Yes, it’s now January 2019 and anytime you turn on the television set you see infomercials about that next great weight loss program to help you jumpstart your body so you're going to be looking great when the summer sun starts to make itself felt! Or the on-slot of tv ads about joining this gym or that yoga class to help you get a handle on your body’s needs in order to get you motivated to get in shape.
No matter where you see them, you are bombarded with promotions that promise they can deliver those weight loss goals you made for those New Year resolutions about a week ago. But you remember that old saying "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is",, isn’t!
There is no real quick fix to having you shed pounds that’s taken you years to put on. Its going to take time to work that extra baggage off, safely, so that your body can adjust to the extra activity your subjecting it to. This way your body adapts to this new physical “You” and in time it will begin to build up its stamina, gradually, being able to achieve the pre-determined goals you set for yourself and moving past this one goal and beginning a brand new one.
That being said, it’s a fact that anyone looking to make these kinds of changes need to set attainable goals for themselves. No matter what form of exercise you elect to pursue, making goals for yourself gives you something to shoot for. After all, each of us has a competitive spirit, and striving to reach a goal can spur a person on till they reach it. But in order to measure the steps to attaining that goal you need to honestly track your progress.
A great way to do this is with an activity monitor or smartwatch. And there are many to choose from. But again, if you’re just starting out on your fitness journey, it’s always a good idea to start with one that will provide you with the data you need in order to track your progress but won’t have you worrying about your bank account.
Once such tracker is the Garmin Vivosmart HR+GPS Activity Tracker ) It measures your steps, distance, calories burned, number of floors, how great was your activity intensity and your heart rate on your wrist! It's GPS your distance and pace while mapping out your run or walk and you can receive "Smart Notifications" from your Phone. This device is much smarter and built for fitness rather than activity tracking, as a plain pedometer would be. But in many ways, it's not a device solely built for fitness, either, (even though we think runners will get the most out of it). With the Vívosmart HR+, Garmin is definitely making a play to compete with all the "Bell and Whistles" devices like the Apple Watch and Fitbit Blaze, which can handle activity tracking, sleep, and fitness, as well as notifications to boot.
Like most of Garmin's other products, the Vívosmart HR+ isn't pretending to be a modern take on the classic watch, a style we've seen embraced by a number of similar brands. Instead, it's a device built for fitness through and through.
Made from plastic encased in a rubber strap and body, and its durable design ensures the HR+ withstands knocks and drops to the floor (yes, we accidentally dropped it more than once and can safely say it survived intact).
Its traditional buckle-style strap means it stays super secure, even running on the roughest terrain. At first, this feels a little heavy duty in comparison to other wearables, but the fact it barely moves is a huge advantage over the style adopted by the likes of the Jawbone UP3, which is prone to sliding around during particularly grueling workouts.
The rubber exterior and sunken home button mean the device has a decent amount of waterproofing. Just like Garmin's other wearables, the Vívosmart HR+ is water resistant to 5ATM, which is around 50 meters. This means you don't have to worry about it in the bath or the shower and can even take it swimming - even though there's no dedicated swimming mode.
The wearable appears slim, its subtle style means it works well at work, home and in the gym. The main button under the screen, which you use to bring up the main menu, is slightly indented. This makes it easy to press, but on the flip side, I never accidentally pressed it either. On the underside of the device, you'll find the heart rate sensor, as well as a charging dock.
Under the hood, the Vívosmart HR+ has everything you'd expect from a high-end tracker, including a built-in heart rate monitor, GPS, accelerometer and barometric altimeter. This means it sits nicely between activity tracking devices and those designed solely with fitness in mind.
When it comes to activity tracking, your steps clock up throughout the day to work towards a goal that Garmin has set for you - although you can change it from within the app. Once you hit that goal you'll feel little vibrations and alerts that tell you, you're doing well.
A nice addition here is the move-bar, which basically tells you when you need to move. It builds up over an hour or so and then you can walk it off. Other devices from Fitbit and Jawbone have a similar feature, but Garmin does it well because you can watch it slowly build up and it simply prompts you to move - rather than just annoy you.
Although the HR+ can be used solely as an activity (and sleep) tracker, it really excels when it comes to fitness, especially running.
Press the hold the button and you'll be greeted with a bunch of options. The first one is a little stick figure. Click him and you can choose from Running, Cardio or Other.
Once within the Running option, you can specify whether you'll be indoors or outdoors - if you select outdoors, the HR+ will put the GPS to good use, as well as tracking your pace, distance, calories and time. It displays one thing at a time once you've completed your run, which you can then swipe through.
There are no dedicated modes for full GPS-tracking of other activities. Although, selecting "Other" will present you with Distance, Time, BPM and Calories burned. The device has one button on the front and a touchscreen. You only really have two sets of controls. You can press the button to see the main menu or swipe up. This keeps the functionality really simple and, after just an afternoon's wear, quickly became really intuitive and easy-to-use. We think this is vital for a wearable created to be used for running and high-intensity activities.
The touchscreen allows you to quickly swipe through all kinds of data. This includes the time, which is always displayed, your daily steps, stairs climbed, active minutes, calories burned, distance traveled, music controls, weather, your notifications and then heart rate. The fact that swiping through it feels simple and intuitive is a real testament to Garmin's consideration of the user journey here.
The device's 24/7 heart rate tracking performs well. It collects your resting heart rate throughout the day, which you can see within the accompanying Garmin Connect app or live on your wrist by finding the right screen as you swipe.
The one thing that sets the Garmin Vívosmart HR+ apart from simpler trackers, is it'll ping notifications from your phone over to your wrist. There's not much to say about this feature, other than it works instantly and everything gets sent there.
It's reliable (if a bit relentless), sending calls, messages, Facebook messages and anything else right to your fingertips and you can tap into certain messages to read a bit more. You won't be able to read everything, but you'll get the gist.
Now, for the good part, since the Garmin Vívosmart HR+GPS has been around for a while and there are now more advanced smartwatches out there by Garmin, this, as we said before, is a great starter tracker for the newly initiated into a pursuing a fitness/running program. Since it has been out for a while, we here at PedometersUSA.com are able to offer this great fitness tracker at a blowout price of $99.99, while supplies of it last.
So, if you’re looking for a starter tracker, or you want to get your friend a gift of such a great dependable wrist-based heart rate monitor with a reliable GPS, suited for running both indoors and out, then the Garmin Vivosmart HR+ is the one for you.