Using Your Fitness Tracker to Your Advantage

    I’ve been using FitBit products for the past three years. I started with the ChargeHR and upgraded to the Blaze after falling in love! Aside from keeping myself accountable to my recommended 10,000 steps per day...here’s four ways I use my FitBit to my advantage (and you can too!).

1. Better HIIT Training
   

    We all know I’m obsessed with high-intensity-interval training, I won’t bore you with the details again (but for real, it’s the closest thing to a quick fix we’ve got). Using the heart rate feature on my Blaze allows me to maximize my time during these workouts. A HIIT workout is characterized by periods of really intense work followed by a period of active recovery. Using a perceived rate of exertion scale to measure the intensities is good, but using your heart rate is great! As I get further into my workout my perceived rate of exertion increases obviously because I’m tired! But this isn’t making my workout as productive as it can be! I start my workout saying “okay, I’m going to run at a 8/10 for 4 minutes and then recover at 5/10 for 2 minutes”. That goes great, but then I start to get tired and the speed that my body was running (or biking, swimming, etc.) at “an 8” at the beginning of the workout is no longer the same speed as it was at the beginning...while I’m still working hard, it’s not consistent and not the most reliable, making results take longer and frustration in the long run! Using your heart rate to measure your intensity in a HIIT workout is more reliable and accurate, leading to faster results! So what went from a convoluted, inconsistent workout now can become a productive, focused workout. Using your heart rate to measure intensity is easy! Let’s do it together:

Subtract your age from 220 to get your maximum heart rate.
    220-23=197

Calculate your resting heart rate by counting your heart beats per minute when you are at rest, such as first thing in the morning. It's usually somewhere between 60 and 100 beats per minute for the average adult.
Your FitBit measures your resting heart rate, yay for no extra math! My resting heart rate is 50 bpm. (If your resting heart rate isn’t in between that 60 to 100 bpm, don’t worry! Age, fitness level, and gender all affect it. Check with your doctor if you’re concerned!)

Calculate your heart rate reserve (HRR) by subtracting your resting heart rate from your maximum heart rate.
    197-50=147

Multiply your HRR by 0.65 (65 percent). Add your resting heart rate to this number.
    (147)(0.65)=95
    95+50=145 bpm

Multiply your HRR by 0.85 (85 percent). Add your resting heart rate to this number.
    (147)(0.85)=125
    125+50=175 bpm


The first number is what your heart rate should be around during the “recovery” phase. The second number is what your heart rate should be around during the “high intensity” phase.

So, I hit the track or the treadmill, warm-up and then aim to keep my heart rate around 175 bpm for 4 minutes and then recover for 2 minutes trying to keep my heart rate around 145 bpm...all keeping track by just looking at my wrist, easy!

2. Community    
    FitBit does an awesome job of connecting people with similar goals through their community page and blogs. Groups for running, weight loss, weight lifting, etc. provide a place for inspiration and advice. Being able to see similar people going through the same journey can be motivating. Keep up with those and you’ll never be short of #fitspo (aside from here at TheFitGirls365)

3. Challenges
    Going further into the community FitBit provides are the step challenges you can challenge your friends to! Challenge yourself and your gal pals to see who can get the most steps in one day, a weekend, or the week! They’ve recently launched “adventures” which are races to see who can reach a set amount of steps first and you’re rewarded along the way by unlocking stops along the way! A friend and I just recently completed the NYC Marathon adventure and every few thousand steps or so we were able to look at a new picture of the course...so cool!  Use these challenges to keep yourself accountable to you and your friends! And they’re a super fun way to reward getting your steps in! A little friendly competition never hurt anyone!  

4. Calorie, hydration, and step tracking to stay accountable.
    The FitBit app is a one stop shop for all things when it comes to keeping accountable! A vast database of food to track caloric intake and percentage of macronutrients to maintain a balanced diet. A straightforward hydration record to make sure your body is well hydrated. And of course, step counting to make sure you’re active throughout the day!

Healthy lifestyle is achieved outside of the gym and a FitBit is a great tool I like to use to stay accountable. Get creative with the tools you have, ladies!

Xx J