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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I sold my Fitbit a year ago because I didn’t want to be plugged into one more thing. I do miss the reminders to move though and have been thinking about getting another. Thanks for offering this:)
I like the idea of a fitness tracker that monitors heart rate.
I would love to try this. I have used the ones without the heart rate part but I would really like to see the heart rate data from my workouts. I’m also due today with my second baby and could for sure use the motivation to get back into working out hard.
I stumbled upon your blog during the summer. I was looking for a blog that talked about fitness and being pregnant. As much as I had an easy pregnancy, I hated being pregnant! Watching my body change was really hard for me! I loved reading about your journey and seeing that you can still workout till the end! I’m so glad we had a baby around the same time! Now since having a little girl in September I still check in daily for all of your tips to fitness to being a great mom!
I love that it has the smartphone features! I use a Fitbit flex now and I love the pedometer and sleep feature but I wish I could see all the information on the wristband itself!
A little off topic…love your black bracelet with the little heart. Would you share where it’s from?
Happy New Year! 🙂
Great review! It’s hard to move more after having the second baby. I felt like all I wanted was sleep! Congrats on the little!
I always try to focus on drinking plenty of water, but now that it’s cold outside it’s becoming a lot more difficult to reach that goal. This sounds like a great fitness tracking option, thanks for offering this!
I’d love to try this! I’m naturally a very competitive person and am always trying to do just a little bit better. Can I drink a little more water today, do one extra push up, walk to the train one minute faster.
I’d love to win this!
I’ve been eyeing fitness trackers for awhile but never bit the bullet. I would love to try this.
I would love to try this!
I have been wanting a fitness tracker for a long time…we just moved to the cold northwest and I feel like I am barely moving throughout the day so it would be motivating for me to have a tracker to remind me to get up and go 🙂
How awesome! I work from home so I am most likely wayyy below the 10k steps a day goal. It’d be great to win one of these and see how I’m really doing!
What a great motivation to meet goals!
Great giveaway! I’m five months pregnant and I’m finding that many of my pre-preggo workouts are pretty uncomfortable so I’m having to get more creative about activity. It would be great to actually track my movement!
I just ordered the spin bike from your previous post so a new heart rate monitor would be the perfect accessory for it!!! I too am a new mama to 2: a very active 2 year old and my new 3 week old squish I need options for our at-home gym when I get cleared to work out so the bike was perfect!
Looks great and great review of it
I am very intrigued by the wrist based heart rate monitoring. I’ve always used a chest strap and recently lost the monitoring part of it. Thanks for the great review!
I am somewhat of a fitness tracker junkie – I’ve had my eye on the A360 and would LOVE to try it out!
I’m obsessed with data and haven’t found the perfect one yet, this one looks pretty close!
That activity tracker looks amazing! I’m just a few weeks away from welcoming baby #3 and am definitely going to need some extra motivation!!
My FIL just received one of these for Christmas and loves it! Would love to win so I can gift this to my husband!
I’ve had the low-level Fitbit for a few years and like to track my steps, but I’m very intrigued by the A360. I would love to be able to monitor my heart rate without wearing the horrible band around my chest!
I love seeing data! And I don’t own a fitness tracker but have been really wanting to get one instead of using weird phone apps!
Looks like a great tracker! I’m constantly debating whether or not to get one but lately with it getting dark so early I am SO unmotivated to move after work, I should probably get one for more incentive!
I’m in that same post partum, mom of two, trying to get my fitness levels back up. This sounds like an awesome fitness tracker to jump start that!
i try to eat as many fruits and veggies as possible!
I need to implement some daily goals – I did 3 rounds of 21 day fix before the holidays started and was so great about daily workouts, step tracking and protein intake, but currently it seems like my only daily goal is coffee and getting a reasonable amount of sleep! I need get back into a routine, and this Polar would help so much! Love the added HR tracking which my fitbit doesn’t do.
I would love a fitness tracker to motivate me!
Would love to have a way to track goals in the new year! Especially love the heart rate tracking!
I dont currently use a fitness tracker, but I know that it would seriously motivate me to get out and move and push my workouts longer! It’s about time I add it to my must-have list!
My goal is to get enough water and reduce my sugar intake.
Would LOVE to have one as I set out to accomplish my new year goals!
My goal is to complete a sugar detox and get my recurring Lyme disease and autoimmune conditions under control naturally!
I would LOVE to win one!! It would be a great way to keep me motivated to lose the baby weight that I desperately want to get rid of. Thank you for the opportunity!!
I’d love to try this one out.
It’s hard to believe that tomorrow is the last day of 2015! My goals for the year are pretty similar to yours- I want to increase my cardio endurance (which fell to the wayside these last few months) and increase my lifts. Getting this new gadget would be a great way to kick of 2016 with a bang (and motivation to do more cardio)! (;
Would love to start the new year with A360.
I would LOVE to win one!! It would keep me motivated to lose the baby weight that I so desperately want to get rid of!! Thank you for the opportunity to enter!
My daily goal is just to move for at least 30 minutes but my goal for 2016 is to run a race that is longer than a 5k. I’m excited to pick out a race and train. Thanks for the chance to win! Happy New Year!
That polar tracker looks great! I love the heart rate feature. My current daily goal is to get back into drinking enough water throughout the day. The busy holiday season has taken its toll, and I’ve fallen off the rails in the hydration department.
I would love to see my step count everyday but I’m most intrigued by the sleep tracker. I’m definitely in bed for a full 9 hours but I wonder how many times I wake up with the dog in bed 🙂
Great review! As a fitness professional I’ve always been interested in buying a fitness tracker, but haven’t found one that has excited me enough to pull the trigger yet. However, I’m a fan of polar and this seems to have all the aspects I’m looking for! Thanks for the sneaky give away!
This is great! Would love to check out a fitness tracker with an integrated heart rate monitor!
I have bigger wrists so it won’t look so big on me 😉 Love reading your blog and would love a heart rate monitor to track my fitness progress in the new year.
This would be wonderful, I am a swimmer & water aerobics and fitness instructor and saved my limited pennies for a basic Misfit because it said it was waterproof, well after having to have it replaced 2x in 3 months and then being told “well you really need the higher price point model if you want it to be truly waterproof” I am super bummed and fell I just wasted the $$$ I had scrapped together to buy it. I love the concept of a monitor and as a mom of 3 under 3 can use all the easy help I can get to keep track o things!
Seems awesome! I like the smart phone features. I’m trying to get back into running shape and this could help motivate me
I have ALWAYS wanted to try a fitness tracker, but have never been sure which one to buy. This is an awesome giveaway!
What a great way to start the new year!