Inspiration to move with the Polar A360
This post is sponsored by Fitfluential on behalf of Polar.
Heading into the New Year, my fitness goals are pretty straightforward. I’ll write a post about it, but I’d love to increase my strength and cardio endurance, run another half marathon, and build some lean muscle.
My number one priority is moving on a consistent basis again, and with the Polar A360, it’s been a great nudge to get back into it.
Since I took off the necessary 6 weeks postpartum to recover from birth, at first, I thought it would be like a fitness vacation to recharge and hit it again with gusto when I was cleared to resume activity. I was like, “Oh, this is nice, I’m going to feel so refreshed when I can return to the fitness game. “ After the first week, I felt completely normal and my attitude changed. I was itching to move again. I feel so much better when I get in a sweat session, and it’s a fresh breath of “me time” amidst the many actions involved in keeping two small children alive, happy, fed and entertained. When the midwife cleared me to work out again, of course I was excited, and then I was like, “How am I going to have time to work out?” It can be a little tricky when you feel like you don’t take a breath until you collapse into bed.
Needless to say, I was pretty thrilled when Polar sent me one of their new A360s to test out. Not only would it provide some motivation to safely resume my activities, but also a way to monitor my heart rate throughout workout sessions.
Here are some of the things I’ve noticed:
Even though I feel like I’m on the move all day, since we’re still not quite out and about as much, my step count has gone way down.
I was excited for the insightful data from this monitor… except the sleep part. I didn’t need to know how much sleep I’m (not) getting. Haha.
When you wear a fitness tracker, you’ll get a lot of questions! I always love to ask about how people like their fitness trackers, so I’ve been happy to share the love and how much I’ve been enjoying the A360.
Pros:
Motivation to move. Just knowing that you’re trying to reach a 10k step goal is extra encouragement to take small actions throughout the day to accomplish it, like parking farther away, taking the steps whenever possible, or extending the dance party time with your preschooler. For the record, if you find that you’re low on steps, just do some Zumba songs. (YouTube has a ton.) BOOM. It’s an easy and fun way to get some extra movement!
I love the giant touch screen. I haven’t tried anything like this, and you can easily scroll to view your day, heart rate, the time, and what you’d need to do to reach your 10k goal.
The app is extremely user-friendly. You can access it on your computer or phone, and quickly sync to see how you’re doing. I’ve found that since the tracker itself provides a lot of information, I don’t usually need to check into the app much throughout the day. It’s a nice way to view patterns over the span of a month or week.
The A360 also tracks your heart rate. This is particularly awesome for classes or activities that don’t register as high step counts, but are still great workouts, like BODYPUMP and Spin.
It’s also waterproof and you can get notifications, like incoming calls, messages and your calendar. I love that they added some smartphone features!
Cons:
The only con I’ve noticed is that the band and screen are very large on my freakishly small wrists. Even so, it’s very comfortable to wear and use.
Is there a daily goal you try to hit? For me, I always try to make sure I get enough water, and some type of protein and produce in every meal and snack. When I’m wearing a fitness tracker, I like to try and crush my 10k step goal.
Leave a comment below, and I’ll surprise a lucky reader with an A360 of their own. 😉
xoxo
Gina
This is a sponsored post, but the giveaway is being sponsored by yours truly. Thank you so much for supporting this blog and the companies who help to support our family.
This post is sponsored by FitFluential on behalf of Polar.
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This would be awesome! I (used to) aim for 10K steps a day, but my Fitbit broke. P is adorable…aren’t sisters so fun?!?
I would love to have one of these! I previously had a different fitness tracker, but it completely broke so a new one with even better features would be amazing 🙂
I try to have veggies with every meal!
I’d love to win this! Is there a strap that you have to wear with this?
nope!
I just became Spin certified, thanks in part to your inspiring blog! This would definitely help me out with my teaching.
I am really motivated by knowing how many steps I’ve walked, and always try to get more in. It would be great to have a step counter and HR monitor in one!
Thanks so much for the super helpful review, Gina! My goals for 2016 are to be more consistent with my workouts (after a crazy 2015 that threw me off my game a little) and drink more water. I haven’t found a fitness tracker that I love yet, but I love my Polar heart rate monitor so I’ll definitely check this one out. And I also have freakishly small wrists, ha! 🙂
I’ve been looking for a new fitness tracker for awhile and would be so excited to win this one! Trying to get back in shape after baby, plus work, and grad school has really been difficult. This would be great motivation to get moving and get fit! Thanks for the awesome giveaway!
I like how it looks like a watch!
I would love to try this fitness tracker – since laundering my FitBit my steps have dropped dramatically the last 3 months. It’s so easy to reach your goal when using a tracking device. I like the idea of heart rate on it – also, I too – have very tiny wrists! Your not alone! 🙂
I have never used an activity tracker so this would be awesome to try out!
Wow! This tracker looks great (and not too gigantic on your tiny wrists)! I love that it tracks your heart rate as well 🙂
Small wrists unite! 🙂 Love this new look ! I was going to purchase a device of my own with some xmas money but my poor kitty needed emergency surgery 🙁 so it would be so great to win this!
