Quote:
Originally Posted by schoolgirl-01
i have a polar M400 with a chest strap. it also doubles as an activity tracker.
i've always used a polar heart rate monitor during my workouts. when it came to to replace my old polar i went with the M400.
i wore it for about 2 weeks while sleeping but i sleep really well so after a while seeing that my sleep is over 90% i stopped wearing it to bed.
the nice thing about the polar tracker is setting a goal that has nothing to do with how many steps you get - it's all about heart rate and how active you really are. as we all know all steps are not created equally. walking around the supermarket is not the same as doing HIIT.
so i wore it for a long time - maybe 6 or 8 months to see my activity time. to see exactly how much time i spent sitting/standing/laying down. that was the real eye opener - i then changed things so that i spent far less time sitting down.
now that i have my routine of not really sitting around i only wear the polar to workout and no other times.
|
I agree. The step counting really doesn't tell you much of anything constructive, in my opinion. I also have a heart rate monitor that uses a chest strap. It's incredibly accurate. We use it in our boot camp HIIT class and it displays on a monitor so we (and the instructor) can see our heart rate and intensity zones. I also wear it when doing workouts, strength training and running outside of boot camp.
I have to also agree, this thing makes me a little obsessed. The app ranks us with our friends (the boot camp group) and assigns us activity points (MEPs) and I have become obsessed with earning the MEPs. The points are assigned according to how long you stay in the higher ranges of your heart rate. More MEPs for being 80 to 90% of your max heart rate, and even more above 90%. So not only does it track how long you work out, it tracks the intensity! Last month I earned 9000 of them, the closest person to me had only 5000. I need to calm down.
Mine is called "My Zone".