Flow.
START A SESSION WITH A KOMOOT ROUTE
1. In pre-training mode, press the LIGHT button to enter the quick menu.
2. Choose Routes from the list, and pick the komoot route you want to do. The closest route is shown first.
3. Choose where you want to start the route: Start point or Mid-route.
4. Choose the sport profile you want to use, and start your session.
5. Your watch will guide you to the route. Route start found is displayed when you reach it, and then you're ready to go.
Your watch guides you through your route with turn-by-turn instructions.
HEART RATE ZONES
The range between 50% and 100% of your maximum heart rate is divided into five heart rate zones. By keeping your heart
rate within a certain heart rate zone you can easily control the intensity level of your workout. Each heart rate zone carries
its own main benefits, and understanding these benefits will help you achieve the effect you want from your workout.
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Learn more about the Heart Rate Zones: What are Heart Rate Zones?.
SPEED ZONES
With the speed/pace zones you can easily monitor speed or pace during your session, and adjust your speed/pace to
achieve the targeted training effect. The zones can be used to guide the efficiency of your training during sessions, and
help you mix up your training with different training intensities for optimal effects.
SPEED ZONES SETTINGS
The speed zone settings can be adjusted in the Flow web service. There are five different zones, and zone limits can be
manually adjusted or you can use the default ones. They are sport specific, allowing you to adjust the zones to best suit
each sport. The zones are available in running sports (including team sports that involve running), cycling sports as well as
rowing and canoeing.
Default
If you choose Default, you cannot change the limits. The default zones are an example of speed/pace zones for a person
with a relatively high fitness level.
Free
If you choose Free, all limits can be changed. For example, if you have tested your actual thresholds, such as anaerobic and
aerobic thresholds, or upper and lower lactate thresholds, you can train with zones based on your individual threshold
speed or pace. We recommend that you set your anaerobic threshold speed and pace as the minimum for zone 5. If you
also use aerobic threshold, set that as the minimum of zone 3.
TRAINING TARGET WITH SPEED ZONES
You can create training targets based on speed/pace zones. After synchronizing the targets via FlowSync, you’ll receive
guidance from your training device during training.
DURING TRAINING
During your training you can view which zone you are currently training in and the time spent in each zone.
AFTER TRAINING
In the training summary on your watch, you'll see an overview of the time spent in each speed zone. After syncing, detailed
visual speed zone information can be viewed in the Flow web service.
SPEED AND DISTANCE FROM THE WRIST
Your watch measures speed and distance from your wrist movements with a built-in accelerometer. This feature comes in
handy when running indoors or in places with limited GPS signals. For maximum accuracy make sure you’ve set your
handedness and height correctly. Speed and distance from the wrist works best when running at a pace that is natural and
feels comfortable for you.
Wear your watch snugly on your wrist to avoid any shaking. To get consistent readings it should always be worn on the
same position on your wrist. Avoid wearing any other devices like watches, activity trackers or phone armbands on the
same arm. In addition, do not hold anything in the same hand like a map or a phone.
Speed and distance from the wrist is available in the following running type sports: Walking, Running, Jogging, Road
running, Trail running, Treadmill running, Track and field running and Ultra running. To see speed and distance during a
training session, make sure you have speed and distance added to the training view of the sport profile you use when
running. This can be done in Sport Profiles in the Polar Flow mobile app or in the Flow web service.
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CADENCE FROM THE WRIST
Cadence from the wrist gives you the option to get your running cadence without a separate stride sensor. Your cadence is
measured with a built-in accelerometer from your wrist movements. Please note that when using a stride sensor cadence
will always be measured with it.
Cadence from the wrist is available in the following running type sports: Running, Jogging, Road running, Trail running,
Treadmill running, Track and field running and Ultra running.
To see your cadence during a training session, add cadence to the training view of the sport profile you use when running.
This can be done in Sport Profiles in the Polar Flow mobile app or in the Flow web service.
Read more about monitoring running cadence and how to utilize running cadence in your training.
ENERGY SOURCES
The energy sources breakdown shows how much of different energy sources (fats, carbohydrates, proteins) you used
during your session. On your watch, you can see it in the training summary right after finishing your session. More detailed
information can be viewed in the Flow mobile app after syncing your data.
During physical activity, your body uses carbohydrates and fat as main sources of energy. The higher your training
intensity, the more carbs you use in proportion to fat, and vice versa. The role of protein is usually quite small, but during
high intensity activity and during long sessions your body can use about 5 to 10 % of its energy from protein.
We calculate the use of different energy sources based on your heart rate, but we also take your physical settings into
account. These include your age, gender, height, weight, maximum heart rate, resting heart rate, VO2max, aerobic threshold
and anaerobic threshold. It's important that you've set these settings as precisely as possible so you'll get the most
accurate energy source consumption data.
ENERGY SOURCES SUMMARY
After your session, you'll see the following information the training summary:
Carbs, protein and fat you've used during your session.
Note that you shouldn't interpret the used energy sources and their amounts as
guidelines when eating after your session.
DETAILED ANALYSIS IN THE FLOW MOBILE APP
In the Flow app you can also view how much of these sources you used at each point
of your session and how they accumulated throughout it. The graph shows how your
body makes use of different energy sources at different training intensities, and also
at different stages of your training session. You can also compare the breakdown
from similar sessions over time, and see how your ability to use fat as the primary
energy source develops.
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SWIMMING METRICS
Swimming metrics help you analyze each swimming session, and follow your performance and progress in the long run.
To get the most accurate information, make sure your have set which hand you wear your watch on. You can
check that you’ve set which hand you wear your watch from the product settings in Flow.
POOL SWIMMING
When using the Swimming or Pool swimming profile, the watch identifies your swimming style and records your swim
distance, time and pace, stroke rate and rest times. In addition, with the help of the SWOLF score you can keep track of
your development.
Swimming Styles: Your watch recognizes the following swimming styles, and calculates style specific metrics as well as
totals for your whole session:
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Freestyle
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Backstroke
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Breaststroke
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Butterfly
Pace and Distance:Once the watch has recognized your swimming style as one of the four swimming styles mentioned
above,it will be able to detect your turns and use this information to give you accurate pace and distance. The pace and
distance measurements are based on detected turns and the set pool length. Every time you turn, one pool length gets
added to the total distance swam.
Strokes:Your watch tells you how many strokes you take in a minute or per pool length. This information can be used to
find out more about your swimming technique, rhythm and timing.
SWOLF (short for swimming and golf) is an indirect measure of efficiency. SWOLF is calculated by adding together your
time and the amount of strokes it takes you to swim a pool length. For instance, 30 seconds and 10 strokes to swim the
length of a pool will equal a SWOLF score of 40. Generally, the lower your SWOLF is for a certain distance and style, the
more efficient you are.
SWOLF is highly individual, and thus should not be compared to SWOLF scores other people have swam. It’s rather a
personal tool that can help you improve and fine-tune your technique, and find an optimal efficiency for different styles.
Pool Length setting
It’s important that you choose the correct pool length, as it affects pace, distance and stroke calculation, as well as your
SWOLF score. You can choose the pool length in pre-training mode from the quick menu. Press LIGHT to access the quick
menu, choose the Pool length setting and change the previously set pool length if necessary. The default lengths are 25
meters, 50 meters and 25 yards, but you can also set it manually to a custom length. The minimum length that can be
chosen is 20 meters/yards.
OPEN WATER SWIMMING
When using the Open water swimming profile, the watch records your swim distance, time and pace, stroke rate for
freestyle as well as your route.
Freestyle is the only style that the open water swimming profile recognizes.
Pace and Distance: Your watch uses GPS to calculate pace and distance during your swim.
Stroke rate for freestyle:Your watch records your average and maximum stroke rates (how many strokes you take per
minute) for your session.
Route: Your route is recorded with GPS, and you can view it on a map after your swim in the Flow app and web service. GPS
does not work underwater, and because of this your route is filtered from GPS data acquired when your hand is out of the
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water or very close to the water surface. External factors such as water conditions and satellite positions can affect the
accuracy of the GPS data, and as a result data from the same route can vary from day to day.
MEASURING HEART RATE IN WATER
Your watch automatically measures your heart rate from your wrist with the new Polar Precision Prime sensor fusion
technology, offering an easy and comfortable way to measure your heart rate while swimming. Although water may
prevent the wrist-based heart rate measurement from working optimally, the accuracy of Polar Precision Prime is sufficient
to allow you monitor your average heart rate and heart rate zones during your swimming sessions, get accurate calorie
burn readings, your Training Load from the session and the Training Benefit feedback based on your heart rate zones.