My daily goal is to get 10k steps. I hope to add to that after the new year.
While I love the idea of a fitness tracker and think it would be a great motivator to get up and moving and to keep track of goals, to be honest I’m kind of scared to be reminded how much I’m NOT moving haha that last reason is probably why I need one, for the reminder 😉
My daily goals are water (5L) and steps (11K). Water is beyond habit for me, so I consider it part of being me rather than achieving a goal. 11K is a challenge, especially in the winter weather since it’s not as comfortable to just grab a quick walk outside and I don’t have a treadmill at home. That’s when I focus on the sneaky steps – a parking space away from the door, taking the long way to the bathroom at work, etc. I’ve also embraced housewalking. I don’t love it, but I love knowing that the weather can’t stop me from walking.
I love Polar’s other heart rate monitors and this tracker looks great!
I would love to win this. I have lost 10 lbs in the last few months and I am determined to lose the last 15 to get in shape. I have 2 little girls and I really want to be an inspiration to them to live a healthy lifestyle.
Love that it works for steps and heart rate monitor…. Need to get back into tracking both to crush 2016 fitness goals!
Never used a fitness tracker, but would love to try one! Thanks for the review!
I just hopped on the Fitbit bandwagon and I really like the motivation. I also do wear a HRM when working out. This sounds awesome because it’s both! Happy New Year! Excited for the new Shape Up!
I really want a heart rate monitor! I have been focusing on getting enough water every day
Hi Gina! So happy to hear you’ve got your workout groove back and the Polar A360 is helping. I’d love to have one…I’m really active but about a month away from having my first baby so I have a feeling I’ll be feeling like you were after a week or so… ready to get back to it! It seems like it A360 would definitely help me get my steps in even being a new mom & feeling overwhelmed! 😉
I am always trying to drink enough water daily. I really notice it in how I feel in days that I don’t!
I would love a fitness tracker so much!
This sounds amazing! I have one of the really old Polar heart monitors and while I love wearing it I would REALLY LOVE this new version, which sounds AMAZING!!! Thanks Gina.
Amazing giveaway!! I have an old polar HRM and use it as motivation for all my workouts!!
I live in upstate NY, and it’s hard to not be a couch potato in the cold and dreary winter months. I’ve been seeng the A360 all over lately; reminders to get up and moving would be incredible!
Having a desk job makes it easy to not get up and move around. I think a fitness tracker would help me realize that and get moving during the day!
I love that this counts my steps and is a heart monitor. I need to monitor my heart rate while working out, per my doc.
I’ve been hesitant about the smartphone watches that have “fitness tracking features” but would definitely put more trust into a fitness tracker that also happened to include smartphone features!
I’m in the market for a new fitness tracker!
I cancelled my gym membership, and now I’m struggling to do my workouts. It turns out that the financial obligation was good motivation! This would be great to have to motivate me to do more, even without having to pay for the membership every month!
Thanks for the giveaway! I would LOVE to try it out 🙂
Happy New Years!!
I hope you are feeling better soon and thanks for the chance to win. last night I read your roller blog post — I need to start rolling! thanks.
I love fitness trackers. Very motivational!! I have the fitbit charge hr and would love to upgrade to something waterproof with even more feedback.
I’ve been into hiking and biking lately but no idea the mileage or my steps on these trails. I think a tracker would be awesome to compare the different terrains we go over.
I’m working hard to include fruit or veggies into all my meals, and for my one year old as well. I’m also trying to include some mo event every day. Not as easy now that snow has hit WI!
Thank you so much for the giveaway!! I’m about to have baby number 2 in February and would love this!!
My consistent daily goal usually involves laundry, ha, but a fitness goal I have is to always get on my yoga mat, even if it’s just for five minutes. Even just a short flow feels so good.
I have always wanted to try out a fitness tracker! This one looks awesome 🙂
I don’t have a tracker, would love this one to get 2016 started off right! Thanks for the review!
A fitness tracker would be great in helping to get my 10,000 steps.
I would love one! I have a Fitbit flex and I really wish it tracked my heart rate for workouts. But I couldn’t afford the more expensive one. I could really use some help with maximizing my workouts
I would love a fitness tracker for the new year!
I’ve really enjoyed all your posts about the Polar (previous version of their trackers). They seem really great and this one encompasses some features of other watches with nice options like monitoring heart rate. I would love to give this a try, even if it is a little large for small wrists 🙂
I currently wear a vivofit but am really in the market for a tracker with wrist based heart monitoring all the ones that I have researched don’t show much on the screen which I really want! I like to know where I am at with my steps and use it for easy runs when not tracking pace but need to see distance!
I usually try to do something to sweat every single day and eat produce at each meal. I use my phone for a pedometer and try for 10k, but it’s a little clunky to carry around all day.
Love this! I’ve been researching trackers for my bounce back from kiddo no. 2. This has been a front runner!
I have a fitness tracker and love it, though it does not have a heart rate monitor. It would help me stay motivated of this we’re included, add I tend to do activities like bikram yoga.