Choosing a Health and Fitness Ecosystem - Part 5 - The FitBit Ecosystem

FitBit has one of the most user friendly ecosystems of any other company. There are very few personal and company health services that do not connect with FitBit. In addition, most activity, fitness, and health sites connect with FitBit. They are constantly receiving recognition for having one of the best looking and easy-to-use apps for mobile and portable devices. And if this wasn't enough, they have one of the largest active user communities. They have even embraced the fashion and smart watch trends; maybe not the best, but they have pretty much everything covered.

FitBit Devices

I am not going to dive too far into the details on the devices, as there are too many to cover. Basically, they have simple activity trackers (Zip) to general fitness (Charge and Blaze) to a multi-sport tracker (Surge). Some of these devices sport smart features that let you receive phone alerts and control your music. However, the smart features for the most part are usually limited, but with FitBit's recent acquisition of Pebble, that might change in the very near future.

In addition to activity and fitness tracking, they also offer a smart weight scale and designer and collector models and accessories for their devices.

Overall, their devices are pretty good. The wrist HR is fairly accurate, but as with all wrist-based HR, there are always limitations, especially when it comes to how much you sweat and, for running specifically, how much you alter intervals. My only major complaint is their treadmill accuracy. Compared to a lot of other companies I have tested, FitBit had one of the least accurate treadmill values; I always got credit for way more steps than I actually took, average of 15% more steps to be exact.

FitBit App

As usual, I will only be able to comment on the iPhone version, as I do not have an Android device. To put it simply, this is the BEST app I have used for a connected device. You can sync multiple devices with ease and navigation to features is amazingly simple. Even advanced features are a breeze. The Dashboard, or home screen, is sleek, modern, and does a great job at showing you useful information. Since I am not currently using FitBit, I will be showing stock images from FitBit's site. The user experience is identical though, so don't worry.

Aside from the Dashboard, which is basically a summary of your whole day, there are screens for each item that appears on the Dashboard; sleep, steps, heart rate, activities, nutrition, weight, and more. The type of device you have will determine the level of detail and data that appears. For example, if you just have a Zip, you will see steps, can still track nutrition and weight, but won't see things like heart rate.

However, using your device when going outside for an activity gives you the added bonus of tracking that information through the app. So, you can get extra information such as GPS tracking and other metrics.

FitBit Website Dashboard

In addition to having one of the best apps, it also has one of the best websites. Sure, there are some features, or lack of certain customization that make no sense, but overall their site is amazing. You get a good look at everything YOU want to see. And it stays consistent with how you see things on the app, so you aren't confused by screens. Plus, for many, the simple integration with MyFitnessPal is huge for nutrition tracking. There are plenty of places to connect with others and won't disappoint you.

Final Thoughts

FitBit is still the market leader for a clear reason. It's definitely designed with the masses in mind. Very few companies are focused on such a diverse audience. Whether you need to track steps for work or your health care plan, want to get more active, are a constant gym goer, an extremely active person, or a fitness nut, there is an option for you. However, if you are an athlete and looking for a device that can withstand the stress, weathering, beating, sweat and water, and more, FitBit does not really have the devices you are looking for. For me personally, this is the only reason I left FitBit...as a triathlete, I needed a device that was waterproof, could track all of my sports and in the same session, and could handle the beating I put on my watch. Up next is Garmin!

Building Plan: Week 7 Complete

What a week! Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas, are enjoying Hanukkah, or just enjoying some time off from work. I had one of my most successful workout weeks in a while, and I am hoping to keep this momentum. I had great running sessions, although my strength sessions were lacking again. I also did much better with cross training.

Strength Training

I only got in 1 of 3 full sessions. I did my usual daily stretches, but that doesn't make up for the 2 days missed. I will be making a bigger effort to make sure I am getting these strength days, as I feel this week was successful because of strength from last week.

Running

I hit all 3 runs this week! I continued my cadence week 5/6 plan. I'll make a post later showing the training progression plan. However, I will note now, and when I post, that this plan was specifically to help correct a running form issue I developed over the last few years due to my injuries and is not a plan I'll be building on. I will be building on my mileage, but this program was focused on my stride and foot strike.

Sunday I was able to get outside and run at a local track. It was an extremely tough run though because I have not run outside in a long time, so my SPM was much lower than I wanted. I was excited to learn the only open-to-public track in my county is the one somewhat near me. I'll be going here a lot more, as there is no substitute for outside running. Don't get me wrong, I have been making incredible strides with the treadmill, and it has been really good to get me going, but I need to wind, extreme temperature changes, and soon, hills.

Cycling

I was got in a cadence ride on my trainer. These rides are still destroying me. I am not too concerned though, as I have no been focusing on cycling or my cycling cadence much. However, I am not going to just hop on the bike to ride and burn calories, so I chose cadence. I am still hoping that once I get my running and strength consistent, I'll be able to bump up to at least 2 cadence sessions a week.

Swimming

I only did a short swim after one of my runs. It was 10 minutes and I was focused on form, especially arm rotation. I did this for two reasons. The first is that I usually recover exponentially quicker when i swim after my runs. Secondly, I wanted to push my shoulders, as they were already tired from my run. I think I did pretty well, and my goal is to always get in a swim after at least one of my runs, if not more.

Final Thoughts

Overall this is one of the best weeks I have had in a while. I plan on continuing this momentum. I'll definitely be adding another week of my Cadence Week 5/6 to my schedule. Although I don't have any running races or triathlons planned for 2017 yet, my dad wants to do the City to Shore ride again, but with the Century distance (100 miles or 160 km). So I'll be training for that.

Building Plan: Week 6 Complete

Well, this ended up being another week of struggle. Constantly exhausted despite getting more sleep. On a good note, I am still seeing improvements in strength and running.

Strength Training

Got 2 of my 3 sessions completed. NTC really knows how to kick my butt. Since legs and core are so important to me, it's really nice that their programs all have that as the focus. They don't neglect other areas, but the focus is core and legs. I am definitely getting better with more of the advanced routines. I still have a ways to go, but it's nice I can do them now, as I couldn't even partially complete them a couple weeks ago.

