So, Will You be Wearing An Oversized “T” This Summer At The Beach, Or Slapping On The 30-SPF?

Those of us that care, know that being comfortable with the body your wearing takes work. And consistent work. That can mean regular hours at the gym, early before work, or after you already have put in a 10-hour day at your workstation. But as we work out, we know that one thing that needs to be done is setting goals and measuring our progress on how well we’re doing on our road to attaining them. To do this, serious fitness orientated people, like you and me, use an activity monitoring device to provide the data we need in order to stay the course and make sure we not only reach our goals but surpass them.

One such “Smartwatch” is the Garmin Forerunner 735XT GPS Running Multisport Watch With the 735XT, you can now let your fitness routine be more than just a routine. With the advanced technology and cutting-edge features, you can create your activity profiles of cycling, running, swimming, skiing, paddling, strength training, and hiking. The auto multisport features allow you to switch between different sports activities with a single press and will also give you customized workouts. With free Garmin Connect, you can easily review your past efforts and share it with the online fitness community.

Since we are, or should I say, we want to be active, we do juggle multiple work responsibilities each day, and possibly also juggle multiple workout sessions as well. After all, nothing helps relieve the stress of the day better than working up a sweat, pushing your body, knowing everything you’re doing in the gym, out on the road pounding the pavements or doing multiple laps in the pool is helping you to not only get out from under that stress level but also conditioning your body so it performs and looks the way you want it to.

So, let's delve into the functionality of the Garmin Forerunner 735XT GPS Running Multisport Watch a little deeper so that you can get a good idea of what it can do for you so you can do for yourself!

Even though the Garmin 735's been around for a bit, it's still one of the best all-purpose activity trackers in the Garmin footlocker!

At the Forefront of the deliverables, the 3 gives you are:
It's lightweight and designed for both training and racing.
Great Batter Life for everyday use and delivers when your exercising.
Tracks regular steps and how well your sleeping
Offers a wide range of data, which you and your friends (if you wish) can be viewed via Garmin Connect
Offers Strava Integration
Comes in an assortment of colors

Activities
The 735 is a great overall activity tracker, while it's optimized mainly for running, biking and swimming it definitely lives up to its "Multisport" capabilities. Apart from triathlon sports, the 735 also has cross country skiing, hiking, rowing, strength training, (which is a must for anyone who does a lot of running so they get the cross-training benefits), even paddle boarding and just plain general cardio. Straight out of the box!
As you can see, this covers a wide range of sports!

Basic Features:
The 735 offers the standard features found on most running and sport watches. It tracks distance, pace and lap times on all supported activities. You can see this data on the watch screen while it's running. These data fields can also be changed in the settings like on most other models of Garmin. This information is also stored in the watch and on any accounts that you have previously set up via the synced function.

Heart Rate:
The watch features an optical heart rate sensor, which requires no additional strap or equipment. Thus, making it streamlined and not having to fuss with a chest strap is a big plus! Your heart rate data is visible during your exercise routines and also in various graph forms afterward on Garmin Connect.

The watches other feature is that it is truly multifunctional. When in multisport mode, the watch will enter the next sport when you push the lap button, though you can also configure it to enter transition periods when the lap button is pushed. This is a great feature when you’re running or training for triathlons in particular.

The 735 additionally offers integration with a huge range of running services and products. Strava, Garmin Connect, ANT+, are some services that are supported. Phone syncing, and phone notification display is also possible.

Accuracy:
Accuracy tends to be pretty good in most of the sensors of the Garmin 735. The GPS is precise and works well even in areas with tall buildings and trees, giving accurate routes, and overall distance traveled. This holds true while biking, running, or swimming. The heart rate sensor is a solid reporting factor of this watch. The optical heart rate sensors are generally less accurate than straps and this holds true here as well.

Connectivity:
The 735 offers standard connectivity that most athletic watches have. Primarily, it can connect to a smartphone or other device via Bluetooth and sync data across apps that way. Syncing is pretty quick, and the data does not take very long to transfer. Additionally, the 735 can be synced via its charging strap, which is another pretty standard feature of the Garmin Smart Watches.