To ensure the best possible accuracy of your heart rate data, it’s important to wear the watch snugly on your wrist (even
more snugly than in other sports). See Training with wrist based heart rate for instructions on wearing your watch during
training.
Note that you can't use a Polar heart rate sensor with a chest strap with your watch when swimming because
Bluetooth doesn't work in water.
START A SWIMMING SESSION
1. Press BACK to enter the main menu, choose Start training, and then browse to the Swimming, Pool swimming or
Open water swimming profile.
2. When using the Swimming/Pool swimming profile, check that the pool length is correct. To change the pool length,
press LIGHT to access the quick menu, choose Pool length setting and set the correct length.
Do not start the training session recording until you are in the pool, however, do avoid pushing the
buttons under water.
3. Press START to begin training recording.
DURING YOUR SWIM
You can customize what is shown on the display in the sport profiles section in the Flow web service. The default training
views in the swimming sport profiles the following information:
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Your heart rate and the heart rate ZonePointer
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Distance
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Duration
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Rest time (Swimming and Pool swimming)
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Pace (Open water swimming)
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Heart rate graph
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Average heart rate
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Maximum heart rate
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Time of day
AFTER YOUR SWIM
An overview of your swimming data is available in the training summary on your watch right after your session. You can
see the following information:
The date and time when your session started
The duration of the session
Swimming distance
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Average heart rate
Maximum heart rate
Cardio Load
Heart rate zones
Calories
Fat burn % of calories
Average pace
Maximum pace
Stroke rate (how many strokes you take per minute)
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Average stroke rate
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Maximum stroke rate
Sync your watch with Flow for a more detailed visual representation of your swim including a detailed breakdown of your
pool swimming sessions, your heart rate, pace and stroke rate curves.
BAROMETER
The barometer features include altitude, incline, decline, ascent and descent. Altitude is measured with an atmospheric air
pressure sensor that converts the measured air pressure into an altitude reading. Ascent and descent are shown in
meters/feet.
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Barometric altitude is automatically calibrated two times via GPS during the first minutes of a session. In the beginning of a
session before calibration, altitude is only based on barometric air pressure that can at times be inaccurate depending on
the conditions. Altitude data is post-corrected after calibration, so any inaccurate readings seen during the beginning of a
session are automatically corrected afterwards, and the corrected data can be viewed in the Flow web service and app
after your session after syncing your data.
To get the most accurate altitude readings, it is recommended to always manually calibrate altitude whenever a reliable
reference, such as a peak or a topographic map is available or when at sea level. Altitude can be manually calibrated from
the fullscreen altitude training view. Press OK to set the current altitude.
Mud and dirt on the device can cause inaccurate altitude readings. Keep your device clean to make sure the barometric
altitude measurement works properly.
COMPASS
To use the compass during sessions you need to add it to any sport profiles you wish to view it in. In the Flow web service,
go to Sport Profiles and choose edit on the sport profile you wish to add it to. Then go to Related to device and choose
Pacer Pro > Training views > Add new > Fullscreen > Compass and choose Save. Remember to sync the changes to your
watch.
USING THE COMPASS DURING A SESSION
During a session you can scroll to the compass view with the UP/DOWN buttons. The display shows your bearing and the
cardinal directions.
Calibrating the compass
You may be asked to the calibrate the compass during a session. If so, follow the instructions on the display to calibrate it.
You can also manually calibrate the compass from the quick menu. Pause your session, and press LIGHT to access the
quick menu, and choose Calibrate compass. Follow the instructions on the display.
Lock your bearing
In the compass training view press OK to lock your current bearing. The display will then show the deviation from your
locked bearing in red.
Note that the compass needs to be calibrated first.
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WEATHER
The weather watch face brings the current day's hourly forecast, as well as tomorrow's 3-hour and the day after tomorrow's
6-hour forecast to your wrist. Other weather information provided includes wind speed, wind direction, humidity and the
chance of rain.
Weather information can only be found from the weather watch face. In time view, press the UP or DOWN button until you
reach it.
To use the weather feature you need to have Flow app on your mobile, and your watch needs to be paired with it. Location
Services (iOS) or Location Settings (Android) need also to be set on to get weather information.
Today's forecast
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Location of forecast
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When updated last
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Refresh (shown if weather info needs to updated for example because your location has
changed or if it's been a while since it was last updated)
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Current temperature
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Feels like
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Rain
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Wind speed
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Wind direction
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Humidity
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Hourly forecast
Note that weather history including information on what the weather was during training sessions is not available.
Tomorrow's forecast
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Forecast low/high for each 3-hour period
The day after tomorrow's forecast
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Forecast low/high for each 6-hour period
SPORT PROFILES
Sport profiles are the sport choices you have on your watch. We have created 14 default sport profiles to your watch, but
you can add new sport profiles to your use in the Polar Flow app or web service and sync them to your watch, and this way
create a list of all your favorite sports.
You can also define specific settings for each sport profile. For example, you can create tailored training views for each
sport you do and choose what data you want to see when you train: just your heart rate or just speed and distance—
whatever suits you and your training needs and requirements best.
You can have a maximum of 20 sport profiles on your watch at a time. The number of sport profiles in Polar Flow mobile
app and Polar Flow web service is not limited.
For more information, see Sport Profiles in Flow.
Using the sport profiles makes it possible for you to keep up with what you've done and to see the progress you've made in
different sports. See your training history and follow your progress in the Flow web service.
Please note that in a number of indoor sports, group sports and team sports profiles the HR visible to other
devices setting is enabled by default. This means that compatible devices using Bluetooth Smart wireless
technology, e.g. gym equipment, can detect your heart rate. You can check which sport profiles have Bluetooth
broadcasting enabled by default from the Polar Sport profiles list. You can enable or disable Bluetooth
broadcasting from sport profile settings.
PHONE NOTIFICATIONS
The phone notifications feature allows you to get alerts about incoming calls, messages and notifications from apps onto
your watch. You’ll get the same notifications on your watch that you get on your phone screen. Notifications are available
when not training and during training sessions. You can choose when you want to receive them. Phone notifications are
available for iOS and Android phones.
To use phone notifications, you need to have the Flow app running on your phone, and it also needs to be paired with your
watch. For instructions, see Pairing a mobile device with your watch.
Set phone notifications on
On your watch go to Settings > General settings > Phone notifications to set them on. Set phone notifications Off, On,
when not training, On, when training or Always on.
You can also set the phone notifications on in the Flow app device settings. After setting the notifications on sync your
watch with the Flow app.
Please note that when phone notifications are set on, the battery of your watch and phone will run out faster
because Bluetooth is continuously on.
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Do not disturb
If you want to disable notifications and call alerts for a certain period of time, set do not disturb on. When it is on, you will
not receive any notifications or call alerts during the time period you have set.
On your watch go to Settings > General settings > Do not disturb. Choose Off, On or On (22.00 - 7.00), and the period
when do not disturb is on. Choose when it Starts at and Ends at.
VIEW NOTIFICATIONS
When not training, whenever you receive a notification your watch will vibrate and a red dot will appear at the bottom left of
the display. View the notification by pressing BACK and choosing Notifications or by turning your wrist and looking at your
watch.
When receiving a notification during a training session, your watch will vibrate and show the sender. To remove the
notification, press the OK button when viewing it and choose Clear. To remove all notifications on your watch, scroll down
on the notification list and choose Clear all.
When receiving a call your watch will vibrate and show the caller. You can also answer or decline the call with your watch.
Phone notifications may function differently depending on the model of your Android phone.
MUSIC CONTROLS
Control music and media playing on your phone with your watch during training sessions as well as from the Music
controls watch face when not training. Set the music controls on from Settings > General settings > Music controls. You
can control music from the training display, from the watch face, or both. Choose training display to control music during
your sessions and Watch face to access the controls when not training from the watch face.
Music controls are available for iOS and Android phones. To use the music controls you need to have the Flow app running
on your phone, and it also needs to be paired with your watch. For instructions, see Pairing a mobile device with your
watch. The music controls setting becomes visible after pairing your watch with your phone via the Flow app. If you did the
setup for your watch via the Flow app your watch is already paired with your phone.
FROM WATCH FACE
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In time view, use the UP and DOWN buttons to navigate to the Music controls watch face.
