Yes, it’s now creeping up on the end of January 2019, and you made up your mind to get physical about taking care of yourself. Finally!! But you’re not looking to go at the fitness game like some who start embracing every facet of getting more exercise. You’re just looking to incorporate more activity into your already full, daily routine. You think there’s enough on your plate already without having to go and hunt down a gym that offers you a lot of bells and whistles that you’re really not looking for, but which features drive up the membership costs, which also adds to your pain.

NO, you just looking to work more structured activity into your day and be able to see, at the end of the day, week and month just how well, or not, you’ve done. What your looking at is to add more walking, jogging, stair climbing and an occasional weekly run, (outside or on your OWN treadmill). And to do this your looking for a “No Frills” fitness tracker. And lucky for you, we have one fitness tracker in mind that will do the job!

The Garmin Vivosmart HR+GPS Activity Tracker  The Vívosmart HR+ automatically syncs with your smartphone throughout the day to save your stats to the free online community, Garmin Connect. You simply download Garmin Connect Mobile to your phone or log on to Garmin Connect via your desktop, where you can save, plan and share your activity and beat yesterday in your daily step count. It provides detailed calorie tracking, distance you've traveled, the calories you've burned off while being more active on a daily basis and all this info gets uploaded to your Garmin Connect account where you can easily view your stats and if your game, share this data with your friends to keep you motivated to keep reaching new goals. After all, no one likes to be beaten out of anything, especially by your friends. So, posting your data and allowing your friends to see it can give you the boost you need in order to consistently meet and surpass your monthly goals.

The Vívosmart, with its GPS functionality along with continuous heart rate monitoring using the "Elevate" wrist-based heart rate technology monitors exactly what’s important to you, all day, every day!

Whether you’re going for a jog, playing a pick-up game with friends or trying out a new boot camp class, it quantifies the intensity of your fitness activities using intensity minutes. This feature lets you monitor your progress against activity goals recommended by health organizations such as the American Heart Association, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the World Health Organization.

The Vívosmart HR+ smart activity tracker is able to track distance, time and pace for indoor or outdoor activities. With it's GPS feature, you can get even more accurate distance and pace stats, as well as a map of your activity when running or walking outdoors. In addition to tracking your runs, steps, and calories, Vívosmart HR+ measures floors climbed and intensity minutes.

And with the feature called "Move IQ," you don’t need to start or stop your activity timer when you start a new activity. Vívosmart HR+ can automatically tell the difference between movements like walking, running, biking, swimming, even using an elliptical.

In order to help you continue to set new goals once you've reached ones previously set, the Vívosmart HR learns your current activity level, then assigns an attainable daily step goal. As you meet your milestones, it will adjust your goal for the next day, gradually nudging you toward a healthier lifestyle. Throughout your day, it reminds you to stay active with a "Move Bar" and vibration alert, if you’ve been inactive for 1 hour. Go for a short walk to reset the move bar.

It also automatically measures the deep and light sleep you achieve each night (an estimation, but useful for daily sleep logging). Their band also includes a silent alarm that will buzz gently to wake you up in the morning, remind you to get up and move after being inactive.

The Vívosmart has a large always-on touchscreen display, which is easy to read outdoors and even has a backlight. The "Fitbit Charge HR" uses a small LED display, and only lights up when you lift your wrist. And you can stay in touch with your notifications while you’re moving because the Vívosmart, however, will display notifications for text messages, emails, calendar events, and social media alerts: basically, nearly anything your phone receives.

And you won’t be left out in the cold with a dead battery for your tracker. The Vívosmart has a good 5-6 days of tracking capability on a single charge! 

So, the bottom line is, if you're looking for a no-nonsense fitness tracker to keep you going as you commit to being healthier for 2019. Then the Garmin Vivosmart HR+GPS Activity Tracker  is designed just for you!

In today's climate, things are often changing, sometimes it seems within days or even minutes. We are all being given a few extra tasks to handle, probably because we are known to be able to get things done.  I like that. What I also like is keeping myself fit and in the best physical shape that  I can.  In order to do this, it takes commitment to exercise, eating right and a good mindset.  One of the tools that I use to keep myself on track is a fitness watch, tracker, monitor. Whatever you want to call them, you have to agree that these tech watches can provide you with all the data you need to keep you on track to meet your physical goals. They now even let you pay at the WaWa, for that bottle of water after a run, how nice is that?  One brand of watch that I like to keep on my wrist are those made by Garmin.