Durability:
The Garmin Forerunner 735 is solid! Its face is pretty resistant to abrasions and scratches and can definitely handle most average drops or bumps that can occur as life happens. Naturally, excessive force or pressure, like dropping the watch from a multistory building or something similar can cause issues., but that is to be expected, regardless of what you see on "Infomercials"
The band itself is also pretty durable, and there have not been many complaints about the band wearing out or tearing with use. And emersion in water should not have adverse effects on the watch considering it is literally designed to be used within bodies of water like a pool. You’re paying for both durability and functionality and the Garmin 735 delivers!

Ease of Use:
The 735 is pretty straightforward to use. For those who plan on using it as a basic activity watch, (but why would you since all those extra tracking and monitoring features are available?) it functions like many others for running, biking and swimming.

The watch has a mode to record the information during your activities, a lap function, and a pause and finish function, all of which are fairly simple to use. The quick start guides provided are pretty self-explanatory and do a good job of walking you through the process. For users who have experience doing things like uploading workouts and using them or syncing multiple devices to the watch, it probably won't be much of a challenge to use. For those not used to doing this, there will be a learning curve but it probably won't be hard for the average user to get the hang of using.

And like most things today, there are multiple sources of how to sights to use, especially Garmin's YouTube channel. Overall, the 735 has well designed and easy to use interfaces.

Battery Life and Charging it up!
The Garmin 735 charges via a charging clip that comes with the watch, which can be plugged into a USB or wall outlet, which is especially nice when you’re traveling without taking your laptop. The watch offers about 14 hours of GPS usage. This is a good stretch of time for everyday use but for a triathlon, it will only be enough for shorter to mid-distance races. But again, its main function is at the training level to get you in the right shape in order for you to be able to tackle those triathlons. Overall, the battery life is adequate for the average athlete.

The overall "Skinny" on this smartwatch is that it’s a pretty solid multisport watch. It has a large range of tracking features that will provide you with all the data you need to train and modify your training accordingly to what it acquires from monitoring your stats.

So, how about it, do you think the Garmin 735 can help you get, and maintain that kind of body that will turn heads this summer at the beach…. For all the right reasons? We think it will. Go get yours today at HeartRateMonitorsUSA.com  

Before someone kicks sand in your face at the beach!

This may be just the ticket to get you off of the couch and out on the road and giving you the incentive, you need to make being active your NEW norm!

The Garmin Forerunner 45 hits the mark as one of Garmin’s most capable running watches.
The 45 does a great job of being the smartwatch to go with if you’re into tracking your sports activities. If you’re looking for a running or sport specific watch, then this is the one for you.

The Forerunner 45 also has another selling point, it's price structure of being around $200. While letting you have the ability to download structured workouts, including those from the company’s free ‘Garmin Coach’ adaptive/dynamic training programs, as well as incident detection and assistance (which notifies friends/family if you get into trouble). Just the ticket if you're heading off the regular running tracks and off into the hilly mountain paths.

It has an optical HR sensor on it for tracking 24×7 HR and stress. It supports more than just running, with other sports including cycling, treadmills, and yoga, but doesn’t have quite the number of sports their other units have. And finally, it adds Connect IQ custom watch faces but stops short of allowing full Connect IQ apps or data fields.

Below are the specs on what's improved with the 45 over the Garmin 35.
– Added two sizes: 39mm (Forerunner 45S) and 42mm (Forerunner 45)
– Added color display
– Added structured workout support
– Added training plans support (including calendar/scheduled workouts)
– Added Garmin Coach compatibility
– Added Connect IQ Watch Face support
– Added incident (crash/fall) detection
– Added safety tracking/assistance
– Added Pace/Speed alerts
– Added stress widget/tracking
– Added VO2Max calculation
– Added 24×7 HR tracking widget/tracking
– Added body battery widget/tracking
– Added new Garmin Gen3 ELEVATE optical HR sensor
– Added more sport modes
– Changed from square watch to round watch
– Changed from 4 to 5 buttons (which actually makes a world of difference)
– Changed all-day battery from 9 days down to 7 days
– Of note: GPS-on battery life remains the same at 13 hours (GPS-mode)