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Press the OK button to see the previous/next and pause/play buttons. Switch to the
previous or next song with the UP/DOWN buttons and pause with the OK button. Press the
LIGHT button to access the volume control.
DURING TRAINING
If you chose to control music from the training display, the music controls training view is enabled when the player is on
and a session has been started.
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Press the UP button to scroll to the music controls training view during a training session.
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Press the OK button to see the previous/next and pause/play buttons. Switch to the
previous or next song with the UP/DOWN buttons and pause with the OK button. Press the
LIGHT button to access the volume control.
HR SENSOR MODE
In heart rate sensor mode you can turn your watch into a heart rate sensor and share your heart rate with other Bluetooth
devices like training apps, gym equipment or cycling computers. To use your watch in HR sensor mode, you first need to
pair it with the receiving external device. Refer to receiving device's user guide for detailed pairing instructions.
TURN ON HR SENSOR MODE
1. Press and hold OK in time view or press BACK to enter the main menu and choose Start training. Browse to your
preferred sport.
2. In pre-training mode, open the quick menu with the LIGHT button.
Choose Share HR with other devices.
Choose Add a new device
3. Activate the external device's pairing mode.
4. Choose Pacer Pro from the external device.
5. Accept pairing Pacer Pro with the external device.
6. You should be able to see your heart rate on both your watch and the external device. When you’re ready, just start
your session from the external device. To record your training session with your watch, return to pre-training mode
and start training recording by pressing OK.
STOP SHARING HR
Choose Stop sharing. HR sharing stops also when you exit pre-training mode or stop the training recording.
POWER SAVE SETTINGS
The power save settings allow you to extend your training time by changing the GPSrecording rate, setting wrist-based
heart rate off and using the screen saver. These settings let you optimize battery usage and get more training time for extra
long sessions or when the battery is running low.
The power save settings are found in the quick menu. You can access the quick menu from pre-training mode, during a
session when paused and during transition mode in multisport sessions with the LIGHT button.
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After setting on any of the power save settings, you'll see their effect on the estimated training time in pre-training mode.
Note that the power save settings are set on for each session separately. The settings are not stored.
Note that the temperature affects the estimated training time. When training in cold conditions the actual
training time can be less than what is indicated when starting the session.
GPS recording rate
Set the GPS recording rate to a less frequent interval (1 minute or 2 minutes). Handy in ultra-long sessions when long
battery life is essential.
Note that changing the GPS recording rate to a less frequent interval may reduce the accuracy of other
measurements, such as speed/pace and distance, depending on the sport profile and sensors used.
Wrist-based heart rate
Set wrist-based heart rate off. Set it off to save power when you don't necessarily need heart rate data. When using a heart
rate monitor with a chest strap wrist-based heart rate is set off by default.
Screen saver
Set the screen saver on in sessions in which you don't need to view training data continuously.
When the screen saver is set on, only the time is shown on the display. Press any button to exit the screen saver and view
your training data. The screen saver goes back on after 8 seconds.
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CHANGEABLE WRISTBANDS
The changeable wristbands let you personalize your watch to match every situation and style so you can wear it all the time
and make the best use of the 24/7 activity tracking, continuous heart rate measurement and sleep tracking.
CHANGING THE WRISTBAND
The wristband of your watch is quick and simple to change. We recommend using a ballpoint pen to help detach the
wristband.
1. To detach the band, push the pin out carefully. Use a retractable ballpoint pen with the nib retracted.
2. Set the tip of the ballpoint pen on the pin, and push the pin out of the band.
3. Remove the band.
4. Put the new band into place, and then insert the pin into the pin hole on the band, and push it firmly into place. Make
sure the knob on the pin is the right way around.
5. Make sure the pin is pushed all the way and you're all set.
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WRISTBAND ADAPTER
When using the wristband adapter Polar Pacer Pro is compatible with all standard 20 mm wristbands that have a spring
bar.
ATTACH ADAPTERS TO WATCH
1. Put the adapter into place, and then insert the pin into the pin hole on the adapter, and push it firmly into place. Make
sure the knob on the pin is the right way around.
2. Make sure the pin is pushed all the way and you're all set.
ATTACH WRISTBAND TO ADAPTER
1. Insert the pin (the opposite side of the quick-release knob) into the pin hole on the adapter.
2. Pull the quick-release knob inwards and align the other end of the pin with the hole on the adapter.
3. Release the knob to lock the band in place.
COMPATIBLE SENSORS
Enhance your training experience, and achieve a more complete understanding of your performance with compatible
Bluetooth® sensors. In addition to a number of Polar sensors your watch is fully compatible with several third-party
sensors.
View a full list of compatible Polar sensors and accessories
View compatible third-party cycling sensors / running sensor
Before taking a new sensor into use, it has to be paired with your watch. Pairing only takes a few seconds, and ensures that
your watch receives signals from your sensors only, and allows disturbance-free training in a group. Before entering an
event or race, make sure that you do the pairing at home to prevent interference due to data transmission. For instructions,
see Pairing sensors with your watch.
POLAR H10 HEART RATE SENSOR
Monitor your heart rate with maximum precision with the Polar H10 heart rate sensor with a chest strap.
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Although the Polar Precision Prime is the most accurate optical heart rate measurement technology there is and works
pretty much anywhere, in sports where it's more challenging to keep the sensor stationary on your wrist or where you have
pressure or movement in muscles or tendons near the sensor, the Polar 10 heart rate sensor gives you the best heart rate
accuracy. The Polar H10 heart rate sensor is more responsive to rapidly increasing or decreasing heart rate, so it’s the ideal
option also for interval type of training with quick sprints.
The Polar H10 heart rate sensor has an internal memory that allows you to record one training session with it without a
connected training device or a mobile training app close by. You just need to pair the H10 heart rate sensor with the Polar
Beat app and start the training session with the app. This way, you can for example record your heart rate from your
swimming sessions with the Polar H10 heart rate sensor. For more information see the support pages for Polar Beat and
Polar H10 heart rate sensor.
When using the Polar H10 heart rate sensor during your cycling sessions, you can have your watch mounted to your bike’s
handlebars to easily view your training data while riding.
POLAR VERITY SENSE
Polar Verity Sense is a versatile high-quality optical heart rate sensor that measures heart rate from your arm or temple.
Polar Verity Sense is a great alternative to heart rate chest straps and wrist-based devices. You can use it with the
product's armband, swimming goggle strap clip or just place it anywhere snug and firm against your skin. Polar Verity
Sense allows maximum freedom of movement and works in countless different sports. As a highlight, Polar Verity Sense
records heart rate, distance, pace and turns when you swim in the pool. You can record your workouts in the sensor's
internal memory and transfer workout data to your phone afterwards or you can connect the sensor with your watch and
follow your heart rate in real time during your workout.
POLAR STRIDE SENSOR BLUETOOTH® SMART
The Stride Sensor Bluetooth® Smart is for runners who want to improve their technique and performance. It allows you to
see speed and distance information, whether you are running on a treadmill or on the muddiest trail.
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Measures each stride you take to show running speed and distance
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Helps improve your running technique by showing your running cadence and stride length
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Small sensor fits firmly onto your shoelaces
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Shock and water resistant, to handle even the most demanding runs
POLAR SPEED SENSOR BLUETOOTH® SMART
There are a range of factors that can affect your cycling speed. Obviously fitness is one of them, however, weather
conditions and the varying gradients of the road play a huge part too. The most advanced way of measuring how these
factors affect your performance speed is with the aerodynamic speed sensor.
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Measures your current, average and maximum speeds
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Track your average speed to see your progress and performance improve
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Light yet tough, and easy to attach
POLAR CADENCE SENSOR BLUETOOTH® SMART
The most practical way of measuring your cycling session is with our advanced wireless cadence sensor. It measures your
real-time, average and maximum cycling cadence as revolutions per minute so you can compare the technique of your ride
against previous rides.
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Improves your cycling technique and identifies your optimal cadence
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Interference-free cadence data lets you evaluate your individual performance
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Designed to be aerodynamic and light
THIRD-PARTY POWER SENSORS
Cycling Power
The watch measures your power data during your cycling sessions if you pair the watch with a separate cycling power
sensor. You can choose the power data you want to view during your sessions by customizing the training views in the
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Flow web service sport profile settings. The Training Load Pro feature uses the power data to calculate Muscle Load, so
you will also get a Muscle Load value for your cycling sessions when using a separate cycling power sensor.
