Do you use a fitness tracker? Do you have to hit those 10,000 steps?
A couple years ago my company kicked off a big fitness initiative. They gave everyone the choice between a FitBit Flex or One and ran a “walk across the country” team based challenge. We all started strong but as the gap started to widen between the lead teams and everyone else (only the top 3 teams of 60+ got a prize) consistent use dropped off. And off. And off. Four months after we got our FitBits maybe 1 in 10 were still using their trackers. Gamification and peer pressure is great, but once it’s gone what keeps you going?
FitBit doesn’t work for me. The only metric my One tracks that I even remotely care about is sleep (and then it’s a question of “how little did the boy let me get last night?” not “how can I do better?”). Until recently they didn’t even have a tracker that I could wear doing my favourite activity – swimming. They still don’t support my #2 activity of the stationary bike or my reluctant participation at Strong Lifts with hubby (but I love the results and time with him, so I do what works – plus I don’t have to leave the house since we have the rack in our basement). So I’ve been looking for something new off and on.
Swim trackers are hard to find and expensive, guys! There were a bunch of new products hitting the market in 2014/2015 and I was getting excited… then I got my FitBit and felt like it was an extravagance to spend my money on something I already had (and didn’t really like or use). But every so often I’d hunt down reviews to see what was considered “the best”. There are a few that consistently showed up on the lists. Garmin always had one or two at the top, and I was excited when the news came that Apple Watch 2 could be used for swimming. But man, that price tag!
Confession time: I’m a gift card hoarder. I’m terrible at getting out and spending them. As a result, I have three Christmases worth of gift cards sitting in my wallet, plus one from my work. With that sizable chunk of change that I’d been told to spend on myself I started to look at trackers again. And I was surprised to see one making lists for both swimming and biking… and under $100. Guess where my money has gone?
I’m now waiting for my new Moov Now to arrive and can’t wait to start using it. Instead of tracking steps it focuses on Active Minutes, which I think is way more important anyway. (Plus, in our tiny house the 50 steps most people get walking from the couch to the kitchen is only 10 for me, so I never come close to 10k! I’m happy to eliminate that disappointing metric.) It tracks swimming, cycling (both stationary and outdoors), and has a bunch of other features. And it coaches you! I’m going to have a little voice in my head telling me how to do better. Not at swimming, but for everything else. SO COOL!
Watch out world, this girl is getting her butt in gear. (And man, does it ever need to find a higher one.)
Meria Inspired 