The above are the new features which enhance the Garmin 45. But just in case your not as familiar with Garmin’s previously included functionality, we’ve listed the noteworthy ones here below.
– Built-in GPS (no reliance on phone for GPS)
– Workout support for a few sports, with customizable pages/fields
– 24×7 activity tracking, including sleep
– Optical heart rate sensor in the watch
– Smartphone notifications
– Live tracking when paired with a smartphone
– Weather/calendar widgets
– Vibration/Audio alerts
– Uploading to Garmin Connect Training Log website via phone or USB
– Broadcasting of your HR over ANT+ (from wrist to other devices)
– Automatic sync to 3rd party sites like Strava, MyFitnessPal, TrainingPeaks and many more

Probably the biggest difference between the new Forerunner 45/45S and the Forerunner 35 is the basics of the device. While the interface of the Forerunner 35 was roughly based on past budget Garmin watches, the new FR45 instead lends itself to Garmin’s higher end watches. Which, we think makes it easier to use. Note that anytime we refer to the FR45, we’re referring to both FR45 and FR45S. They’re technologically identical in every way except the bezel is simply larger on the FR45 (not the screen size, just the bezel).

Now with that screen, you can toggle between a couple of different stock watch faces. Though unlike Garmin’s higher end units, you can’t customize the stock watch faces (changing data and such). You can only tweak the accent color. But you can download thousands of custom watch faces from Garmin Connect IQ store, which is Garmin’s free app store. You can even make your own watch faces, including adding in photos as the background. Not bad for an activity watch at this price point.

The Garmin Forerunner45 captures all the normal activity tracking metrics you’d expect, including steps (as well as distance), sleep, and heart rate. It doesn’t capture stairs, however, as it lacks a barometric altimeter to measure height.
These metrics are consolidated into widgets, which you can display on the watch by pressing the up/down buttons. Note that the FR45 doesn’t support downloading Connect IQ Widgets like some of Garmin’s higher end watches, but there’s plenty of stock ones to choose from on the watch itself. Here’s a gallery of some of those.

Keep in mind that the 45 is now tracking your activity constantly, it’s also sending that over to Garmin Connect Mobile (the smartphone app) via Bluetooth Smart. From there, you can view these activity stats, challenge friends/family, and also see the stats on the Garmin Connect website. In addition, some 3rd party sites and healthcare providers can also receive this data if you’ve authorized them to. Which helps if you get into an uncomfortable place and need help right away. This is one feature that can provide you with some peace of mind that you are never truly alone, especially if your out on a remote running trail!

Say Good Night!
It will automatically track your sleep if you wear it at night. Technically you can set your regular sleep timeframe to any portion of the day, though it will only track one ‘sleep’ per day. Meaning – it doesn’t track naps. In my experience, it does a pretty good job of nailing my sleep, even with having toddlers running around and waking us at all sorts of random hours. The unit will track the exact sleep cycle, and then log it into Garmin Connect. You can plot and trend this over various timeframes.

The Garmin 45 benefits from a new optical HR sensor ‘package’, the same exact package as the Forerunner 245/945/MARQ. This is used to track your heart rate 24×7, as well as during workouts. For heart rate, it includes modest updates over the sensors used about a year ago, though a bit more significant update over the much older Forerunner 35 sensors. Note that while the sensor hardware itself on the FR45 compared to that of the other new units noted, it doesn’t have PulseOx enabled.

From a continuous heart rate standpoint, it tracks this constantly and then uploads it into Garmin Connect mobile as well. Using your resting HR is a great indicator of when you’re over-trained, fatigued, or when sickness is on the way.

Just a Few More Basic Functions:
The Forerunner 45 supports smartphone notifications like all previous Garmin watches. You’ll see the notifications based on how you’ve configured them on your smartphone via the normal phone notification center, and then they show up on the unit itself. You can then open up a given notification to get more detail about it (such as a longer text message): You can also check missed/past notifications in the notification’s widget seen in the widget gallery a bit earlier in this section. Note that unlike the higher end Forerunner watches, the FR45 doesn’t support a privacy mode for smartphone notifications.

Now Let the Sports Begin!
The Forerunner 45 is all about being a sports watch, or at least, a running-specific watch. But it does monitor other workouts, including cycling and yoga. But face facts, you’re buying it for running (or perhaps walking).

To begin with sports, you do indeed have a few options when it comes to which sports are on the device. By default, that’s: Running (outdoors), Treadmill, Cycling (outdoors), Walk, and Cardio (catch-all bucket).