Measuring your cycling power helps you to monitor and develop your cycling performance and pedaling technique. Unlike
heart rate, power output is an absolute and objective value of effort. This means that you can also compare your power
values with your fellow cyclists who are of the same sex and about the same size as you are; or compare watts per
kilogram for the most reliable results. Seeing how your heart rate corresponds to the power zones also gives more insight.
PAIRING SENSORS WITH YOUR WATCH
Pair a heart rate sensor with your watch
When you're wearing a Polar heart rate sensor that's paired with your watch, the watch does not measure heart
rate from the wrist.
1. Wear the moistened heart rate sensor.
2. On your watch, go to General Settings > Pair and sync > Pair sensor or
other device and press OK.
3. The watch starts searching for your sensor.
4. Once the heart rate sensor is found, the device ID, for example, Polar
H10xxxxxxxx is displayed. Press OK to start pairing.
5. Pairing completed is displayed when you are done.
Pair a stride sensor with your watch
1. On your watch, go to General Settings > Pair and sync > Pair sensor or
other device and press OK.
2. The watch starts searching for your sensor.
3. Once the sensor is found, the device ID is displayed. Press OK to start pairing.
4. Pairing completed is displayed when you are done.
Calibrate stride sensor
There are two ways to manually calibrate your stride sensor via the quick menu. Choose one of the running sport profiles
and then choose Calibrate stride sensor > Calibrate by running or Calibration factor from the quick menu.
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Calibrate by running: Start the training session and run a distance you know. The distance has to be more than 400
meters. When you have run the distance, press OK to take a lap. Set the actual distance you have run and press OK.
The calibration factor is updated.
Please note that interval timer cannot used during the calibration. If you have set the interval timer on,
the watch will ask you to turn it off to enable manual stride sensor calibration. You can turn the timer on
from the pause mode quick menu after calibration.
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Calibration factor: Set the calibration factor manually if you know the factor which gives you accurate distance.
For detailed instructions on manual and automatic calibration of a stride sensor, see Calibrating a Polar stride sensor with
Grit X/Pacer/Vantage.
Pair a cycling sensor with your watch
Before pairing a cadence sensor, speed sensor or a third-party power sensor, make sure they have been correctly installed.
For more information on installing the sensors see their user manuals.
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If you are pairing a third-party power sensor, please make sure that you have the latest firmware both in your
watch and the sensor. If you have two power transmitters, you need to pair the transmitters one at a time.
After pairing the first transmitter, you can immediately pair the second one. Check the device ID on the
backside of each transmitter to make sure you find the correct transmitters from the list.
1. On your watch, go to General Settings > Pair and sync > Pair sensor or other device and press OK.
2. The watch starts searching for your sensor. Cadence sensor: Rotate the crank a few times to activate the sensor.
The flashing red light in the sensor indicates that the sensor is activated. Speed sensor: Rotate the wheel a few
times to activate the sensor. The flashing red light in the sensor indicates that the sensor is activated. Third-party
power sensor:Rotate the cranks to wake up the transmitters.
3. Once the sensor is found, the device ID is displayed. Press OK to start pairing.
4. Pairing completed is shown when you are done.
Bike settings
1. Sensor linked to: is displayed. Choose Bike 1, Bike 2 or Bike 3. Confirm with OK.
2. Set wheel size is displayed if you paired a speed sensor or a power sensor that measures speed. Set the size and
press OK. You can set the size from 100 mm to 3999 mm.
3. Crank length: Set the crank length in millimeters. The setting is visible only if you paired a power sensor.
Measuring wheel size
Wheel size settings are a prerequisite for correct cycling information. There are two ways of determining the wheel size of
your bike:
Method 1
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Measure the wheel manually for the most accurate result.
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Use the valve to mark the point where the wheel touches the ground. Draw a line on the ground to mark that point.
Move your bike forward on a flat surface for one complete rotation. The tire should be perpendicular to the ground.
Draw another line on the ground at the valve to mark a full rotation. Measure the distance between the two lines.
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Subtract 4 mm to account for your weight on the bike to get your wheel circumference.
Method 2
Look for the diameter in inches or in ETRTO printed on the wheel. Match it to the wheel size in millimeters in the right
column of the chart.
ETRTO Wheel size diameter (inches) Wheel size setting (mm)
25-559 26 x 1.0 1884
23-571 650 x 23C 1909
35-559 26 x 1.50 1947
37-622 700 x 35C 1958
52-559 26 x 1.95 2022
20-622 700 x 20C 2051
52-559 26 x 2.0 2054
23-622 700 x 23C 2070
25-622 700 x 25C 2080
28-622 700 x 28 2101
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ETRTO Wheel size diameter (inches) Wheel size setting (mm)
32-622 700 x 32C 2126
42-622 700 x 40C 2189
47-622 700 x 47C 2220
Wheel sizes on the chart are advisory as wheel size depends on the wheel type and air pressure.
Calibrate cycling power sensor
You can calibrate the sensor from the quick menu. First, choose one of the cycling sport profiles and wake up the
transmitters by rotating the cranks. Then choose Calibrate power sensor from the quick menu and follow the on-screen
instructions to calibrate your sensor. For calibration instructions specific to your power sensor, see the manufacturer's
instructions.
Delete a pairing
To delete a pairing with a sensor or mobile device:
1. Go to Settings > General settings > Pair and sync > Paired devices and press OK.
2. Choose the device you want to remove from the list and press OK.
3. Remove pairing? is displayed. Confirm by pressing OK.
4. Pairing removed is displayed when you are done.
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POLAR FLOW
POLAR FLOW APP
In the Polar Flow mobile app, you can see an instant visual interpretation of your training and activity data. You can also
plan your training in the app.
TRAINING DATA
With the Polar Flow app, you can easily access the information of your past and planned training sessions and create new
training targets. You can choose to create a quick target or a phased target.
Get a quick overview of your training, and analyze every detail of your performance right away. See weekly summaries of
your training in the training diary. You can also share the highlights of you training with your friends with the Image sharing
function.
ACTIVITY DATA
See details of your 24/7 activity. Find out how much you're missing from your daily activity goal and how to reach it. See
steps, covered distance based on steps and burned calories.
SLEEP DATA
Follow your sleeping patterns to see if they’re affected by any changes in your daily life and find the right balance between
rest, daily activity and training. With the Polar Flow app, you can view the timing, amount, and quality of your sleep.
You can set your preferred sleep time to define how long you aim to sleep every night. You can also rate your sleep. You'll
receive feedback on how you slept based on your sleep data, your preferred sleep time and your sleep rating.
SPORT PROFILES
You can add, edit, remove and reorganize sport profiles easily in the Flow app. You can have up to 20 sport profiles active in
Flow app and in your watch.
For more information, see Sport profiles in Polar Flow.
IMAGE SHARING
With Flow app's image sharing function you can share images with your training data on them to most common social
media channels, like Facebook and Instagram. You can either share an existing photo or take a new one and customize it
with your training data. If you had GPS recording on during your training session, you can also share a snapshot of your
training route.
To see a video, click on the following link:
Polar Flow app | Sharing training results with a photo
START USING THE FLOW APP
You can set up your watch using a mobile device and the Flow app.
To start using the Flow app, download it from the App Store or Google Play onto your mobile device. For support and more
information about using the Polar Flow app, go to support.polar.com/en/support/Flow_app.
Before taking a new mobile device (smartphone, tablet) into use, it has to be paired with your watch. See Pairing for more
details.
Your watch syncs your training data to the Flow app automatically after your session. If your phone has an internet
connection, your activity and training data are also synced automatically to the Flow web service. Using the Flow app is the
easiest way to sync your training data from your watch with the web service. For information on syncing, see Syncing.
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For more information and instructions on Flow app features, visit Polar Flow app product support page.
POLAR FLOW WEB SERVICE
In the Polar Flow web service, you can plan and analyze your training in detail and learn more about your performance. Set
up and customize your watch to perfectly fit your training needs by adding sport profiles and editing their settings. You can
also share your training sessions with your friends, sign up for your club's classes and get a personalized training program
for a running event.
The Polar Flow web service also shows your daily activity goal completion percentage and the details of your activity, and
helps you understand how your daily habits and choices affect your well-being.
You can set up your watch with your computer at flow.polar.com/start. There you are guided to download and install the
FlowSync software for syncing data between your watch and the web service, and to create a user account for the web
service. If you did the setup using a mobile device and the Flow app, you can log into the Flow web service with the
credentials you created in the setup.
