I’m usually wearing the Apple Watch - or any fitness tracker that I review - to track the bare minimum. I keep an eye on the calories burnt, steps I’ve taken and the stats from my 3-days-a-week routine of strength training. As I get older and my general reserves of patience wears thin, I find myself reaching out for the meditation app frequently these days too. Imagine my joy when I caught up with two professionals who truly put the Apple Watch to the test on an everyday basis.
In an exclusive interaction, I chatted with Akanksha Satyavanshi, about how she puts the Apple Watch to use for herself and her 18-member team. Akanksha is the physiotherapist for Gujarat Giants, and also for the Indian Women’s Cricket Team as well as the National Cricket Academy, Bengaluru. Her role involves ensuring every player in the 18-member squad remains fit throughout tournaments. Sneh Rana, bowling all-rounder, Vice-Captain of Gujarat Giants and a part of the Indian Women’s national cricket team, also fielded my questions about her fitness journey with the gadget.
How did your journey with the Apple Watch begin?
Sneh - My journey with the Apple Watch started when one of my friend’s gifted me one on my birthday. At first, I was thrilled seeing so many features on a device that just rests on my wrist and slowly it became a part of my fitness journey.
Which are your favourite features on the Watch?
Akanksha - Mindfulness and the cycle tracking has been really helpful. Many times, I lose track of my own cycle, because I’m so occupied with the players’ fitness regime. Now, I get a notification that PMS is going to hit or I’m going to get a pesky pimple. (laughs) I also love the data I get from the Sleep app. Because of the kind of crazy routine we have - back-to-back practice and matches - it is very important we keep track of our sleep.
Sneh - My favourite features are the Breathe app and Heart Rate. I use it regularly in my fitness and training routine.
Were you surprised by your sleep pattern when you first started using the watch?
Akanksha - Actually, I used to think that I’m getting 6-7 hours of sleep and that is enough. But the data showed me that my REM sleep was much less than ideal. It showed me that I was constantly waking up at night without even realising it.
Have you ever used the data from the Apple Watch to tweak your performance goals?
Sneh - Me and my trainer exchange our data on Apple Watch and we try to compete with each other. This way we push ourselves more, achieve our fitness goals and close the activity rings everyday.
Akanksha - In the professional space, it’s been really helpful in preventing a lot of injuries. We’ve noticed that during the luteal phase - which is the week just before the menstrual cycle - the players’ ligaments are usually lax. This means there’s a higher possibility of a ligament injury during that time. Now, we share that data with the player as well as with the strength and conditioning coach, so they avoid plyometrics and similar activities to keep the players injury-free.
Is there a feature you wish to see on the Watch going ahead?
Akanksha - Never thought about that, but the feature that really took me by surprise is fall detection. If I am away and my players are working with their respective State associations, I or their emergency contacts get a notification when they have a fall. How cool is that!
Sneh - I look forward to having a reminder for water intake… (laughs)... because I am lazy!