Running

I use my Garmin 920xt's workout calendar feature to do my workouts because I easily forget what I am doing each day. It turns out my sync for last week didn't work, and I was supposed to be continuing my Week 4/5 running. I hopped on the treadmill, and started my run. After my 2nd interval, I was expecting to be done after my 2 min cool-down. Nope! Beep, beep, and go! Turns out I had my Week 5/6 schedule in there. Aside from the 41 hour recovery recommendation, I totally killed the run! I averaged 180-181 spm for all three intervals. I will definitely be doing Week 5/6 another week or so though, as I should not have that crazy of a recovery period after the run. I felt really good afterwards and nothing hurt.

Everything Else

I hopped on the spin bike a little and mostly did stretches and foam rolling. I was happy I did that much considering how exhausted and busy I was.

Final Thoughts

As usual, I will be trying to improve consistency. I have been having a heck of a time adjusting my workout schedule to all of the random chaos going on. I came up with a rolling weekly plan that should adjust pretty well to this. Now I just need time and energy. Hope everyone is doing well!

Spin Bikes vs Bike Trainers

I want to start off by saying I am writing this due to my frustration in my training. This led me to do some research and therefore I wanted to share my thoughts.

What is a Bike Trainer?

A bike trainer is a cycling tool that is designed to allow you to ride your bike while remaining stationary. There are a few different types, but I am not going to go into full detail on each one. Rather, the two most common trainers are one where you put your whole bike on the trainer (first picture above) or one where you remove the rear wheel and hook up the bike via the cassette.

For a base model trainer, you will be able to adjust resistance of trainer, in addition to shifting your gears for additional resistance adjustments. The higher models you go up, the more features you get. A typical benefit to cassette trainers is that if they are "smart" you will get power as one of the tracked metrics. Now, if you already have a power meter on your bike, this might be a moot point. Some trainers will even allow you to adjust for hills.

What is a Spin Bike?

A spin bike is a stationary upright bike that is designed to mimic the ergonomics of a road or triathlon bike. Similar to trainers, the higher end you go, the more metrics and hill abilities you get. As opposed to having wheels like a traditional bike, it basically has a front "friction-less" disc that connect back to the crankset. This whole system is designed to be as low friction as possible, with either a digital or manual resistance adjuster.

What is the Difference

From a pure cardiovascular workout standpoint, both types are great. You can get a wonderful burn and enjoy the benefits of biking while indoors. You can also do various strengthening drills on both, such as one-legged drills. However, this is mostly where their similarities end.

A spin bike is going to be very deceptive to the rider when comparing to real road conditions while on a real bike. Due to the mechanical design of a spin bike, it avoids a lot of the friction and mechanisms you get in a standard bike. Granted, there are road and triathlon bikes designed to reduce friction, but nothing to the level of a spin bike. Also, there is just no beating training on your own bike. There is a completely different feel and balance, even when stationary, to your bike on the trainer versus a spin bike. Your bike is, or should be, set perfectly to your dimensions. A spin bike can be adjusted of course, but most aspects are different. A spin bike also avoids a crucial aspect of road biking; shifting. Since you can't coast on a spin a bike and you adjust frictional resistance versus shifting, you don't get the same experience you would when out on the road. Granted, a trainer is not going to let you coast either, but you will be able to shift.

My Personal Experience

When I first got into road biking, it was already late fall and I started with a spin a bike. I worked up to some of the max resistance of the spin bike while maintaining a very high RPM. When spring came around and I bought my road bike, I expected to hop on and fly through any obstacle with ease and at lightning fast speeds. My first go on the bike I fell over from lack of balance. My first hard bend, I crashed. My first monster uphill, I couldn't even make it up. My first downhill I already wiped out. My first massive side gust, I got blown over. My first race, my time was double what I expected.

My point here is that despite doing all of the recommended drills and training like crazy on a spin bike did virtually nothing to help me with actual road biking. This is a very common theme for most cyclists. This is why most cyclists you will talk to have a trainer at home, or go to a gym where they can hook up their bike to a trainer.

Final Thoughts

I know this was a bit lengthy of an article, but I wanted to stress there is no substitute to training on a bike versus a spin bike. If you race, I can only recommend using a trainer, except for when you just want to get a good cardio workout in to work on endurance. Otherwise, stay away from the spin bikes. However, if you don't have the space for a trainer and spinning is your only option, definitely do it. Just make sure the second you can get back on your bike, you do it.

Building Plan: Week 5 Complete

What a week. I was at the vet hospital a ton, I got sick, and I aggravated my knees and right foot. I still pushed through and got workouts in, but I was overly cautious and conservative. I'll go into detail, but I am pretty happy with my decisions. To make thing frustrating though, I have been dealing with some sort of joint or some other issue in my left thumb for months, and it's getting worse. Probably will have to head to get x-rays on it.

Running

I only got my first run in for the week. The following day both knees and my foot were so bad I was limping. I thought maybe I went too hard on the treadmill. However, it's a lot simpler than that. The past couple weeks I have been slacking on my strength training, core strength, and stretching. As I have noted before, these things are imperative to long term injury prevention for myself and keeping my knee and foot issues at bay. I had a nice reminder last Tuesday of this fact. Fortunately, I didn't try and doing any running until my knees and foot were feeling good again.

Cycling

I got in some spin sessions, as well as a trainer session. I am just going to emphasize how ridiculously useless spin bikes are in regards to real bike training. I am going to write a blog article on this later in the week, so you can read more about that then. Anyway, I had, what I thought, were two amazing spin sessions where I was easily hitting 90 rpm at a very decent resistance. But my trainer ride showed me how inaccurate those sessions were. To achieve only 85 rpm average, I was going at a fraction of the resistance and worked at least twice as hard. That is fine though, I will continue to use the spin bike for warm-ups when I need breaks from my running warm-ups. Also, when I don't have time to get trainer rides in I'll use spin bikes for 1-legged drills and sit-stand strength training.

Swimming

It didn't happen. I literally had no time to get over to LA Fitness to get into the pool. Until my cat's health issues are more under control and he has his surgery, I expect this to be an ongoing issue.

Strength Training

I am embarrassed to say I got in 1 strength session, which was just core strength. Not only that but I overdid the session and my left deltoid and trapezius muscles were completely messed up for 2 days afterwards, even with stretching and using a lacrosse ball. This will not be happening again, as I cannot afford to have knees, foot, and other injuries like I did this week.

