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’m new to the fitness tracker world and Polar has such a good reputation! It’s so exciting they’ve come out with something–I’d love to try it!!
I currently have a very basic fit bit flex that a friend gave me. We are doing a work week hustle and I find myself discouraged because, while I work out for an hour to an hour and a half each day doing high-intensity interval training and weightlifting, I always come in low with my step count compared to the other girls in the challenge. I (almost) always reach the 10,000 step goal, but these girls are clicking almost 20,000 steps per day. I know my workouts are efficient and effective, and that I’m active during the day. Do you have any thoughts on this?
I’d love to give this a try, it sounds awesome!
Large display touch screen – finally! No more squinting at those numbers.
Would love to be the lucky chosen one.
There is just something motivation about that little reminder to keep moving every time you look at your wrist! What a great way to ring in the new year! 🙂
Whoops typo! Motivating*
Clearly, I’m not getting much sleep either 😉
Something to help you keep motivated (and reminded!) of your goals on such a personalized level is so awesome! I need to start saving for one. =)
My daily goal for the new year to be more proactive with my fitness! I used to exercise daily but having two littles two and under has severely depleted me. I need to get up and get on it!
I have a hard time with motivation, so I think this would really help me to push myself. You can’t argue with the number. Having it spelled out in black and white would be a big help.
this is awesome. I’m obsessed
It’s so nice to see an honest review for a fitness tracker that is not a FitBit. How much does this one retail for?
I’m Jonesing for a fitness tracker, but I just can’t commit because of the cost. I want one with a HR monitor, for accurate calorie counting, but the addition of that feature usually raises the price a bit.
Anyway, I’d love to win!
To answer your question, my daily goal is usually to make healthy decisions. I don’t have a step count or anything, but depending on my bigger-term goals, I have smaller, more-like-daily goals I try to hit, such as working out (according to my training plain), drinking 8+ glasses of water, eating a fruit/veggie at every meal and meeting my calorie allowance.
What a nice looking watch! I would love to use that 🙂
I really like the look and features of this new Polar watch! Would love to give it a try!
I love fitness gadgets. Just another way to stay motivated and accountable!
I had my second daughter this August, so ever since I was cleared to workout my goal was to exercise for atleast 30 mins and to drink 70oz of water.
When I wear my tracker, I really like making sure I hit my active minutes for the day. The fact that this one has a heart rate feature is really cool as sometimes a Pilates class, for instance, won’t register as active minutes on my Fitbit even though I’d consider it active.
I love learning how I can be more active and motivated to be active. I think I would like to have a a heart rate option to ensure I’m working hard enough….this sounds like its the best of bothworlds….step counter and activity/heart rate monitor!
This tracker sounds amazing! Happy holidays…I love your blog
I wants one! 😀
My daily goal is to hit 5 miles in movement and 8 hours of sleep. But of course I am not trying to keep two children (let’s face it, THREE children…sorry Pilot) alive every day! Little P’s gorgeous smiles are so heartbreakingly beautiful I’m sure they make up for the lack of sleep!
It’s really nice to see photos of Polar a360 on a real person. I also have freakishly small wrists and all the manufacturer photos show normal wrists and I always fear sports watches / activity meters look like I attached a brick to my wrist. I am actually considering buying this!
My husband bought a tracker several months ago, and it broke almost immediately. He hasn’t been inclined to get another — this would be perfect for him. Thanks, and cheers to a happy, healthy new year!
I signed up for Orange Theory classes starting in February! I would love a heart rate monitor. Fitness has always been a priority, but it’s time to really make my workouts count! !!!
My daily health goals are to sweat daily and watch my sugar intake :). The Polar looks awesome! I’d love to win one!
I would love to have it since I too am getting back into fitness after giving birth.it would help me to get motivated . Thanks
Never had one, super cool
I’m giving birth soon too. This looks like a great addition to get back into workouts! I love your review!
I am trying to really improve my diet, especially after this holiday season!! I have been wanting to get a new fitness tracker and this one looks awesome!
I didn’t kow Polar was making a touch screen tracker. Looks very cool!
This looks really cool! I’m struggling after after my first baby to get back into a groove! I think something like this would give me a little extra motivation to hit daily goals!
I would love to try a fitness tracker.
Sounds like a great reminder of your goals (read: kick in the pants!). One of my biggest daily goals is water intake. I do just fine when I’m at work, but I’m terrible about it on the weekends. Happy new year to you!
I have been wanting to try a fitness tracker, but haven’t been able to squeeze it in the budget yet. I think it would be a great motivator!
My sister just got a Fitbit and loves it. I could definitely use some motivation to workout!
This sounds amazing! I have always used a Garmin for running but I love the idea of something that I can incorporate into my daily routine to encourage more movement. I just had a baby too, and I can relate to trying to find time to workout! But it is so worth squeezing it in for my sanity and mental health 🙂 Thanks for always having such great tips to help!
I love this fitness tracker! My heart rate monitor just broke but I would love to be able to continue to monitor my fitness during pregnancy #2 due in June! Happy New Years to your beautiful family!
One of my resolutions is to drink at least 2 liters of water a day. I got a water bottle for Christmas that has times on it and it’s been helping me stay on track!
I try to break a sweat at least once a day and have a serving of produce with every meal. I would love to Own a fitness tracker – I haven’t had the chance to try one out yet!!!
I had not heard of this tracker before! It sounds awesome and I would love to try it!
I’ve been hunting for a new fitness tracker so I’m pretty excited to try this out. Also, whenever I’m low on steps I also Zumba my way to steps
what an awesome fitness tracker!!! i always try to drink enough water, have enough steps for the day, and sleep enough!!
this looks super cool! off to google it!
I’m like you in that it’s not hard to get motivated to move because I feel so much better when I do! Exercise is just part of my daily schedule (like brushing my teeth). I also look forward to it as “me time” & make it a priority. So cool that this tracker has some of the smart phone features.
A wrist piece seems much more convenient than your phone as I don’t always have my phone on me. It sends reminders to be active but I find myself wanting to yell at it that I think I have been!
Wow! My polar is a dinosaur compared to this beauty! What a nice upgrade.
Xx
I’m a fan of the touchscreen! I’ve been looking at fitness trackers… Minnesota winters make it tough to get those steps in!
I was considering getting one previously, but brushed it off when my friend said I didn’t need a tracker to live an active lifestyle. I’m still debating whether I should get one. In terms of design, this one looks much better compared to fitbit charge hr and jawbone.
I’d love to try this! I wear a watch everyday already so I don’t know if I’d give that up or look like a dork with one on each wrist.
My current daily goal is to exercise at least 30 min every day, which I’m great at doing. My 2016 goal is to take walk breaks at work every day. I have a desk job, and I’m REALLY bad at remembering to get up and move.
This looks amazing! I would love to try this!
It’s so nice to see you do a review of the A360! When you did the post for Polar a few weeks ago and they were giving away one fitness tracker other than an A360 I assumed it was because the A360 was going to be something completely stellar and unlike any of their other offerings to date. Then I went to their website and looked… it seems completely awesome! Speaking from experience, I know I better adhere to my goals if I have a form of motivation beyond just my mind. Something tells me the A360 would be great for that, but for now it’s out of our budget with some major medical issues my daughter is experiencing. But the chance to win one would be amazing! Thanks for the opportunity, and for telling us more about Polar’s latest and greatest wearable gadget!