However, you can use the Garmin Connect Mobile app to add other sports, which include: Indoor Track, Bike Indoor, Walk Indoor, Elliptical, Stair Stepper, Yoga, and the mythical ‘Other’. You can have a max of 6 activities loaded onto the watch at any one point in time. In other words, they duplicated what Fitbit does here (for no particularly good reason).

No matter whether you’ve modified the sports or just kept with the defaults, to start recording a new workout you’ll simply tap the upper right button and then select the sport. Once you’ve done that, it’ll ask you if you want to execute any scheduled workouts for that day. So if you had something loaded up from Garmin Coach for example, or something else on your calendar, it’ll offer those to you first (which you can skip).
After that, you’re at the GPS and HR waiting screen. It’s here that it’ll go off and find GPS. This Sony GPS chipset supports GPS, GPS+GLONASS, and GPS+Galileo.

As part of this, the 45 will also ensure it has a lock on your heart rate via the optical HR sensor on the back of the unit. Generally, that’s instantaneous since it’s constantly tracking HR 24×7 anyway.

If you press down again before you start the workout you can tweak some of the settings for that sport, in this case – running. First is the ability to select a structured workout. While before, it asked us if we wanted to do the day’s scheduled workout if you had nothing scheduled/setup – then this is a chance to select one from your library of workouts. Or, you can just do a one-off interval session where you define the duration of the interval, the repeats, the rest, and the cool-down/warm-up.

Next, you can customize your data screens during the workout. The FR45 is pretty basic, mirroring that of the FR30/35 before it. Here’s what you get to start with (all are three-field pages by default). All of these are customizable:
Data Page 1: Distance, Timer, Pace
Data Page 2: HR Zone, Heart Rate, Calories
Data Page 3: Lap Time, Lap Distance, Lap Pace
Data Page 4: Time of day clock page
Data Page 5 (Optional): 1, 2, or 3 metrics each of your choosing

Available Data Metrics: Timer, Distance, Pace, Calories, Heart Rate, HR Zone, Lap Time, Lap Distance, Lap Pace, Average Pace, Cadence, Steps, Time of Day.

In the case of cycling, you’ll get the speed variants of each of the above (i.e., MPH/KPH) instead of pace.

Next, you can configure alerts. Options include heart rate (zone, or custom BPM range), run/walk (time-based), time, distance, pace (specific pace), or calories. What’s nice is that you can configure alerts but toggle them on/off quickly to use on different runs. For example, you might setup run/walk for your long run, but then toggle it off for your other runs that week. It’s a single toggle, versus having to set it up again.

You can also configure laps. By default, auto-lap is enabled at 1-mile (or 1-kilometer depending on if you use statute or metric). But you can manually lap at any time with the lap key. Or you can turn auto-lap off.

Finally, there’s auto pause, which is off by default but can be enabled to automatically pause the timer when you stop. Unlike some of Garmin’s higher end watches though – there’s no configurable threshold on this though. Also, the GPS options are in here as well, where you can toggle between the aforementioned GPS modes (GPS/GLONASS/GALILEO).

With the setup process complete you’re ready to get moving and then you can see your results displayed on the various screens. If you’re running a custom, structured training session, you’ll also get a custom workout screen which shows the specific targets of your workout. Say you're doing a run, it will give you a 5-second beeping countdown to each segment of your workout followed by the specific targets for that portion. It’ll also give a guide chart while doing that section with the target, as well as the specific time/distance/etc remaining for that portion.

It works well and is easy to follow. And in many ways, this is the most important part of this watch. It’s what fundamentally separates it from the Apple Watch and others which lack the depth and customization of the structured workout program.

You have to do a test workout first (it’s only 9 minutes), and then based on the results of that test workout, it’ll fill in exactly what the structure and intensity is to reach your goal time. You can adjust which days of the week you can work out, and your preference for the long run too.

Once you’re done with your run, you’ll go ahead and press the start button to pause it. At this juncture you can eat some ice cream and then press resume to continue running, or, you can end it. Then you'll get a summary page, including your current VO2Max level.

Then the watch is automatically transmitting this information over to your phone via Bluetooth Smart. It’s there that you can see much more detailed information on Garmin Connect Mobile (the smartphone app). Additionally, you can also look at your workouts on the Garmin Connect website as well.