DIARY
In Diary you can see your daily activity, sleep, planned training sessions (training targets), as well as review past training
results.
REPORTS
In Reports you can follow your development.
Training reports are a handy way to follow your progress in training over longer periods. In week, month and year reports
you can choose the sport for the report. In custom period, you can choose both the period and the sport. Choose the time
period and sport for report from the drop-down lists, and press the wheel icon to choose what data you want to view in the
report graph.
With the help of the activity reports, you can follow the long-term trend of your daily activity. You can choose to view either
daily, weekly or monthly reports. In the activity report you can also see your best days regarding daily activity, steps,
calories and sleep from your chosen time period.
PROGRAMS
The Polar Running Program is tailored for your goal, based on Polar heart rate zones, taking your personal attributes and
training background into account. The program is intelligent, it adapts along the way based on your development. The Polar
Running Programs are available for 5k, 10k, half marathon and marathon events, and consist of two to five running
exercises per week depending on the program. It’s super simple!
For support and more information about using the Flow web service, go to, support.polar.com/en/support/flow.
SPORT PROFILES IN POLAR FLOW
There are 14 default sport profiles on your watch. In the Polar Flow app or web service, you can add new sport profiles to
your sports list and edit their settings. Your watch can contain a maximum of 20 sport profiles. If you have over 20 sport
profiles in the Polar Flow app and web service, the first 20 in the list are transferred to your watch when syncing.
You can change the order of your sport profiles by dragging and dropping them. Choose the sport you want to move and
drag it into the place you want to put it in the list.
To see a video, click on one of the following links:
Polar Flow app | Sport profile editing
Polar Flow web service | Sport Profiles
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ADD A SPORT PROFILE
In the Polar Flow mobile app:
1. Go to Sport profiles.
2. Tap the plus sign in the upper right corner.
3. Choose a sport from the list. Tap Done on Android app. The sport is added to your sport profiles list.
In the Polar Flow web service:
1. Click your name/profile photo in the upper right corner.
2. Choose Sport Profiles.
3. Click Add sport profile, and choose the sport from the list.
4. The sport is added to your sport list.
You can’t create new sports yourself. The sports list is controlled by Polar, because each sport has certain
default settings and values, which affect, for example, the calorie calculation and the training load and
recovery feature.
EDIT A SPORT PROFILE
In the Polar Flow mobile app:
1. Go to Sport profiles.
2. Choose a sport and tap Change settings.
3. When you're ready, tap Done. Remember to sync the settings to your watch.
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In the Flow web service:
1. Click your name/profile photo in the upper right corner.
2. Choose Sport Profiles.
3. Click Edit under the sport you want to edit.
In each sport profile, you can edit the following information:
Basics
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Automatic lap (Can be set to duration or distance-based or turned off)
Heart Rate
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Heart rate view (Beats per minute or % of maximum)
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Heart rate visible to other devices (This means that compatible devices using Bluetooth Smart wireless technology,
e.g. gym equipment, can detect your heart rate. You can also use your watch during Polar Club classes to broadcast
your heart rate to the Polar Club system.)
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Heart rate zone settings (With the heart rate zones you can easily select and monitor training intensities. If you
choose Default, you cannot change heart rate limits. If you choose Free, all limits can be changed. Default heart rate
zone limits are calculated from your maximum heart rate.)
Speed/Pace settings
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Speed/Pace view (Choose speed km/h / mph or pace min/km / min/mi)
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Speed/pace zone settings (With the speed/pace zones you can easily select and monitor your speed or pace,
depending on your selection. Default zones are an example of speed/pace zones for a person with a relatively high
fitness level. If you choose Default, you can't change the limits. If you choose Free, all limits can be changed.)
Training views
Choose what information you see on your training views during your sessions. You can have a total of eight different
training views for each sport profile. Each training view can have a maximum of four different data fields.
Click the pencil icon on an existing view to edit it, or click Add new view.
Gestures and feedback
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Vibration feedback (You can choose to have vibration on or off)
GPSand altitude
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Automatic pause: To use Automatic pause during training, you need to have GPS set to High Accuracy or a Polar
stride sensor in use. Your sessions pause automatically when you stop, and continue automatically when you start.
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Choose the GPS recording rate.
When you're done with the sport profile settings, click Save. Remember to sync the settings to your watch.
Please note that in a number of indoor sports, group sports and team sports profiles the HR visible to other
devices setting is enabled by default. This means that compatible devices using Bluetooth Smart wireless
technology, e.g. gym equipment, can detect your heart rate. You can check which sport profiles have Bluetooth
broadcasting enabled by default from the Polar Sport profiles list. You can enable or disable Bluetooth
broadcasting from sport profile settings.
PLANNING YOUR TRAINING
You can plan your training and create personal training targets for yourself in the Polar Flow web service or in the Polar
Flow app.
CREATE A TRAINING PLAN WITH THE SEASON PLANNER
The Season Planner in the Flow web service is a great tool for creating a tailored annual training plan. No matter what your
training goal is, Polar Flow helps you create a comprehensive plan to reach it. You can find the Season Planner tool from
the Programs tab in the Polar Flow web service.
Polar Flow for Coach is a free remote coaching platform that allows your coach plan every detail of your
training from full season plans to individual workouts.
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CREATE A TRAINING TARGET IN THE POLAR FLOW WEB SERVICE
Note that the training targets need to be synced to your watch with FlowSync or via Flow app before you can use them.
Your watch will guide you towards completing your target during training.
To create a training target in the Polar Flow web service:
1. Go to Diary, and click Add > Training target.
2. In the Add training target, choose Sport, enter Target name (maximum 45 digits), Date and Start time and any
Notes (optional) you want to add.
Then choose the type of your training target from the following:
Duration target
1. Choose Duration.
2. Enter the duration.
3.
Click Add to favorites to add the target to your list of favorites, if you want.
4. Click Add to Diary to add the target to your Diary.
Distance target
1. Choose Distance.
2. Enter the distance.
3.
Click Add to favorites to add the target to your list of favorites, if you want.
4. Click Add to Diary to add the target to your Diary.
Calories target
1. Choose Calorie.
2. Enter the amount of calories.
3.
Click Add to favorites to add the target to your list of favorites, if you want.
4. Click Add to Diary to add the target to your Diary.
Race Pace target
1. Choose Race Pace.
2. Fill in two of the following values: Duration, Distance or Race Pace. You get the third one automatically.
3.
Click Add to favorites to add the target to your list of favorites, if you want.
4. Click Add to Diary to add the target to your Diary.
Please note that Race Pace can only be synced with Grit X, Grit X Pro, Pacer, Pacer Pro, V800, Vantage M, Vantage M2,
Vantage V and Vantage V2.
Phased target
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1. Choose Phased.
2. Add phases to your target. Click Duration to add a phase based on duration or click Distance to add a phase based
on distance. Choose Name and Duration/Distance for each phase.
3. Tick the box Start next phase automatically for automatic change of phases. If left unchecked, you will have to
change phases manually.
4. Choose the intensity of the phase based on heart rate, speed or power.
Power-based phased training targets are currently supported only by Grit X, Grit X Pro, Pacer, Pacer
Pro and Vantage V2.
5. If you wish to repeat a phase, choose + Repeat phases and drag phases you want to repeat to the Repeat section.
6.
Click Add to favorites to add the target to your list of favorites.
7. Click Add to Diary to add the target to your Diary.
Create a target based on a favorite training target
If you have created a target and added it to your favorites, you can use it as a template for similar targets. This makes
training target creation easier. You don’t need to create, for example, a complicated phased training target every time from
the scratch.
To use an existing Favorite as a template for a training target, follow these steps:
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1. Hover your mouse over a date on the Diary.
2. Click +Add > Favorite target and then choose a target from the Favorites list.
3. The Favorite is added to your diary as a scheduled target for the day. The default scheduled time for the training
target is at 18.00/6pm.
4. Click the target in your Diary and modify it to your liking. Editing the target in this view won't change the original
Favorite target.
5. Click Save to update the changes.
You can edit your favorite training targets and create new ones also via Favorites page. Click in top menu
to access the Favorites page.
SYNC THE TARGETS TO YOUR WATCH
Remember to sync the training targets to your watch from the Flow web service via FlowSync or Flow App. If you don't
sync them, they are only visible in your Flow web service Diary or Favorites list.
For information on starting a training target session, see Start a training session.
CREATE A TRAINING TARGET IN THE POLAR FLOW APP
To create a training target in the Polar Flow app:
1.