The name Garmin is well known today as being one of the best providers of “Smart Watch” technology. Implementing its advanced GPS functionality into a watch that can monitor your fitness levels and also keeps you from getting lost is just another reason why a product from Garmin can keep you aware of what’s happening both around you and “YOU” itself. I mean your activity/fitness progress!

And Garmin has you covered as far as pricing to go along with all of that functionality they build into their watches. One of my favorites is the Garmin Vivosmart HR. It's a fitness/activity tracker that also keeps track of your heart rate data points. This device combines all the functionality of a heart rate monitor and activity tracker with a smartwatch. Talk about wearing a lot of hats,,,, The functionality of this tracker is really well thought out!

Since we all know that keeping ourselves moving is one of the best ways to keep ourselves in shape on a daily basis, and the Vivosmart HR  can monitor just about everything we choose to do. Whether you’re going for a jog, playing a pick-up game with friends or trying out a new boot camp class, it quantifies the intensity of your fitness activities using intensity minutes. This feature lets you monitor your progress against activity goals recommended by health organizations such as the American Heart Association.

The Vivosmart is able to track distance, time and pace for indoor or outdoor activities. With it’s GPS, you can get even more accurate distance and pace stats as well as a map of your activity when running or walking outdoors. In addition to tracking your runs, steps, and calories, the Vívosmart HR, measures floors climbed and intensity minutes.

Garmin has been developing cutting-edge GPS technology since its founding in 1989. And since 1991, one of its first large clients has been the U.S. Army. And the technology its been creating since then has only gotten better and more accurate, which is a prime factor amongst long distance runners. After all, who wants to carry a paper map around with them, when you're navigating a long distance run, with little chance on taking the wrong path. And since this watch uses smart technology, you are able to stay connected and upload your data automatically to Garmin Connect, via your smartphone!  This way, your family, and friends have a pretty good idea just where and when you are as your running a race, or just out on a training run.

Keeping your progress stats available is important for getting the most out of your training and this app is universal across all Garmin devices, and can even carry data over from a previous device to a new device. It also syncs with your app in the Google Play Store or iTunes account.

The OLED display will track information about your workout, which will be logged in the Garmin Connect app. The Garmin Connect App includes a daily steps goal, distance traveled, calories burned, heart rate, and a whole lot more. All of this is visualized in a chart generated by the Connect app.

So, if you're looking for a great smartwatch with just about all the functionality you're going to need to monitor your stats as you work out, train, or just call it plain exercising, the Garmin Vivosmart Activity Tracker is one you need to take a serious look at.

So, who’s up for a little CrossFit??

We walk. That’s a statement and a fact. But over the past decade we have been told that because of today’s society, the average American is NOT walking enough. This statement is undoubtedly true when you consider that in America over 36.5% of us are now obese!

With these climbing stats, it’s no wonder that more and more Americans are now suffering from the medical ailments that have been associated with being overweight! Obesity-related conditions include heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and certain types of cancer, some of the leading causes of preventable death.

The estimated annual medical cost of obesity in the U.S. was $147 billion in 2008 U.S. dollars; the medical costs for people who are obese were $1,429 higher than those of normal weight.

It’s because of these growing figures that the CDC has prompted warnings that it's important that Americans adopt a new health conscious mindset to become healthier, and the sooner the better. The CDC, Mayo Clinic and other prestigious medical institutions state that walking is one of the easiest ways for us to back our bathroom scales down a few notches.

Walking an extra 40 minutes every day can reduce the number of days in the hospital for people, and lower the risk of cancer. And continually increasing our daily steps can decrease the amount of days we may be spending in the hospital for related diseases. People who increased their steps from 4,500 to 8,800 steps per day spent an average of one less day in the hospital every three years, researchers from the Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of Newcastle found. They adopted a mantra that states "Any exercise is better than no exercise, and more exercise is better."

That being said, when you finally realize that if you want to live a longer and more importantly, an active and mobile lifestyle when you get older you need to start now!

The first thing you need to do before you do any walking, strenuous or vigorous is get yourself checked out by your physician. Make sure you’re in good enough shape to begin and ask for advice on based on your examination, just how hard you should tackle your new lifestyle trend of getting in better health.