Further, if you’ve connected Strava, MyFitnessPal, TrainingPeaks or any other sites, all of those will receive a copy of your workout instantly as well. Just remember on Strava to add emoji, it increases your likes (so they say).

The one last thing we want to touch on in the sports section is Garmin’s Incident Detection and Assistance features, which are seeing widespread rollout to Garmin devices – especially with these three (FR45/245/945) product launches. Both features are safety focused and have two slightly different purposes.

Incident Detection: This will automatically detect an incident while running/cycling (in a workout specifically) and notifies your predefined contacts with a text message and a live track link to see exactly where you are.

Safety Assistance: This allows you to, with one button, send a predefined message to emergency contacts with your initial location, followed by a live tracking link. The main scenario here being, you feel unsafe and want someone to be aware of that.

Both of these features depend on you having your phone with you. Since the Forerunner 45 doesn’t have cellular in it, you need to be within range of your phone. Both features can be canceled in the event they’re triggered accidentally. And both features are set up on Garmin Connect Mobile first. It’s here you define emergency contacts.

Once that’s done, the crash detection will occur while cycling or running during a workout. This is different than Apple, which has fall detection 24×7. Essentially, Garmin is looking for forward speed, followed by a significant stopping accelerometer event – and then critically – no further forward progress. Meaning, if you were running along and jumped down a big ledge and kept running, that wouldn’t trigger it, since you continued going. Whereas if you were running, jumped off the ledge and then face-planted, that would likely trigger it since you ceased making forward progress.

Rounding things out – the thing that makes the Forerunner 45 a more capable running watch than the Apple Watch or Samsung Galaxy Active (or Fitbit Versa/Ionic) is the structured workout and complete tie-in with all of the aspects of Garmin Connect/Garmin Connect Mobile. 

To Sum Things Up:
There’s no question that Garmin packed an incredible number of features into the FR45, at least from an upgrade perspective over the FR35. If sports and fitness are what you’re after in a sports activity tracker – then the FR45’s super strong offering is all ready to strap on to your wrist.

If you’re like me, this weather that’s finally arrived has me itching to get out and do something. Whether its lacing up a pair of running shoes and hitting the trails or a running path throughout the neighborhood or getting my bike down from its hangers and taking it out for a spin on the open road or mountain bike trails. All I know is winter seems to be finally behind us and I want to get out and enjoy the sunshine and feel nature hitting me in the face!

If it was a long winter for you and you’re seeking some new ways to exercise outside, why not do so with your significant other? It’s long been known that there are some serious benefits to getting healthy with your partner, including a better maintaining that urge to be active outside by being able to support each other's individual fitness and diet goals. Not to mention that couples that are active together have been shown to be 90% more likely to stick to a routine than if they were going it alone. So, use that enthusiasm that's got you itching to get outside and be more active by encouraging your partner along with you for that ride, jog, even rock-climbing, but do it together and you’re going to increase that feeling of wellbeing two-fold!

Besides, it's a known fact that some outside activities also build strength and stamina, the more you do them and to the greater length that you push your bodies to increase the duration that you're participating together to meet your pre-set goals. 

Endurance: Endurance activities increase your breathing and heart rate. They keep your heart, lungs, and circulatory system healthy and improve your overall fitness. Building endurance makes it easier to carry out many of your everyday activities.

Brisk walking or jogging: Getting those running shoes on is always a good feeling. After all, going for a good run is a great way to get your heart pumping and getting the kinks out after being cooped up in your home during the winter months. But as always, you need to work up to last years pace and distance and knowing just how well your doing is important in order to set realistic goals for yourself.

A good way to do this is by monitoring your progress with a good, accurate smartwatch. One equipped with a GPS and heart rate monitor to let you know just how far you’re going and how well your body is reacting to the stress you're putting on it. One good all-around monitor is the Garmin Forerunner 35 GPS Watch  It’s a great all-around activity monitor that’s simple and easy to use. It has a built-in GPS function that tracks your distance and allows you to plot your course for repeat runs, or walks. This activity monitor also doubles as a heart rate monitor as well and it’s doing this right on your wrist, no more chest straps are needed. Using Garmin's Elevate wrist heart rate technology. It can keep track of your heart rate when you’re really moving and even at rest, so you know the kind of stress you're putting on yourself. And it has an "All-day” activity tracking capability that counts your steps, calories and intensity minutes and reminds you when to move. And if you desire, it automatically uploads your data to Garmin Connect, where you can see how you’re doing against your friends if you choose to allow them to view your progress.