Go to Training, and click on top of the page.
2. Then choose the type of your training target from the following:
Favorite target
1. Choose Favorite target.
2. Choose one the existing favorite training targets or Add new favorite target.
3.
Tap on next to the existing target to add it to your Diary.
4. The training target you chose is added to your training calendar for today. Open the training target from the diary
to edit the time for the training target.
5. If you choose Add new you can create a new favorite Quick target, Phased target, Strava Live Segment or
Komoot route.
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Komoot route is available only in Grit X, Grit X Pro, Pacer Pro and Vantage V2. Strava Live Segment is
available in Grit X, Grit X Pro, M460, Pacer, Pacer Pro, V650, V800, Vantage V and Vantage V2.
Quick target
1. Choose Quick target.
2. Choose if the quick target is based on distance, duration or calories.
3. Add sport.
4. Give a name to the target.
5. Set the target distance, duration or amount of calories.
6. Tap Done to add the target to your Training diary
Phased target
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1. Choose Phased target.
2. Add sport.
3. Give a name to the target.
4. Set the Time and Date for the target.
5.
Tap the icon next to phase to edit phase settings.
6. Tap Create target to add the target to your Training diary.
Sync your watch with Flow app to move the training targets to your watch.
FAVORITES
In Favorites, you can store and manage your favorite training targets in the Flow web service and the Flow mobile app. You
can use your favorites as scheduled targets on your watch. For more information, see Plan your training in the Flow web
service.
You can see the maximum number of your watch. The number of favorites in the Flow web service is not limited. If you
have over 100 favorites in the Flow web service, the first 100 in the list are transferred to your watch when syncing. You can
change the order of your favorites by dragging and dropping them. Choose the favorite you want to move and drag it into
the place you want to put it in the list.
ADD A TRAINING TARGET TO FAVORITES:
1. Create a training target.
2.
Click the favorites icon on the lower right corner of the page.
3. The target is added to your favorites.
or
1. Open an existing target you've created from your Diary.
2.
Click the favorites icon on the lower right corner of the page.
3. The target is added to your favorites.
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EDIT A FAVORITE
1.
Click the favorites icon on the upper right corner next to your name. All your favorite training targets are shown.
2. Click the favorite you want to edit, then click Edit.
3. You can change the sport, the target name and add notes, as well as alter the training details of the target. For more
information, see the chapter on planning your training. After you've done all the needed changes, click Update
changes.
REMOVE A FAVORITE
1.
Click the favorites icon on the upper right corner next to your name. All your favorite training targets are shown.
2. Click the delete icon in upper right corner of the training target to remove it from the favorites list.
SYNCING
You can transfer data from your watch to the Polar Flow app wirelessly via Bluetooth connection. Or, you can sync your
watch with the Polar Flow web service by using a USB port and the FlowSync software. To be able to sync data between
your watch and the Flow app you need to have a Polar account. If you want to sync data from your watch directly to the
web service, in addition to a Polar account, you need the FlowSync software. If you've set up your watch, you have created
a Polar account. If you set up your watch using a computer, you have the FlowSync software on your computer.
Remember to sync and keep your data up-to-date between your watch, the web service and the mobile app wherever you
are.
SYNC WITH FLOW MOBILE APP
Before syncing make sure:
• You have a Polar account and Flow app.
• Your mobile device has Bluetooth turned on, and airplane mode/flight mode is not turned on.
• You have paired your watch with your mobile. For more information, see Pairing.
Sync your data:
1. Sign in to the Flow app, and press and hold the BACK button on your watch.
2. Connecting to phone is displayed, followed by Connecting to Polar Flow app.
3. Syncing completed is displayed when you are done.
Your watch automatically syncs with the Polar Flow app once an hour if your phone is within the Bluetooth
range. The automatic sync is done also when you finish a training session or change the settings on your
watch. When your watch syncs with the Flow app, your activity and training data are also synced automatically
via an internet connection to the Flow web service.
For support and more information about using the Polar Flow app, go to support.polar.com/en/support/Flow_app.
SYNC WITH FLOW WEB SERVICE VIA FLOWSYNC
To sync data with the Flow web service you need the FlowSync software. Go to flow.polar.com/start, and download and
install it before trying to sync.
1. Plug your watch to your computer. Make sure FlowSync software is running.
2. The FlowSync window opens on your computer, and the syncing starts.
3. Completed is displayed when you are done.
Every time you plug in your watch to your computer, the Polar FlowSync software will transfer your data to the Polar Flow
web service and sync any settings you may have changed. If the syncing does not automatically start, start FlowSync from
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the desktop icon (Windows) or from the applications folder (Mac OS X). Every time a firmware update is available,
FlowSync will notify you, and request you to install it.
If you change settings in the Flow web service while your watch is plugged into your computer, press the
synchronize button on FlowSync to transfer to the settings to your watch.
For support and more information about using the Flow web service, go to support.polar.com/en/support/flow.
For support and more information about using FlowSync software, go to support.polar.com/en/support/FlowSync.
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IMPORTANT INFORMATION
BATTERY
At the end of the working life of the product Polar encourages you to minimize possible effects of waste on the
environment and human health by following local waste disposal regulations and, where possible, utilizing separate
collection of electronic devices. Do not dispose of this product as unsorted municipal waste.
CHARGING THE BATTERY
Before charging, please make sure there’s no moisture, dust or dirt on the charging contacts of your watch and
cable. Gently wipe off any dirt or moisture. Do not charge the watch when it’s wet.
Your watch has an internal, rechargeable battery. Rechargeable batteries have a limited number of charge cycles. You can
charge and discharge the battery over 500 times before a notable decrease in its capacity. The number of charge cycles
also varies according to use and operating conditions.
Do not charge the battery in temperatures under 0 °C/ +32 °F or over +40 °C/ +104 °F or when the USB port is
wet.
Use the USB cable included in the product set to charge it via the USB port on your computer.
You can charge the battery via a wall outlet. When charging via a wall outlet, use a USB power adapter (not included in the
product set). If you use a USB power adapter, make sure that the adapter is marked with "output 5Vdc" and that it provides
a minimum of 500mA. Only use an adequately safety approved USB power adapter (marked with "LPS", "Limited Power
Supply", "UL listed" or “CE”).
To charge with your computer, just plug your watch to your computer, and at the same time, you can have it synced it with
FlowSync.
1. To charge your watch, plug it into a powered USB port or a USB charger with the custom cable that came in the box.
The cable magnetically snaps into place.
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2. Charging appears on the display.
3. When the battery icon is full, the watch is fully charged.
Don't leave the battery fully discharged for a long period of time or keep it fully charged all the time, because it
may affect the battery life time.
CHARGING DURING TRAINING
Do not attempt to charge your watch during a training session with a portable charger such as a power bank. If you plug
your watch into a power source during a training session the battery is not charged. When connected to the charging cable
during training sweat and moisture can cause corrosion and damage the charging cable and watch. Also, if you start a
training session while charging the watch, charging is stopped.
BATTERY STATUS AND NOTIFICATIONS
Battery status symbol
The battery status symbol is shown when you turn your wrist to look at the watch, press the LIGHT button in time view, or
return to time view from the menu.
Battery notifications
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When the battery charge is low, Battery low. Charge is show in time mode. It is recommended to charge watch.
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Charge before training is shown if the charge is too low for recording a training session.
Low battery notifications during training:
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Battery low is shown when the battery charge is getting low. The notification is repeated if the charge gets too low
for measuring heart rate and GPS data and the heart rate measurement and GPS are switched off.
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When the battery is critically low, Recording ended is shown. Your watch stops the training recording and saves the
training data.
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When the display is blank, the battery is empty and your watch has gone to sleep mode. Charge your watch. If the
battery is totally drained, it may take a while for the charging animation to appear on the display.
When the display is blank, the battery is empty and your watch has gone to sleep mode. Charge your watch. If the battery is
totally drained, it may take a while for the charging animation to appear on the display.
The operating time depends on many factors, such as the temperature of the environment in which you use your watch, the
features and sensors you use, and battery aging. Frequent syncing with Flow app will also decrease the battery life. The
operating time is significantly reduced in temperatures well below freezing. Wearing the watch under your overcoat helps
to keep it warmer and to increase the operating time.
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CARING FOR YOUR WATCH
Like any electronic device, your Polar watch should be kept clean and treated with care. The instructions below will help you
fulfill the guarantee obligations, keep the device in peak condition and avoid any issues in charging or syncing.