Once everything checks out and you get a clean bill of health from your physician, go and get yourself a “Good” pair of walking shoes. Ones that offer not only comfort but support for your arches and footpad. Get to a reputable shoe store, one that specializes in walking and running. Their staffs are usually well trained on how to fit you with the proper shoe based on the activity you’re going to be undertaking.

Next, get yourself a good, reliable pedometer or activity monitor. One that fits that bill is the Pedusa PE-771 Multi-Function Pedometer    It counts your steps, the distance you travel, your stride and the calories you’re burning during your walking session. It also has a 7-day memory so that you can track just how well you are doing each week and then record that data so you can compare each week against yourself and the goal you set for yourself! Then after a month, up the ante on the goal and increase it to another mile. Or go by the amount of time you set aside for your walk each day, and increase that. Or you can go one better, and step right up to an Activity Monitor like the Garmin Vivosmart Wireless Heart Rate Activity Monitor  that’s geared for the person who takes their fitness commitment seriously. Even though you’re just walking for now, later, when you get in better shape you have the tool already on hand, or should I say wrist, to monitor your heart rate along with your steps. The Garmin Vivosmart is built to track your workouts, monitor your performance stats, and gauge your progress. This watch has Garmin Elevate, which is Garmin’s own best in class wrist-based heart rate technology. The Vívosmart HR has a 3-dimensional accelerometer which is used to count steps (compared to a pedometer which uses a 1-dimensional accelerometer). It uses the user’s height from their profile to calculate their stride length. Because of the 3 dimensional accelerometer, the Vívosmart HR knows when the user is moving faster (running), so increases the stride length to better calculate the distance being covered. And you never have to worry about comparing just how well your doing since the Vivosmart HR Activity Monitor’s data can be uploaded to Garmin Connect, where you can track you're steps, distance and compare just how well you are doing against some of your friends!

So what are you waiting for? If your already doing your best and committed to walking that 10,000 steps and beyond, GOOD FOR YOU! But we’re sure you know some family members or friends that you can share this blog post with who could use some incentives to get their life on track to living a healthier, longer and active lifestyle.

Now you know about some of the cost savings that go along with being healthy. And you can keep your hard earned cash in your wallet! Instead of staying put on the coach and possibly succumbing to a variety of health ailments that could have been prevented by just increasing your physical activity!

Any questions, we are always here at HeartRateMonitorsUSA.com, just for YOU!

 

It’s no secret that people all over are experiencing record levels of stress in just about all aspects of their everyday lives. If you’re watching Good Morning America this week, they are even doing a segment on it! In fact the “Stress in America Survey” results show that adults continue to report high levels of stress and many report that their stress has increased over the past year – American Psychological Association.
75% of adults reported experiencing moderate to high levels of stress in the past month and nearly half reported that their stress has increased in the past year – American Psychological Association.
Approximately 1 out of 75 people may experience panic disorder – National Institutes of Mental Health.

Stress is a top health concern for U.S. teens between 9th and 12th grade, psychologists say that if they don’t learn healthy ways to manage that stress now, it could have serious long-term health implications – American Psychological Association.
80% of workers feel stress on the job and nearly half say they need help in learning how to manage stress. And 42% say their co-workers need such help – American Institute of Stress.
Stress levels in the workplace are rising with 6 in 10 workers in major global economies experiencing increased workplace stress, according to the Regus Group.

Data show that 36 percent of workers suffer from work-related stress that costs U.S. businesses $30 billion a year in lost workdays.

Now, if you’re on the verge of having your own panic attack after reading the few lines above. CALM DOWN. You and I both know that, Yes, we do have stress in our lives, it’s how we handle that stress that accounts for the way we function daily and cope with what life brings our way.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock the past 15 years, you’ve heard that exercise, particularly walking, jogging, running and biking can help to alleviate quite a bit of stress that comes our way on a daily basis. There are quite a few studies that have been done along these lines and they all agree that “Exercise and other physical activity produce endorphins, chemicals in the brain that act as natural painkillers, and also improve the ability to sleep, which in turn reduces stress” Exercise increases your overall health and your sense of well-being, which puts more pep in your step every day.” This according to from the Mayo Clinic.