Yard work (mowing, raking, digging) is another form of outdoor activity that can get your blood pumping while getting your place in order. After all, your yard probably needs a lot of attention if you’ve been stuck inside all winter. Now is the perfect time to get those fall leaves off of the grass, and pick up the fallen branches and sticks and give the yard a rake before you try starting that lawnmower of yours. And if it’s a pull crank, you may just be looking for a little help in yanking on that cord to get it started after its been hibernating like you this past winter season!

No matter what you're looking at doing this spring to get outside and be more active, you also need to remember to provide the fuel your body’s engine is going to need to make all of these things happen. One good form of energy to have on hand is GU Roctane Ultra Endurance Energy Gel.  This smooth, great-tasting gel snack that not only tastes good but also gives you a kick of energy! The perfect fuel for those looking for a snack that can also be a benefit to not only their workouts but provides a boost for those that are working their muscles outside doing routine clean up chores that require hours of work to get the jobs done.

So, you can bet you’re not going to be alone this spring as the sun begins to climb higher in the sky every day, and sets a little bit later each day. Taking advantage of the springtime warmth to get back to being outdoors and active is going to be on everyone’s agenda. The key is to keep your activities in moderation as you build up your body’s stamina and in time you're going to be back up to speed to where you were when the leaves started to drop last fall.  

 

Since today is the first day of Spring for 2019, time is ticking to see if you’re really going to get that body of yours into shape for swim season this year. Yes, it's only the middle to end of March, but with the warmer weather soon to make its appearance, it's not going to be too long until you’re going to be seen wearing those clothes of Summer. So, how do you think you’re going to look wearing that tank-top and shorts?

With the Spring sun ascending higher and higher each day, each week, you don’t have much time to shed a few pounds and tone up those saggy arms and leg muscles. Remember, the summer season is only a mere 12 weeks away. It's now crunch time, literally!

It’s all too easy during the winter to get into a routine of lounging around on the couch when you get home from work while you catch up on the latest episode of your favorite shows. But now is the time to kick those habits to the curb. And get yourself active, I mean, really active!

Take advantage of the warmer weather and longer days to get outside and hit the pavements or recently thawed mountain trails around your home. Get that blood pumping again. Try and do something every day even if it’s just a walk. But walk briskly and swing those arms as you put a couple of miles behind you.

How Much Exercise Do I need?
Any movement you get in during your day is better than nothing, but health professionals recommend the following:

150 Minutes of moderate aerobic exercise a week. This works out to around 30 minutes a day if you only want to exercise during a work week, or 20 minutes a day if you include weekends.

When you look at it this way, fitting in 20–30 minutes a day is a lot more manageable. For example, you could even break this up into chunks: do a quick 15-minute workout in the morning and an evening brisk walk when you get home.

Two strength training workouts a week. There is no time limit specified for toning exercises, so you could even include a few squats, lunges and push-ups with your quick cardio session on two of those days. Strength exercises help you build muscle mass, which boosts your metabolic rate and helps you burn more calories – even when you’re resting. It’s also a great way to improve your bone health.

Even quick workouts offer great health benefits. Find out what you enjoy doing and build a routine around it. Does an early evening walk around the neighborhood with the family make you want to lace up your shoes and hit the streets? Does going to the gym motivate you? Or, do you prefer to exercise at home with a Jillian Michaels DVD or a fun YouTube video? Would you rather get your heart rate up with a good cardio session, or are toning exercises more up your alley?

It’s important to find exercises that you enjoy doing; this way you’ll be more likely to stick to them and make them a daily habit.