Final Thoughts

I will be revamping my training schedule to be a lot more basic and not worry about doubles just to get all of my training in. My original intent was to build my strength, get a consistent stretching and core routine, and to build my running back up. I have strayed from this by trying to get cycling and swimming in, causing me to focus on cardio more, strength less, and ultimately scope creep from my plans. Week 6 will be much more structured, but simple. I will probably follow this until real life gets a little less crazy, then I'll start adding back my other cardio.

Running Cadence - The Basics

During my recent physical therapy in recovery from some foot and knee issues, I was able to get a full running analysis done. I had this done because my form has dramatically changed from my sprinting days in high school and college, and then again from my mid-distance running after college. It turns out that although I was not over-striding, I was landing solidly on my heel and not rolling my foot through to the toe. Therefore, I was having extremely heavy impact on my knees, with no real support from the surrounding muscles. I had some other issues too, but those were not related my running form. So, my PT prescribed that I do cadence training. Now, I haven't done cadence or stride training since high school. I therefore had to ask my PT for an initial training plan and also needed to do some research to refresh myself on cadence training. Since I had to do that, I figured I would share the basics.

What is Running Cadence?

Simply put, running cadence is the number of time your feet hit the ground in a given period of time, usually over 60 seconds.

You might also hear the term "turnover" used as well. However, it should be made clear that turnover is defined as how quickly your leg goes from the foot strike position back to the kick position, and then back to the foot strike position.

Determine Your Running Cadence

If you don't have a device that can determine your cadence, either film yourself or have someone else count how many times your feet hit the ground over 60 seconds. Personally, I use my Garmin HRM-Run to get my cadence. I have tested about 15 times now with the HRM vs. manually counting and they are the same each time.

As a note, some devices count only single foot strike, especially when using a foot pod. My Garmin counts both feet, which I highly recommend and is more accurate. I won't go into detail, but depending on muscle balance and many other things, there could be a large difference between the 2 legs or feet, which could cause a mess of other issues.

What Should Your Cadence Be?

Most elite runners are tracked as running with a cadence around 180 SPM, steps per minute, or higher. Some of the fastest runners set themselves apart by being able to keep the same stride length for their final kick, but dramatically increase their cadence.

However, from generally reported and tracked stats across most websites, the typical running is around 160-170 SPM.

I recommend being closer to 180 SPM due to the benefits, which I'll explain in the next section. But to be honest, it's more important to be consistent. Whatever your cadence is, you should have that cadence consistent for your run, not just have it as the average. For example, if your average cadence is 170, but you fluctuate between 160 and 180 on a relatively flat course or treadmill, you are opening yourself up to injury and probably have some sort of running form issue.

I will argue that your cadence should be the same regardless if you are on a flat, going uphill, or going downhill. Your stride length will be different for sure, and your pace will vary, but your cadence should be fairly unchanged. Also, your cadence should be the same regardless of the distance you are running.

Benefits of Improved Cadence

When it comes to running, and most sports in general, how well you do usually is a matter of how efficient you are at what you do. Cadence falls into this concept of efficiency. A consistent and improved cadence usually translates to a faster run times, less impact on joints, and more consistent paces. This makes your training more effective and you less injury-prone.

Final Thoughts

Cadence isn't the end-all-be-all. You need to make sure you have proper form when you make ground contact, that your turnover and kick-back are following correct form, that you aren't over-extending or over-striding, and that you aren't pushing yourself passed your heart rate limits or lung capacity. Just remember though that how your foot strikes, forefoot, mid, or heel, doesn't matter! As long as you are consistent and that particular form is not negatively affecting your body, you are good to go. As a personal example, I am trying to get back to forefoot and mid-foot striking; this is due to my bad knees though and needing my muscles to handle the brunt of my impact, not my joints. Happy running!

Building Plan: Week 4 Complete

What a week! Had to be at the hospital a bunch for my cat, so I missed some workouts. However, I got most of my other planned workouts in. I even got myself back in the pool! My eating suffered a lot though.

Strength
I only got in 1 full strength session. I got a partial session in as well, but it was more stretching than anything, as I was completely wrecked from my Thursday cadence run. It was my first real attempt at my Week 3/4 cadence plan. I definitely went too fast on the treadmill. But I'll get into this shortly. Anyway, my strength session was a monster! I had a faster-than-usual warm-up run, so I started my strength session at a fairly elevated heart rate. This session was also continuous sets-focused, so my heart rate stayed rather elevated, with points where I was hitting close to max HR. I had to lay down and foam roll for a good 10 minutes after. Sadly, this was my only real strength workout, which I am extremely disappointed about, as my main focus is improving my strength. This will not happen again!

Running
So, my first attempt at the Cadence Week 3/4 plan was the day after my above strength session. My legs were not fully recovered from that session, but I did the run anyway. I set a whole bunch of PR's, but almost passed out after my run from pushing myself to the absolute max. Happily though, I am pushing myself to my limits, but not going over. I need to keep being vigilant of my form, as I will easily get injured at this level of training. I did my second run over the weekend, on Sunday instead of Saturday. Although I was exhausted, it went much better than my prior run. I was able to maintain a higher belt speed for all 3 intervals while maintaining close to my goal cadence. However, my HR is still way too high and my average cadence is not at 180 yet. Therefore, I will be continuing my Week 3/4 cadence running into Week 5. I could technically move to Week 4/5, but I am not trying to build as quickly as possible...I am trying to make major gains that will stick.

Cycling
I had a nice leg-loosening session the day after my first run. It was pure awfulness, but I felt so much better later that day and especially the following day. I am making it my mission that I never miss some sort of shake-out workout after an intense workout day because this will promote faster healing and recovery. Sadly, I did not get in my long trainer ride.

Swimming
I finally got in the pool. I did this after my 2nd run session, which was Sunday. I swam 800 yards...which felt like 10 miles and I thought I was in the pool for a couple hours. I did 100 WU, 3 x 200, then 100 CD. I needed a full 60 seconds rest between each set. I honestly can't remember the last time I swam and it felt that tough for swimming so little. But guess what? I felt amazing when I got home and today I feel almost 100%. I cannot emphasize how much proper cross training is helping me.