KEEP YOUR WATCH CLEAN
Wash the watch under running water with a mild soap and water solution after each training session. Wipe it dry with a soft
towel.
Keep the charging contacts of your watch and cable clean to ensure smooth charging and syncing.
Before charging, please make sure there’s no moisture, dust or dirt on the charging contacts of your watch and cable.
Gently wipe off any dirt or moisture. Do not charge the watch when it's wet or sweaty.
Keep the charging contacts of your watch clean to effectively protect your watch from oxidation and other possible
damage caused by dirt and salt water (e.g. sweat or sea water). The best way to keep the charging contacts clean is to
rinse the watch after each training session with lukewarm tap water. The watch is water resistant and you can rinse it
under running water without damaging the electronic components.
Take good care of the optical heart rate sensor
Keep the optical sensor area on the back cover scratch-free. Scratches and dirt will reduce the performance of the wrist-
based heart rate measurement.
Avoid using perfume, lotion, suntan/sunscreen or insect repellent on the area where you wear your watch. If the watch
comes into contact with these or any other chemicals, wash it with a mild soap and water solution and rinse well under
running water.
STORING
Keep your training device in a cool and dry place. Do not keep it in a damp environment, in non-breathable material (a
plastic bag or a sports bag) nor with conductive material (a wet towel). Do not expose the training device to direct sunlight
for extended periods, such as by leaving it in a car or mounted on the bike mount. It is recommended to store the training
device partially or fully charged. The battery slowly loses its charge when it is stored. If you are going to store the training
device for several months, it is recommended to recharge it after a few months. This will prolong the battery lifetime.
Do not leave the device in extreme cold (below –10 °C/14 °F) and heat (above 50 °C/120 °F) or under direct sunlight.
SERVICE
During the two-year guarantee/warranty period we recommend that you have service done by an authorized Polar Service
Center only. The warranty does not cover damage or consequential damage caused by service not authorized by Polar
Electro. For further information, see Limited International Polar Guarantee.
For contact information and all Polar Service Center addresses, visit support.polar.com and country-specific websites.
PRECAUTIONS
Polar products (training devices, activity trackers and accessories) are designed to indicate the level of physiological strain
and recovery during and after exercise session. The Polar training devices and activity trackers measure heart rate and/or
tell your activity. The Polar training devices with an integrated GPS show speed, distance and location. With a compatible
Polar accessory the Polar training devices show speed and distance, cadence, location and power output. See
www.polar.com/en/products/accessories for a complete list of compatible accessories. The Polar training devices with a
barometric pressure sensor measure altitude and other variables. No other use is intended or implied. The Polar training
device should not be used for obtaining environmental measurements that require professional or industrial precision.
INTERFERENCE DURING TRAINING
Electromagnetic Interference and Training Equipment
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Disturbance may occur near electrical devices. Also WLAN base stations may cause interference when training with the
training device. To avoid erratic reading or misbehavior, move away from possible sources of disturbance.
Training equipment with electronic or electrical components such as LED displays, motors and electrical brakes may cause
interfering stray signals. To solve these problems, try the following:
1. Remove the heart rate sensor strap from your chest and use the training equipment as you would normally.
2. Move the training device around until you find an area in which it displays no stray reading or does not flash the
heart symbol. Interference is often worst directly in front of the display panel of the equipment, while the left or right
side of the display is relatively free of disturbance.
3. Put the heart rate sensor strap back on your chest and keep the training device in this interference-free area as
much as possible.
If the training device still does not work with the training equipment, it may be electrically too noisy for wireless heart rate
measurement.
HEALTH AND TRAINING
Training may include some risk. Before beginning a regular training program, it is recommended that you answer the
following questions concerning your health status. If you answer yes to any of these questions, we recommend that you
consult a doctor before starting any training program.
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Have you been physically inactive for the past 5 years?
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Do you have high blood pressure or high blood cholesterol?
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Are you taking any blood pressure or heart medication?
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Do you have a history of breathing problems?
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Do you have symptoms of any disease?
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Are you recovering from a serious illness or medical treatment?
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Do you use a pacemaker or other implanted electronic device?
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Do you smoke?
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Are you pregnant?
Note that in addition to training intensity, medications for heart conditions, blood pressure, psychological conditions,
asthma, breathing, etc., as well as some energy drinks, alcohol, and nicotine may also affect heart rate.
It is important to be sensitive to your body’s responses during training. If you feel unexpected pain or excessive fatigue
when training, it is recommended that you stop the training or continue at a lighter intensity.
Note! If you are using a pacemaker or other implanted electronic device, you can use Polar products. In theory interference
to pacemaker caused by Polar products should not be possible. In practice no reports exist to suggest anyone ever having
experienced interference. We cannot however issue an official guarantee on our products’ suitability with all pacemakers or
other implanted devices due to the variety of devices available. If you have any doubts, or if you experience any unusual
sensations while using Polar products, please consult your physician or contact the implanted electronic device
manufacturer to determine safety in your case.
If you are allergic to any substance that comes into contact with your skin or if you suspect an allergic reaction due to
using the product, check the listed materials in Technical Specifications. If you experience any skin reaction, stop using the
product and consult your physician. Also inform Polar Customer Care about your skin reaction. To avoid any skin reaction
to the heart rate sensor, wear it over a shirt, but moisten the shirt well under the electrodes to ensure flawless operation.
The combined impact of moisture and intense abrasion may cause color to come off the heart rate sensor's or
wristband's surface, possibly staining light-colored clothes. It may also cause a darker color to come off
clothing, possibly staining lighter-colored training devices. To keep a light-colored training device glowing for
years to come, please make sure the clothing you wear while training does not bleed color. If you use perfume,
lotion, suntan/sunscreen or insect repellent on your skin, you must ensure that it does not come into contact
with the training device or the heart rate sensor. If you train in cold conditions (-20 °C to -10 °C / -4 °F to 14 °F)
we recommend that you wear the training device under the sleeve of your jacket, directly on your skin.
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WARNING - KEEP BATTERIES OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN
Polar heart rate sensors (for example H10 and H9) contain a button cell battery. If the button cell battery is swallowed, it
can cause severe internal burns in as little as 2 hours and can lead to death. Keep new and used batteries away from
children. If the battery compartment does not close securely, stop using the product and keep it away from children. If you
think batteries might have been swallowed or placed inside any part of the body, seek immediate medical attention.
Your safety is important to us. The shape of the Polar stride sensor Bluetooth® Smart is designed to minimize the
possibility of if getting caught in something. In any case, be careful when running with the stride sensor in brushwood, for
example.
HOW TO USE YOUR POLAR PRODUCT SECURELY
Polar offers a minimum of five years of product support service to its customers from the sales start of the product.
Product support service includes necessary firmware updates to Polar devices and fixes for critical vulnerability as
required. Polar constantly monitors the releases of known vulnerabilities. Please update your Polar product regularly, and
as soon as the Polar Flow mobile application or Polar FlowSync computer software informs you about the availability of a
new firmware version.
Training session data and other data saved on your Polar device include sensitive information about you such as your
name, physical information, overall health and location. Location data can be used to track you when you are out training
and to find out what your usual routes are. For these reasons use extra caution when storing your device when not using it.
If you use phone notifications on your wrist device, be aware that messages from certain applications will be projected on
the wrist device display. Your latest messages can also be viewed from the device menu. To ensure the confidentiality of
your private messages, refrain from using the phone notifications feature.
Before handing the device over to a third party for testing or before selling it, it is necessary to perform a factory reset on
the device, and to remove the device from your Polar Flow account. A factory reset can be performed with the FlowSync
software on your computer. A factory reset will clear the device memory, and the device cannot be linked to your data
anymore. To remove the device from your Polar Flow account, sign into the Polar Flow web service, choose products and
click the “Remove” button next to the product you wish to remove.
The same training sessions are also stored on your mobile device with the Polar Flow application. For extra security,
various security enhancing options can be enabled on your mobile device such as strong authentication and device
encryption. Consult the user manual of your mobile device for instructions on enabling these options.
When using the Polar Flow web service, we recommend using a password that is no less than 12 characters in length. If
using the Polar Flow web service on a public computer, please remember to clear the cache and browsing history in order
to prevent others from accessing your account. In addition, do not allow a computer’s browser to store or remember your
password for the Polar Flow web service if it is not your private computer.