Keep in mind that the key to getting that body of yours into the kind of shape that you won’t be embarrassed about this summer is to set a goal. Really quite a few goals so that after you’ve mastered the first, you move onto the second, then the third….. People are naturally competitive, but you need to set an expectant goal that can be achieved. This is what will motivate you to help you keep going till you reach and surpass that goal. In order to measure just how you're doing on reaching that goal, we recommend using an activity tracker. There are many out there, selecting the right one sometimes depends on the type of exercise you're going to be working on. For our purposes, we like the Garmin Forerunner 235 GPS Running Watch, With its built in GPS and Strapless Heart Rate, the Garmin Forerunner 235 is a must have for any runner, or exercise buff looking to get valuable feedback during their run, or exercise regimen. It's GPS functionality, created by Garmin, along with Wrist-based Heart Rate Tracks distance, pace, time, heart rate and more
The connected features automatic uploads to Garmin Connect, live tracking and the continuous "Activity tracking²" counts daily steps, distance, calories, and sleep.

Sometimes, even if you’re training like an Olympian, your nutrition and caloric intake can hold you back. If you’re struggling to see results, taking a look at what you’re putting into your body can be a good place to start. Everything needs balance, including your diet. The right combinations of carbs, protein and fat, yes, we said fat, but good fat is necessary as you begin to be more active and push your body so that those calories you ingested provide the breakdown into fuel that propels you to a healthier way of life.

As they say, you can’t out-train a bad diet. Usually, a few simple tweaks are all that is needed to start seeing results. It’s no good working out every day, but you’re eating badly – or skipping meals. When you exercise regularly, you automatically crave healthier food options.

Your metabolism also increases, which means that you’ll be peckish, more often than what you’re used to. Make sure you have some nutritious snacks with you to nibble on during the day. Fruit, low-fat yogurt, nuts, seeds, raw veggies, and hummus are all tasty and good for you. Start your day with a good breakfast, like a bowl of oats with low-fat milk and a banana. Don’t skip meals and stay hydrated with plenty of water throughout the day.

If you follow these tips and work at making a commitment to incorporating a set time schedule you can use these 12 weeks to lose those extra pounds, tone those flabby, well not too flabby arms, thighs and calves and give you the thing you're looking forward to getting. A healthier, leaner you in time for bathing suit season! So, what are YOU waiting for? Get up and MOVE!

If you're excited about upping your running game for 2019 then you need to know your pushing yourself to your maximum. In order to do this right, you need a good fitness tracker. The Garmin Forerunner 935  is one tracker that will go the distance for you, and then some! The Garmin 935 is the ultimate tool for dedicated runners everywhere. Whether you are a triathlete or trail runner, you cannot pass up on the Forerunner 935xt. Super concise data is a runner's best friend and with the Forerunner 935, you'll have all of the data you need. Multi-Sport dynamics (running, swimming, and cycling), VO2 Max, wrist-based heart rate, recovery time, race predictor, and more. The 935 also offers you more ways than ever to store and track your data. Use automatic uploads to Garmin Connect, or use “Strava” live segments to turn every run into a virtual race. The 935 is truly the most powerful Forerunner ever.

Thanks to its impressive array of sensors, the watch offers sophisticated insights into your training status, telling you whether it’s a good idea to train or not. When used with a compatible Running Dynamics Pod (or an HRM-Run or HRM-Tri heart-rate monitor), it also delivers advanced metrics such as ground contact time, balance, stride length and vertical ratio that can help you to better understand your running technique.
The Forerunner 935 also does a great job of tracking your everyday activity.

Design and features:
The Forerunner 935 is a sports tracker first and foremost, so its looks are unlikely to wow you. However, its black casing is subtle and inoffensive enough to wear when you’re not training, and it’s compatible with Garmin’s QuickFit 22 bands, so you can swap the plain silicone band for something fancier if you prefer.

The Forerunner 935’s traditional five-button running-watch design works well for navigating its many menus and allows easy control of the watch during activities. Touchscreens and scrolling knobs are fun, but when you’re sweaty nothing beats a physical button for precise control.

One advantage the Forerunner 935 has over rugged watches such as the Fenix 5 Plus is that its plastic design helps it to be lightweight. At 49g, it’s some 37g lighter than its stablemate. And despite this, it packs plenty into its design. There’s GPS, GLONASS, Garmin’s Elevate optical heart-rate monitor, a barometric altimeter, accelerometer, compass, gyroscope, and thermometer.