Final Thoughts
I am going to keep trying to be more consistent with my workout volume. I altered my plan a little to be more realistic with my schedule. I am hoping I will be able to succeed more now. I don't think I need another 3 run sessions of the Week 3/4 Cadence plan, but I am going to get them done for good measure. As a note, I am down to a 6:08 mile now!!!!! With my walks between intervals, I am also at a 22:07 5k as well. However, I am not really counting this 5k pace until I can do a 5k with no stops.

My eating is still amazingly awful and I have not only regained all of my lost weight, but I am up a couple pounds again. I am not too worried about it though, as this is still not my major focus yet. Hope everyone is working hard with their goals!

Building Plan: Week 3 Complete

I hope everyone had a wonderful and happy Thanksgiving! I was cooking up a storm for my family. It always amazes me how much better 100% home-made is versus anything else. I made some good progress in my prior weeks and lost a good bit a weight. Just in time for the feasting, lol. I am not looking forward to my upcoming weigh-in. No matter, I had wonderful times with my family and can get back to my usual eating again. In regards to working out, my goal was to not miss anything because of the holiday week. Well, I went and hurt my neck which prevented me from doing some workouts. However, I did make some excellent progress despite that.

 

Strength

I got 2 of my 3 strength sessions completed. However, the one session was more just stretching and a little bit of body weight routines. I am still seeing significant improvements in my strength. In addition, I am seeing some improved mobility and flexibility. Still nothing to write home about, but I’ll take any gains.

Running

I had a PR this week! During one of my runs, I got a 6:34 mile!!!!! I was so excited. I am also feeling slightly less winded and tired during and right after my runs. I am excited my endurance is finally building back up. I am starting my week 3/4 of my running training. I hope I can do it!

Cross Training

I still have yet to get myself back into the pool. I hope to change that this week, even if I only make it once. I got in one trainer session. It was alright, but it was more just to get my legs loose. With my neck bothering me, I couldn’t get anymore done. My brother has me doing some stretches that are slowly helping.

Final Thoughts

For Week 4 I am hoping to keep increasing my consistency and getting more workouts in. I am not too worried about my eating as I have gotten rid of most of the leftovers, so this week will be mostly back to normal eating. I do need to make sure I keep up with my food tracking though. Hope everyone is doing well with their goals!

Building Plan: Week 2 Complete

Last week was Week 2 of my training plan. Overall, I saw a good amount of improvement in my workout consistency. I still missed a cadence run workout, which I really did not want to miss. However, I let getting ready for Thanksgiving be my excuse for not getting it done. Shame on me, but I'll be good this week no matter what.

My strength sessions keep improving. I did a fit challenge last week and pretty much passed out afterwards. I am really impressed with the improvements NTC (Nike Training Club) has made to the workouts and the app. I am really enjoying using it and seeing great gains each week, both in strength and mobility.

My running keeps improving. I was able to get complete my cadence runs at 180 spm for all 3 reps. I will be moving on to Week 2/3 of my plan. Words cannot express my excitement!

I did not get my other cross training in, which was disappointing, but I will focus on that this week. I am not going to let a holiday be an excuse. It's my job to make the time!

I am still having trouble with my weight, but my main goal was to get consistent with my workouts first. I am almost there, so I will be focusing on weight next.

Anyway, hope everyone is doing well with their goals and have a wonderful, happy and safe Thanksgiving!

Choosing a Health and Fitness Ecosystem - Part 4 - The Polar Ecosystem

Polar Ecosystem

Polar has always been one of the top fitness brands since I can first remember. Their HR accuracy was always second to none and their devices were reliable and for a long time were the gold standard. They had struggled with the smartwatch, integrated GPS and smart fitness watch concepts, causing them to fall dramatically behind the likes of Garmin, TomTom and FitBit.

However, they have really stepped up and have an amazing line of products in addition to amazing mobile apps and a website to compliment it all. So, first up is the Polar Ecosystem.

Polar Flow Website

Polar Flow is Polar's portal to all things Polar health and fitness. The site features the following sections:

• Feed
• Explore
• Diary
• Progress
• Community
• Programs

Feed is just the standard activity and social feed of friends' activities. Explore is a really neat feature that allows you to see what others are doing and where, assuming they allow it to be shared. This is a really neat social feature that makes it incredibly easy to find training partners or groups. Diary is a an awesome tool. It allows you to both plan out training, see training schedules from Programs, and see what activities you completed on what day. For details behind your training, races, and progress, the Progress tab has all of the information that whatever Polar device you use can capture. Community is another social feature that allows you find groups that you can join for training, competition, etc. For example, if you are a Strava person, there are Strava groups and challenges on there.

Finally, the Programs section. I wanted to break this out of the other description because this is an amazing tool which you won't find on most sites, especially for free. To put it simply, Programs is a tool that allows you to build a running program for common distance events; 5k, 10k, half marathon, full marathon. It's only for running, but it's amazing. And unlike most sites that provide running programs, Polar keeps in mind how important strength training is. Once you create the program, it will appear in your Diary, and depending on your Polar device, it will load the training plans onto your device. I am not going into specific details, but you can explore on your own and check out the screen captures I provided.

Polar Flow and Polar Beat Apps

Polar also has the Polar Flow and Polar Beat apps for iPhone and Android. One thing that makes these such great applications is that it can turn your phone into a fitness device and does not care if you have a Polar device or not. I am not sure why all companies do not follow Polar's lead on Polar Beat. Polar Flow serves as a dashboard and sync tool for supported Polar devices, from watches to accessories to cycling tools. I used to use a standard Polar HR watch and monitor, which cannot sync with a phone (it did had a USB sync though), as they do not have Bluetooth. However, with Polar's H7 combo Bluetooth and Polar Frequency heart rate monitor, I was able to use my watch and also use my phone with the Polar Beat app. Eventually I stopped using the watch because the Beat app had GPS and tracked way more data. As a quick note, Polar Flow used to be both apps, and I am not sure why they really had to turn it into 2 apps, other than for marketing and branding purposes.

