By Chad Kufen
I’ve always agreed that motivation comes in all shapes and sizes, but I never thought it would come in a watch! Well, that was until I was asked about the Vivofit activity tracker. To be honest, when I first looked into activity trackers I thought to myself, “Why this would ever be important to anyone? Just get out there and move.” After doing some research, however, I’ve learned that there is a great need for such a device, not only for the inactive, but for the overactive athlete as well.
The Garmin Vivofit is essentially a pedometer and a watch. Its basic functions are to track your activity and then motivate you to keep moving. It records daily steps taken, calories burned and heart rate. One of the cool things about the Vivofit that separates it from other devices is its ability to learn your normal activity levels and set goals within your own range. Other devices require you to manually set goals, which often results in goals that are either too high or too low due to lack of information or unrealistic expectations. In addition, the Vivofit conveniently displays your level of activity throughout the day. A red bar shows when you have been inactive for too long. To reset this bar, simply get up and move. The bar will then drop as your activity level increases. This is especially good for those of us who spend a lot of time sitting in front of a computer during the day: It will remind you to get up and take a walk around the office.
The Vivofit tracks more than just your activity. It also contains a sleep monitor, which is not overly sophisticated, but will track your movements while sleeping. It also can track your heart rate by adding an ANT+ compatible heart rate strap.
All of this information can be easily viewed on Garmin Connect, Garmin’s online fitness community Web page. This site allows you to quickly sync data collected from any of your Garmin devices to check your stats and daily accomplishments. Syncing is as easy as connecting to a Bluetooth device, such as your smartphone. Once you have paired the devices, you just push and hold the button on the Vivofit to send your daily information to the Web. Being able to view this information in charts and graphs allows a better understanding of your progress.
Another impressive quality of this pedometer is its battery life of one year, while running on only two replaceable CR1632 watch batteries. This battery life, combined with its being waterproof, will allow you to wear it continuously and therefore receive constant feedback of your activity.
Even though this device has been marketed primarily to the inactive or mildly active individual, I found it useful for myself, someone who was training for Ironman Lake Placid. The first week I had this device (remember, I was a little skeptical at the time) was the week prior to my big race so I was not worried about being active. In fact, my goal was the opposite: to rest as much as possible. I found it extremely helpful to monitor how much time I was spending on my feet. I strived to keep the little red bar on the screen for as long as possible. It’s truly amazing how much distance you cover during a normal day.
So whether it’s race week or just a normal week of training, it’s great to know how much distance you are accumulating between those key workouts. You know … the time you are supposed to be recovering. Unfortunately, I have not been successful in using this on the weekends to get out of my household chores and commitments.
In summary: The Garmin Vivofit is a cool watch/pedometer with interchangeable bands that will track your activity, and give you the motivation you need to meet your goals of a healthier lifestyle.
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Chad Kufen is manager of Inside-Out Sports with over 20 years of experience in the retail and customer service industry. He is an accomplished athlete who now spends most of his time training and competing passionately for long-distance triathlons. He trains and works in Cary, N.C., while residing in Raleigh, N.C., with his wife and two dogs. Chad can be reached at chad@insideoutsports.com.