It’s waterproof (5ATM), and while its 30.5mm display doesn’t dazzle compared to those on smartwatches like the Apple Watch or Fitbit Ionic, it’s always easy to read and only becomes more so in bright sunlight.

Battery life is listed as 24 hours for GPS use, which can be extended to 60 hours with Garmin’s UltraTrac mode. This mode isn’t as accurate because it takes readings less frequently, but it’s a handy feature for ultramarathon fans seeking the ultimate in longevity. In general, I achieved around two weeks of use from the Forerunner 935, even when logging outdoor activities most days, which is terrific. The Forerunner tracks a huge variety of sports, but its running mode is the most feature-rich. I’ve used it through two marathon training cycles and, well, it’s just phenomenal. Hit the Run button and it quickly locks on to GPS plus any sensors you have nearby (including running pods such as Stryd. In my 18 months of using it, the longest I’ve waited for a GPS fix is 60 seconds, and usually, it locks on in less than ten seconds.

Distance and heart-rate tracking are both accurate and I’d say the latter in particular stands out on the Forerunner 935. Wrist-based optical sensors are never totally dependable, but the Forerunner 935’s is reliable enough that you don’t need to use a chest strap, even if you’re following a workout based entirely on heart rate.

You can create such a workout or, indeed, one based on time, distance or pace in Garmin Connect and beam it over to the watch wirelessly. There’s also a simple Intervals mode you can set up on the watch itself. Trainers agree that Garmin is leading the way when it comes to making it easy to create and follow workouts on the wrist, which is a key feature for keen amateurs and pros alike. A host of features kick in after you finish running, starting with an estimate of how many hours of recovery you need. You’ll also be advised on the effect of your session in terms of aerobic and anaerobic benefit, the former marking improvements in your general cardiovascular fitness and the latter your ability to run at speed for longer.

You can also monitor your overall training load and whether a workout is effective in improving your fitness in terms of your VO2 max, which is also measured by the watch. Push too hard too often and you’ll be told you’re “Overreaching” in a counterproductive fashion, risking injury without actually benefiting your fitness.

Ideally, you’re aiming for “Productive” or, if you’re about to race, “Peaking”, which suggests you’ve reduced your training load in a smart way to smash your PB. The Forerunner 935 estimates your times for a 5K, 10K, half marathon and marathon based on your VO2 max.

Activity and other sports tracking
Most of the other sports modes on the Forerunner 935 work in a similar fashion to the running mode, measuring distance, pace/speed, and duration of your workout while adding in a few sport-specific stats such as stroke rate in the case of swimming. They all feed into your overall training load too. This is a triathlon watch, so unlike many GPS wearables, there is an open-water mode, plus a few different multisport options including swim/run and duathlon.
The performance of the Forerunner is impressive across all of these sports, with accurate heart-rate and distance tracking, although it won’t attempt to track heart rate when swimming. Many other trackers try this with mixed results, but if you need these insights you’ll need to link to a swim-specific heart-rate monitor like Garmin’s HRM-Swim.

The Forerunner 935 tracks your everyday activity, recording steps, floors climbed, resting and active calories, active minutes (over the course of a week) and even your stress level, which is based on heart-rate variability. The steps target adjusts automatically based on past activity based on its on-going assessment of the data it accumulates.

Heart rate is tracked 24/7 and you’ll get an estimate of your resting heart rate each day, so you can monitor this over time to see if you’re getting fitter – the number going down is a good sign. Sleep is recorded and the Forerunner 935 has Garmin’s advanced sleep-monitoring features, using heart-rate variability among other info to provide a more detailed picture of your night’s rest. Along with total duration, it will tell you the time spent in light, deep and REM sleep, and also depict your movements through the night.

All this information is engagingly presented in the Garmin Connect app. Small tiles on the home page show key data, and tapping these tiles gives you more in-depth data into trends over recent weeks and months. On the watch itself, you can scroll through widgets that show your everyday stats and also set up alerts to move if you’ve been sedentary for too long. Everyday tracking is not what the Forerunner 935 is primarily designed for, but it does it well.

So the results are in and the verdict is that the Garmin Forerunner 935  is a five-star multisport watch that blows everything else in its price range out of the water. As well as offering in-depth insights into running, swimming and cycling, it’s an everyday activity tracker that’s lightweight and comfortable enough to wear, ALL the time!