Devices

Polar currently has a very nice lineup of devices, ranging from activity trackers to multi-sport devices. They pretty much have everything to cover your healthy lifestyle. I am not going into the list, but you can visit Polar's website to learn about all of the offerings.

Polar Beat and H7 Heart Rate Monitor

Polar Flow

Final Thoughts

Overall, Polar is still a top company when it comes to fitness and fitness tracking. They have come a long way in smarter devices and activity tracking. If you know people who are using Polar, it's an awesome ecosystem to work on. Plus, as an added bonus, most gym equipment supports the native Polar signal. Up next is FitBit.

NOTE: Both Polar Flow and Beat pictures are taken from Polar's website and are property of Polar.

Week 1 Progress

So, MyFitnessPal isn't working for posting my fitness Blog there. I am pretty angry at them, but it can't be helped. Therefore, I will just post everything here. As a note, I am now on Week 2, but it's been almost 2 weeks with MFP support having no clue how to fix the issue.

Last week was week 1 of my training plan. My current focus is rebuilding my running, which involves cadence training and complementary strength and cross training. 

So, I was not as successful as I would have liked, but I still made the effort. I missed 2 of my runs, which I was no happy about, but I got in all of my strength sessions and the long bike trainer session. 

Compared to prior weeks where I was doing 10 minute cadence runs, my run this week saw an improvement in cadence, which was awesome. I was so dead afterwards though. I am in the avg HR zone of 78% max hr for my runs, and peak at 98%.  However, I recover within 30 minutes, post-run, so I am pushing myself but not past my limits. This is why I am currently seeing week-over-week progress. I am really shooting to not have more than 1 session of plateau. 

For my strength, I am seeing constant improvement in strength and flexibility. However, I still have a ton of core muscle groups that are insanely weak. I will keep focusing on them. I am starting a Nike Training Club (NTC+) 4-week workout routine that is going to help with this. 

For my bike trainer session, it was rough; really rough. I had a super active day doing yard work and carrying many heavy things up and down stairs for most of the day. And this was also my first cadence ride on my trainer. I was over 10 rpm below my goal average, and I thought I was going to die in the 30-minute session. But that's fine; the sky is practically the limit for how much improvement I can make on my cycling.

Looking forward to more consistency in Week 2 of my program. Hope everyone is working at their goals! 

Choosing a Health and Fitness Ecosystem - Part 3 - How Calories Burned is Determined

How Calories Burned is Determined

If you have ever done a side-by-side comparison of 2 devices that can calculate your calories burned, either throughout your day or for an activity, then you noticed that they gave anywhere from slightly to dramatically different results. My favorite example is when I was comparing FitBit Charge HR, Garmin 920xt with HRM strap, and non-HR FitBit Flex. The activity was a 30 minute run on the treadmill at a 10 min pace. My burn with Garmin was about 260 calories. The FitBit Charge was just under 280. The Flex was just over 310. So if I was trying to lose weight, and I was relying just on the Flex, I would have thought I could eat over 50 more calories...which is a super yummy snack. That's not good. However, it's not totally bad either and I will explain why.

The Flaw of Caloric Burn

Despite what all of the fitness sites will tell you, heart tracking for determining calorie burn is flawed in so many ways. For example, heart rate monitors are designed to work in an optimal condition of elevated heart rate for a period of time. So, for people who do strength training, caloric burn result will typically be wrong. I am not going into the full details of this, because it's not relevant for this article, but know that your body is a complex machine and it burns calories different based on how your muscles and cardiovascular system are engaged.

I am not saying to throw out your calorie burn results; but I am saying you need to understand that results are based on usually complex equations that are still flawed, because every person's body burns calories a little bit different from the next.

HRM vs. Non-HRM

I am not trying to pick on FitBit, but they are the easiest to use for this example. We are going to use the FitBit Flex and FitBit Charge HR for this segment. Devices and formulas have advanced very far these days, so non-HRM devices that show calories have dramatically improved over time.

Quick disclaimer: I won't be posting any exact formulas because I am not well-versed in the legal jargon that the various companies have around their proprietary formulas, and since I figured out a bunch of them, I fear posting them would put me in trouble. That said, however, I will post what typically goes into the calculations.

At the very basic fitness tracker level, meaning Non-HRM, it will take into account, your age, height, weight, and steps. Most will use your gender as well. Moving up the list for Non-HRM, some have average caloric burns in addition to the various data I already mentioned. Some will even go as far as to then see your averages and adjust accordingly. However, this gets very inaccurate since it needs heart rate.

So, Heart Rate Monitors. The most basic will take into account your age, weight, and heart rate from the activity. It doesn't care about steps, gender, etc. As you can guess, the more advanced keep adding more variables to get a more accurate picture of caloric expenditure. In addition, devices that have the ability to track heart rate (HR) all day, have different formulas than that of a physical activity. So if you don't workout or overexert yourself, it will use one formula to determine your full day calorie burn. If you also exercise or do some activity that raises your heart rate to a certain level or higher, then it will use a different formula, and then add those 2 values together. The devices know to not count workout time into the overall daily burn, since you would get over-inflated results.

In addition, most of the new HRM's and their fitness device (can be separate or the same device) will watch for patterns and adjust the burns as your fitness improves. For example, if I start running for the first time, and I am a bit overweight, my heart rate is going to be higher, and I am going to see a pretty decent calorie burn from a run. Maybe a couple months later after I have lost some weight and my cardiovascular system has more endurance and is more efficient, I might only be burning a fraction of the calories for the same effort.

What Do I Choose?

Despite the above probably being confusing, the decision on whether or not to get an activity tracker or fitness device that can track heart rate is fairly simple. If you aren't someone who counts calories, doesn't care about calories, or you aren't doing any sort of activity or training that you need heart rate data, then there is no reason to get a device that tracks heart rate. Nice and simple, right?

Summary

\In conclusion, many people who just want a device to help keep them active, track activities, or to claim some work or insurance incentives, do not need a device with heart rate tracking capabilities. However, if you don't fall into those categories, you will probably want one; you might not use it right away, but you will. Up next I will be doing a long series of discussing the good, the bad, and the ugly of the various ecosystems out there.