Monitoring yourself while you work at releasing those magical endorphins is a key to keeping yourself motivated. After all, its human nature to challenge yourself or challenge a friend or a workout buddy. One way to make sure you’re on your “Game” is to get yourself the right activity monitor or watch, or both. It’s a fact that we all do better when we have a goal to work towards. And an Activity Monitor that fits the bill on all counts is the  Garmin Vivosmart 3 HR Activity Tracker. With this handy wrist based device you can track everything you need from your heart-rate (thanks to Elevate wrist heart rate monitoring), steps, distance, calories burned, floors climbed, distance traveled, intensity minutes, and VO2 max.

But the carrot on the cake is it can also track just how “Well” You Are Doing! Vívosmart 3, tracks Heart Rate Variability (HRV), which is used to calculate and display your stress level! You can look at a graph right on your device (On YOUR WRIST!) anytime you’re sitting or at rest. When the level starts to move up, it indicates that your stress is getting higher. What causes this? Any number of physical or emotional external sources. The key is to identify what is causing your levels to rise and for you to understand how you can lower them by more exercise, meditation or coming to grips with what is impacting you. Since this activity monitor also doubles as a watch, you have the ability to keep track on your stress levels with your HRV, monitor function at all times of the day, so you can see when the levels rise and what you are doing at the time they do that may cause your stress levels to elevate!

Vívosmart 3 helps you recognize when this is happening so you can find a way to relieve the stress, for example, by using the relaxation-based breathing timer, built right into the stress widget for the Vivosmart 3. Based on the Fourfold breathing technique, it offers a 1 to 5 minute guided breathing exercise.

It’s almost like having “Wellness Coach” with you all the time. Now if that doesn’t help you to come to terms with 2017’s silent personal enemy (Stress), I’m just not sure what will. Now we are not claiming that using this Activity Tracker will put “Paid” to your stress levels, but we all know we have stress in our lives and with a helpful tool like the Vivosmart 3 Activity Tracker, at least we can be conscious of it and just how well we are coping with it.

So, breathe and go and get yourself the Vivosmart 3 at HeartRateMonitorsUSA.com 

 

Summertime, just the word can make us feel so much better about this time of year. For most of us that long for the warm, hot weather, the winter months can seem to go on and on and on. It’s no wonder that not only our moods seem to get a lift this time of year but so do our bodies, which benefit from increased levels of absorbing vitamin D from all of that abundant sunshine!

This is a great time for us to get moving and get out and enjoy these warm,  hot couple of months before they’re gone. And it’s also a great time to start putting our bodies through their paces to make sure we are toned and in the best physical shape we can be in, as we take part in all those sport activities that seem to crop up along every beach, local ball park or local runs, walks, and marathons.

Keeping track of all of your activities and just how much you’re actually putting into your daily or weekly fitness programs is a must! And if you’re not keeping track of just how much you’re accomplishing with your fitness regimen you’re selling yourself short on making the most of what you're putting into it.

A great way to stay on top of your game is using a good activity watch or one that also monitors your heart-rate each and every day. One that we like to recommend is the Garmin Vivosmart HR+GPS 
Whether you’re going for a jog, playing a pick-up game with friends or trying out a new boot camp class, it quantifies the intensity of your fitness activities using intensity minutes!

It's able to track distance, time and pace for indoor or outdoor activities. With GPS, you can get even more accurate distance and pace stats as well as a map of your activity when running or walking outdoors. In addition to tracking your runs, steps, and calories, Vívosmart HR+ measures floors climbed and intensity minutes. So when you're wearing it, you don't have to worry about not keeping track of any physical exertions, throughout the day. 

With the Vivosmart activity watch, you're going to be able to take your fitness goals to the next level for all the right reasons. And besides its GPS capabilities, (you won't get lost), it allows you to monitor your heart-rate as you push yourself, and it’s also waterproof. So you can take it from the beach to the pools and stroke your way to increasing the number of laps you’re able to do today and every day you strap it on.

So, while the sun’s still shining and pouring down all that goodness on you. Get yourselves a Garmin Vivosmart watch today and see just how much you’re going to improve between now and Labor Day.

If you keep to a regimen of pushing your limits, you’re going to be impressed with your “End of Summer” results.

So, who’s up for a game of sand volleyball,,,, Are YOU?