Any security issues can be reported to security(a)polar.com or to Polar Customer Care.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION
PACER PRO
Battery type:
265 mAh Li-pol rechargeable battery
Operating time:
Battery life up to 35 h in training mode (GPS and wrist-based heart rate) or up to 7 days in watch mode with continuous
heart rate tracking. Multiple power save options available.
The multiple power save options bring you even up to 100 hours in training mode.
Operating temperature:
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-10 °C to +50 °C / 14 °F to 122 °F.
Device materials:
Carbon Gray, Midnight Blue, Autumn Maroon and Aurora Green:
Device: ABS + GF, Aluminum, Corning Gorilla Glass 3, Stainless steel, PMMA
Wristband: Silicone, PA+GF, Aluminum buckle
Snow White, Gold Dust
Device: ASA + GF, Aluminum, Corning Gorilla Glass 3, Stainless steel, PMMA
Wristband: Silicone, PA+GF, Aluminum buckle
Wristband adapter materials:
Dark gray, blue: ABS + GF, Silicone, Stainless steel
White: ASA + GF, Silicone, Stainless steel
Accessory wristband materials:
See Polar Accessories.
USB cable materials:
PA, N52 NdFeB (zinc plated), Brass 6801 (gold plated), TPE, Velcro, PBT, Brass
Watch accuracy:
Better than ± 0.5 seconds / day at 25 °C / 77 °F temperature
GNSS accuracy:
Distance ±2%
Average route accuracy: 5m
These are values that are achieved in open area satellite conditions when there are no apartment buildings or trees
blocking the satellite view. In urban or forest areas these values are achievable but may sometimes vary.
GNSS recording rate
1 second (can be changed to 1 minute or 2 minutes in power save settings)
Altitude resolution:
1 m
Ascent/Descent resolution:
5 m
Maximum altitude:
9000 m / 29525 ft
Heart rate measuring range:
15-240 bpm
Current speed display range:
0-399 km/h 247.9 mph
(0-36 km/h or 0-22.5 mph when measuring speed with Polar stride sensor)
Water resistance:
WR50
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Memory capacity:
Up to 90 hours of training with GPS and heart rate depending on your language settings
Display
Always on color display. Gorilla glass lens (1,1mm thickness) with anti-fingerprint coating. Size 1.2”, resolution 240 x 240.
Uses wireless Bluetooth® technology.
The radio equipment operates 2.402 - 2.480 GHz ISM frequency band(s) and 5 mW maximum power.
The Polar Precision Prime optical heart rate sensor fusion technology uses a very small, safe amount of electric current on
the skin to measure the contact of the device to your wrist to enhance accuracy.
POLAR FLOWSYNC SOFTWARE
To use FlowSync software you need a computer with Microsoft Windows or Mac operating system with an internet
connection and a free USB port.
Check the latest compatibility information from support.polar.com.
POLAR FLOW MOBILE APPLICATION COMPATIBILITY
Check the latest compatibility information from support.polar.com.
WATER RESISTANCE OF POLAR PRODUCTS
Most Polar products can be worn when swimming. They are not, however, diving instruments. To maintain water
resistance, do not press the buttons of the device under water.
Polar devices with wrist-based heart rate measurement are suitable for swimming and bathing. They will collect your
activity data from your wrist movements also when swimming. In our tests, however, we found that the wrist-based heart
rate measurement doesn’t work optimally in water, so we cannot recommend wrist-based heart rate measurement for
swimming.
In the watch industry, water resistance is generally indicated as meters, which means the static water pressure of that
depth. Polar uses this same indication system. Water resistance of Polar products is tested according to International
Standard ISO 22810 or IEC60529. Every Polar device that has water resistance indication is tested before the delivery to
stand water pressure.
Polar products are divided into four different categories according to their water resistance. Check the back of your Polar
product for the water resistance category, and compare it to the chart below. Please note that these definitions do not
necessarily apply to products of other manufacturers.
When performing any underwater activity, the dynamic pressure generated by moving in water is greater than the static
pressure. This means that moving the product under water subjects it to a greater pressure than if the product were
stationary.
Marking on the back
of the product
Wash
splashes,
sweat, rain-
drops etc.
Bathing and
swimming
Skin diving
with snorkel
(no air tanks)
SCUBA
diving
(with air
tanks)
Water resistant char-
acteristics
Water resistant IPX7 OK - - - Do not wash with a pressure
washer.
Protected against splashes,
raindrops etc.
Reference standard:
IEC60529.
Water resistant IPX8 OK OK - - Minimum for bathing and
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swimming.
Reference standard:
IEC60529.
Water resistant
Water resistant
20/30/50 meters
Suitable for swimming
OK OK - - Minimum for bathing and
swimming.
Reference standard:
ISO22810.
Water resistant 100
meters
OK OK OK - For frequent use in water but
not SCUBA diving.
Reference standard:
ISO22810.
REGULATORY INFORMATION
This product is compliant with Directives 2014/53/EU, 2011/65/EU and 2015/863/EU. The relevant
Declaration of Conformity and other regulatory information for each product are available at
www.polar.com/en/regulatory_information.
This crossed out wheeled bin marking shows that Polar products are electronic devices and are in the
scope of Directive 2012/19/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on waste electrical and
electronic equipment (WEEE) and batteries and accumulators used in products are in the scope of
Directive 2006/66/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 September 2006 on
batteries and accumulators and waste batteries and accumulators. These products and
batteries/accumulators inside Polar products should thus be disposed of separately in EU countries.
Polar encourages you to minimize possible effects of waste on the environment and human health
also outside the European Union by following local waste disposal regulations and, where possible,
utilize separate collection of electronic devices for products, and battery and accumulator collection
for batteries and accumulators.
To see the watch-specific regulatory labels, go to Settings > General settings > About your watch.
LIMITED INTERNATIONAL POLAR GUARANTEE
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Polar Electro Oy issues a limited international guarantee for Polar products. For products which have been sold in
the USA or Canada, guarantee is issued by Polar Electro, Inc.
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Polar Electro Oy/Polar Electro Inc. guarantees the original consumer/purchaser of the Polar product that the product
will be free from defects in material or workmanship for two (2) years from the date of purchase, with the exception
of wristbands made of silicone or plastic, which are subject to a guarantee period of one (1) year from the date of
purchase.
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The guarantee does not cover normal wear and tear of the battery, or other normal wear and tear, damage due to
misuse, abuse, accidents or non-compliance with the precautions; improper maintenance, commercial use, cracked,
broken or scratched cases/displays, textile armband or textile or leather wristband, elastic strap (e.g. heart rate
sensor chest strap) and Polar apparel.
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The guarantee does also not cover any damage/s, losses, costs or expenses, direct, indirect or incidental,
consequential or special, arising out of, or related to the product.
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Guarantee does not cover products which have been purchased second hand.
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During the guarantee period, the product will be either repaired or replaced at any authorized Polar Central Service
regardless of the country of purchase.
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Guarantee issued by Polar Electro Oy/Inc. does not affect the consumer’s statutory rights under applicable national
or state laws in force, or the consumer’s rights against the dealer arising from their sales/purchase contract.
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You should keep the receipt as a proof of purchase!
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Guarantee with respect to any product will be limited to countries where the product has been initially marketed by
Polar Electro Oy/Inc.
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Manufactured by Polar Electro Oy, Professorintie 5, 90440 KEMPELE, Finland www.polar.com.
Polar Electro Oy is a ISO 9001:2015 certified company.
© 2022 Polar Electro Oy, 90440 KEMPELE, Finland. All rights reserved. No part of this manual may be used or reproduced in
any form or by any means without prior written permission of Polar Electro Oy.
The names and logos in this user manual or in the package of this product are trademarks of Polar Electro Oy. The names
and logos marked with a ® symbol in this user manual or in the package of this product are registered trademarks of Polar
Electro Oy. Windows is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation and Mac OS is a registered trademark of Apple Inc.
The Bluetooth® word mark and logos are registered trademarks owned by Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and any use of such marks
by Polar Electro Oy is under license.
DISCLAIMER
• The material in this manual is for informational purposes only. The products it describes are subject to change
without prior notice, due to the manufacturer’s continuous development program.
• Polar Electro Inc./Polar Electro Oy makes no representations or warranties with respect to this manual or with respect
to the products described herein.
• Polar Electro Inc./Polar Electro Oy shall not be liable for any damages, losses, costs or expenses, direct, indirect or
incidental, consequential or special, arising out of, or related to the use of this material or the products described herein.
1.0 EN 03/2023