Choosing a Health and Fitness Ecosystem - Part 2 - Activity Tracker vs Fitness Device

Activity Tracker vs Fitness Device

The health and fitness tech market is growing exponentially, with everyone either wanting to get healthy or being obsessed with numbers. However, before you jump on the bandwagon, you need to know the difference between an activity tracker and a fitness device. They are starting to become one-in-the-same for the most mainstream brands, but there is a clear difference and this will hopefully help you when you are deciding what to choose.

Activity Tracker

An activity tracker does just what the name implies; it tracks your daily activeness or lack-there-of. At the most basic, an activity tracker will tell you how many steps you have taken. Most however include sleep tracking as well. Once you start going up the line, you will get automatic workout tracking, integrated or external heart rate tracking and other metrics related to your steps, such as stairs climbed and inactivity periods.

It should be noted that if you are not a huge fitness person and you just want to track the basics because you either something to keep you on point with hitting your step goals or achieving some level of activity toward health or weight goals, then an activity tracker is key. And most companies are hitting up these devices with extremely stylish designs. For example, Withings has an activity tracker watch that is really slick, the Activite Steel and Saphire. Garmin just came out with one as well, the Vivomove; and it's probably the most attractive looking activity tracker I have seen yet.

Other devices can track activity as well, like smart phones and smart watches. So, your iPhone or Android phone will probably have a step tracker app or you can get an app that can utilize your phone to track that. But Apple Watch and Gear S2 can track your workouts like mainstream fitness devices, right? Yes and no. I leave the super technical details to DC Rainmaker, but basically these devices are not the best when it comes to true fitness tracking. The have severe accuracy flaws. Now, there are some 3rd party companies that have apps to correct some of this, but overall, if you are training for races or have a huge focus on working out, then an activity tracker is going become very limiting at some point.

Fitness Device

And now the fitness device. This is a device that is purely designed for tracking detailed metrics about your workouts. This can include heart rate min, max, average, and zones, calories burned, intensity levels, elevation changes, distance, speed, instant pace, and the list goes on and on. Now, thanks to FitBit being so competitive, they forced companies like Garmin, Polar and Tom Tom to incorporate activity tracking into their newer devices. So nowadays, a fitness device usually has all of the activity tracking components in addition to everything it already has and is designed for. This basically gives you an extremely detailed and advanced device that will give you a holistic look at your day-to-day lifestyle and the impacts of your workouts, activities, sleep, and more.

In addition, thanks to Apple, many fitness devices and activity trackers alike are incorporating smart features now as well; apps, music control, message alerts from your phone, and much more.

How Do I Choose?

This is fairly simple in most cases. If you are just trying to be active or you have goals set by your work, then a standard activity tracker will meet all of your needs and then some. However, if you consistently workout by doing running, cycling, strength training, swimming, other, or a combination of them, then you will want a fitness device so you can see metrics specific to the workout you did so you can keep improving for whatever goals you have. This is not to say that a fitness device wouldn't be good for someone who is just looking for standard activity tracking, but it will definitely give you way more than you want or need...although for some of the extra smart features or style, in some cases, it might be worth it.

Summary

This was a short article, but I wanted to make sure you understood the top level difference between devices before I start going into more details on which ones to buy, how to customize your ecosystem, and more. Up next I will be discussing calories burned across activity trackers and fitness devices.

Choosing a Health and Fitness Ecosystem - Part 1 - The Basics

The Basics

If you don't have a naturally fit and healthy lifestyle, then it may be a struggle to figure out what you need to help motivate, track, analyze and progress. There fitness devices, smart devices with fitness features, apps for smart phones, websites, software, and much more. Not only that, each group has typically no less than a dozen or two companies / brands you can go with. This alone makes wanting to track what you do intimidating and can stop you before you get started.

So, let's cover a simple checklist to help you navigate this crazy world of health and fitness. As a note, I will be doing more in-depth posts on various options, ecosystems, and advice to blend your lifestyle into the ecosystem you choose.

What Do I Need to Get Started?

You need to first ask yourself, "Do I really care about tech and tracking as a way to motivate myself?" If the answer is no, stop reading and go get healthy! If the answer is yes, which is how it is for most people, then let's figure out what your initial motivation is.

Most people want to be healthier or improve something about how they look and/or feel. Some people also have major health issues that should be addressed. However, this isn't always enough to get going. Once you decide to get going, you then need a way to keep yourself motivated.

We'll start with the easiest and fastest growing motivator: Your job, school, or coach has laid down the hammer and said you either have to be more fit and healthy, or there is some awesome financial perk to being fit and healthy. This is the easiest to address. In most cases, especially with companies, there is already some tool that the company is going to use, such as Viverae or Shapeup. Almost all of these tools link to other fitness or tracking websites and electronics. The most common examples are MyFitnessPal and FitBit. So, if your company is your motivator, your ecosystem is simple: Use what they have, get a fitness tracking device that will connect to that ecosystem, and if you plan on tracking nutrition, either find a site that allows you to track what you eat or utilize the site of the fitness device you got, assuming they offer food tracking.

Let me give you a common scenario. Let's say your company uses Viverae. Their portal allows you to track sleep, steps, activities, and nutrition. Most companies who have this setup also offer company stores or discounts to activity trackers, the most common being FitBit. FitBit is a one-stop-shop for general activity, health and fitness tracking. For example, the FitBit Flex HR will track you steps, sleep and activities. This data will automatically (once you set it up) sync to the Viverae portal. In addition, FitBit's website and app allow you to track your nutrition as well. This also syncs with Viverae. You can also get a FitBit scale that will get your weight and other vitals. This can also sync with Viverae. You now have an all-inclusive ecosystem with minimal effort:

1. Viverae Portal to show all progress for whatever bonus you will get from your company
2. FitBit Device
3. FitBit Application and Website

That's it! It's not as intimidating when you see it that way.

But I Do More than Just Health and Fitness for Work, School, or a Team

That's fine. And maybe you already have fitness devices or activity trackers you currently use. This can be both an easier and more complicated scenario. If you are using one of the major brands, like Garmin, FitBit, Jawbone, Under Armour, Polar, or TomTom, then those companies already sync pretty well with other websites and portals. In regards to nutrition and health tracking, if you are using one of the major ones like MyFitnessPal, then that syncs with all of the major activity and fitness tracking brands. Therefore, for those who are doing multi-sport, activities other than walking/running, and so on, there is an easy way to sync everything up.

Now, the caveat here is that you may need to be using multiple sites and apps to see everything, but it's still rather minimal. Here is an example of a common scenario for someone who does multiple sports in addition to nutrition tracking.

1. Garmin VivoActive HR
2. MyFitnessPal
3. Withings Scale

This scenario is very common. And it's also the easiest to manage. Now, there are other sites you can sync your data to for a different or more in-depth look at your workout and health data, but that is completely optional. However, let's say you have a device that doesn't sync up well with other sites you want to use. There are websites out there that will sync with virtually anything that can give them data. In turn, they will then format that data and send it other sites you use. So, if your fitness device doesn't sync with MyFitnessPal, for example, you can use a site such as tapiriik.

In Summary

Ideally, you want to stick with an existing ecosystem, especially when it comes to devices. So, if your planned support group all use FitBit, and FitBit's devices meet your needs, don't look any further. If you have tons of friends who have all sorts of devices, find a site that can sync with all of them, and then get whatever device looks the nicest or is the easiest to use. Up next I'll cover the difference between an activity tracker and fitness device, and how to choose the right one for you.

Improving Your Running Speed

What is the best way to become a faster runner? Well, run faster of course. From a very generic standpoint, it actually is that simple. If all you did was keep trying to improve your time for a specific distance, you will start getting faster. However, there is usually a plateau point or a point that the gains are so minimal, they don't really seem to exist. Therefore, you will need to put a little more into this effort.

Intervals

Interval training basically handles it all. I will touch on some other stuff later, but it plays such a small role it's not even worth mentioning before I explain intervals. To start, you will want to incorporate 2 interval runs into your weekly running routine. You can decide when to do this, but I recommend not the day before or after your long run.

The purpose of intervals is to run shorter distances at a faster pace. For example, if you only run 5k races, then your interval sessions will probably only total a couple miles. So, you may run a bunch of 200m sprints, with 50m recovery walks or jogs in between each sprint. If your current 5k race pace is 10 min/mile, then you will probably try and shoot for your 200m time to be in line with maybe an 8:30- 9 min pace. You can of course go as fast as your body will let you without getting hurt, but I am trying to be conservative here. So, this 9 min pace turns out to be about a 1 min 8 second 200m sprint (200m is 1/8 of a lap at a track, 400m is a lap or a quarter of a mile).

On your other interval day you may want to do a mix of 200, 400, and 800m sprints, with maybe 50, 100, and 400m recovery walks or jogs. Then, after doing this consistently for a while, you will start noticing your mile time drop significantly. The change doesn't happen over night, but most people start seeing noticeable changes in speed within 4-6 weeks after incorporating the intervals into their current schedule.

You still need to do your pace runs and long runs, so you will have to fit the intervals into that mix.

Weight

Weight is an awkward variable that doesn't really play a lot in your speed unless you are already getting into the professional level or you are starting from scratch and are overweight. If you are conditioned to run a certain pace at your current weight, and shave off a significant amount of weight, you should naturally become faster, because you have less weight you are carrying. For example, a 300lb person running a 12 min mile could potentially see their mile time drop to 10 min if they dropped to the low to mid 200's. However, this assumes all other things stay constant; which is almost never the case.

Slow vs. Fast Twitch Muscles

Let's face it, some people were designed to be short distance runners, and others long distance runners. Speed for these 2 types of runners depend on different things; fast twitch and slow twitch. The goods news is that the body is usually pretty balanced on slow and fast twitch muscles. This means most people are capable of sprinting a short distance at a pretty fast pace for a short period of time; and likewise, can run a much longer distance at a much slower pace for a much longer duration. Slow twitch muscles are more geared toward endurance, as they fire slower, thus allowing better use of oxygen consumption. The key here is your fast twitch fibers.

There are two types of fast twitch, Type IIa and Type IIb. The key to improving speed revolves mainly around the Type IIa, which combines the use of aerobic and anaerobic metabolism. You can pretty much call this a sort of hybrid twitch fiber, as it's basically a mix of slow and fast twitch.

Performing intervals for a cumulatively longer distance allows you to improve the efficiency of these fibers. Therefore, as you improve, they are more efficient at fuel consumption, thus allowing you to run at a faster pace for a longer distance.

Summary

There is a lot more to running fast. But this hopefully wets your whistle and gets you interested. There is a lot of science and many more details behind each thing I mentioned above, so feel free to learn more. Have fun, run safe, and speed things up!

On the right track

I accomplished my goal last week; I exercised 3 times. Since I have been out of it for a bit now, I was a little sorer than expected, otherwise I would have gone for a 4th workout. For the most part, I made sure to log my foods. This weekend was a bit tough, but my goal right now is to log 5/7 days, which I did accomplish,

I missed my workout yesterday because I was busy painting and shoveling ice, and I am extremely sore right now. However, tomorrow I will be back into the swing of things. Overall I am doing well, but I can still do a lot better. However, I am very optimistic and progress is progress. Good luck to everyone out there striving towards their goals!

Nike Apps (for iPhone)

I had done a post a while back on NTC (Nike Training Club) and I figured it was time to just talk about Nike's other app offerings for iOS.

• Nike+ Running (Free)
• Nike+ Fuel (Free)
• Nike Training Club (Free)

As you can see, the theme here is "Free". For now, I have a review on Nike Training Club you can check out.

The main reason for bringing up Nike+ is that it's still a very strong community and they have great tools to really help people succeed. There are tons of alternatives out there, and yes, Nike+ isn't as much of a focus anymore since Nike discontinued the FuelBand and there hasn't been as much focus on Nike+ from Nike.

So let's dive in! The main reason I like these apps is because they are really well built and useful. Aside from being required to create a Nike+ account, there really isn't any downside I can find, unless you are someone that needs extremely detailed statistics. Nike has designed their apps more around the idea of social fitness and the average user. This means that someone just starting out won't get overwhelmed by too many features and screens. In addition, the learning curve is fairly flat, so if you know how to use your iPhone, you can easily use these apps.

The other reason is that I love the way Nike has built the social and rewards aspect so fluidly into their apps and site. One of the hardest things for people to do is stick with a plan to improve fitness, have a healthy lifestyle, achieve a fitness goal, or the like. One of the easiest solutions is to take the journey with someone, which is easy to do with Nike+. You can setup goals, challenges, and share your progress.

In regards to additional tracking, you can link your Nike+ account to other 3rd party sites / apps; some popular ones include MyFitnessPal, Garmin, TomTom, Apple Health, Google Fit, and more.

So, now for a brief overview of each app, which I will have follow-up posts on more details for Running and Fuel.

Nike+ Running

This is basically your standard app that allows you to track you run; indoor or outdoors. You get standard information which is very important to beginner or seasoned runners / walkers. First off, you will be able to track your distance, total time, and average pace. In additional, you will see your total count of runs, total miles overall, Fuel Points, and how you rank compared to friends (assuming you use the social piece).

One thing I always loved was how you could integrate your music into your run. You can create a Pace Station which allows you have you music sync up to your pace to keep you motivated and consistent. This is partnered through Spotify. Or you can just select a playlist you already have.

During your run you will get alerts, such as each mile completed, as well as be able to see your current distance, average pace, heart rate if you have a bluetooth HR monitor, and elapsed time. You will also see what song is playing and have the ability to change tracks.

Once completed, you can add a picture if you want to make the session more memorable. For example, if you are running a race, you could add a finish line selfie. Finally, after your run, you will see a map of the course you ran/walked, total time, average pace, elevation gain, average heart rate if you used a HRM, how you felt after the run, the temperature, and the current mileage on your shoes. You can also share your session with all of the popular media sites.

I want to mention that if you are using a FuelBand or an iPod nano, you can utilize this for indoor running. Now, it is not the most accurate, but you can get a foot pod which is surprisingly accurate for tracking. However, it's best for steady paces, and does not do well with large fluctuations in pace. Interval training works well though.

I also have to mention Apple Watch. You basically have the same functionality, but on your watch. As with most apps, you will need your phone with you for GPS and HRM.

Nike+ Fuel

If you still have a Nike FuelBand, then you use this app to sync all of your information. As a note, I am pretty sad Nike got out of the tech arena, as the FuelBand and their GPS watch really set the tone for the current wearables market today. Anyway, the app is very standard for any activity tracker; shows you steps, activity levels throughout the day, and your Fuel Points. You can view extra detail on your activity level as well; viewing day, week, month or year. You can view your progress, how you are doing on your goals that you defined, and how you are doing versus others. In addition, you get social updates your friends. You can also see you summary of all of your training sessions. This app integrates with NTC for activities. In addition, you can use your iPhone 5 or later if you don't have a FuelBand. You pretty much track what Nike calls Nike+ Sessions.

Nike+ Training Club - NTC

As I noted above, you can read my full review on this app. Basically, it's a fitness trainer on your phone. The app includes workout plans for all types of goals and personal schedules  (I love the 30 minute workouts). The app syncs with your music, gives you alerts and counts reps for you. In addition, if you aren't sure how to do a move, there is a video for every move to show you proper form and technique. There are tons of paid apps out there, and yes, there are many apps you can customize your workouts to your heart's content, but there are still few apps that offer such a solid and well rounded set of workouts for FREE! I still use NTC a bunch, but being a triathlete, I typically use apps that allow for fully customized workouts, such as Fitness Builder.

As you can see, Nike really offers a 1-stop shop for anyone who wants to get fit and healthy, or for anyone who is seasoned and needs solid and reliable tools. Enjoy!

Now for the Kick Start

Last week when I said I was going to try and do some sort of workout in between cooking, I was successful! I didn't do much; some push-ups, crunches, and seated dips. But it was better than my usual nothing and I was really proud of myself.

I didn't get any other workouts in over the weekend, but I made sure to be pretty active. Although I was more active on Sunday, I somehow met my step goal for Saturday but not Sunday. At some point I'll have to figure this out. 

This week is going to be a big week for me. I have two major goals: get no less than 3 workouts in, and start weaning myself off of soda, minus the occasional rum and coke. 

Another upcoming goal is going to be to start getting a minimum number of steps per day, which will force me to at least run most days, if not every day. Hope everyone is going to have a great week and hope everyone enjoyed Super Bowl weekend!

Progress

I weighed myself this morning, with my eating being completely out of whack lately. To my surprise, my scale said I was down 2.2 pounds. Even though the quality of food has been poor overall, the quantity has been down a lot. So, as usual, it always goes back to calories in versus calories out. 

However, as one would expect, I have been extra sluggish and despite my lack of sleep, I have been more tired during the day than I usually would with more nutritious foods.

Either way, I am trying to make sure I am logging my food. I need to go back and update some meals, as laziness and being tired from the day has caused me to have to alter some of my dinners that I had pre-entered.

I really want to get some sort of basic workout in tonight, even if it’s just some push-ups, pull-ups, wall sits, and lunges. To try and avoid my usual excuses of “lack of time”, “tired” and “busy”, I plan on doing some of the workout while the mushroom and goat cheese calzones cook. And once dinner is completed, I will finish up my workout and then eat dinner. I got this!

The Road Ahead

Life is full of twists and turns. You never know what is going to come your way and derail you from everything; not just health and fitness. However, success comes from picking yourself up from these challenges and moving forward. True success comes from turning these challenges into opportunities and executing on them.

I cannot say I have done this too well. I typically get going, fall, dust myself off, walk it off, and try to get going again. The last 2 years have been one fall after another and I have spiraled further and further down the rabbit hole. Realization is only part of the path to move forward; acceptance and moving passed this is the other piece. I have made one excuse after another, and never fully accepted everything. I have now and cannot wait to move forward.

So what does all of this mean? Well, I am not going to go cold turkey and set myself up for failure, that’s for sure. Right now it’s all about incremental change and improvements. I’ll be starting with getting myself healthy again. This means getting more sleep, a better eating routine, logging my meals consistently, and getting in some workouts each week.

As I have in the past, I will be keeping track of my progress through blog posts to help keep myself accountable and hopefully, if anyone out there is struggling through hardships, you might find something useful from what I am learning or doing. This is going to be a great year!