4 ms·

Recently a got fairly basic, but fully functional smart/sports watch. It counts steps, heart rate, "intensity minutes", distance, GPS, etc. I got it because I

Recently a got fairly basic, but fully functional smart/sports watch. It counts steps, heart rate, "intensity minutes", distance, GPS, etc. I got it because I was hoping that having a neat gadget to track this stuff would help motivate me to get in those extra exercise minutes. It turns out that it works for me. Seeing the distance/step numbers go up satisfies the little "make graph go up" gremlin in my brain.

anonporridge 4y ago
I'm getting this effect even better now with smartwatch tracked runs and activities uploaded of Strava, which has a premium feature that tracks a "fitness score" alongside with a fatigue score, based on the intensity of the workouts you record. https://support.strava.com/hc/en-us/articles/216918477-Fitness-Freshness https://support.strava.com/hc/en-us/articles/216918477-Fitne... It's really motivating to see that number go up, or at least maintain it and build more area under the curve. The Strava social component is also motivating because it adds some accountability with friends seeing and liking your workouts, and then noticing if you stop.
kerpotgh 4y ago
[dead]
alpaca128 4y ago
It can definitely be motivating, though some features are more "one size fits all", like the intensity minute counter. I know a person who gets maybe one intensity minute per week when it should be 300+, simply because the heart rate is lower on average than the manufacturer expects. Meanwhile my count is usually doubled because it counts very intense minutes twice and 99% of the time I exceed the seemingly hardcoded threshold while doing sports.
- eminence32 4y ago
  Mine fortunately has an "automatic" mode for determining those thresholds, as well a way to manually configure the thresholds (which sounds like it would be useful for the two cases you mentioned)
SamPatt 4y ago
Even better than the step count is the resting heart rate. Mine went from mid 60s down to upper 40s within 6 months of getting my fitbit. I started hiking regularly, and seeing that number drop consistently felt rewarding. I did this when unemployed and hiked Arizona mountains almost daily, so this probably isn't typical, but it was part of a lifestyle shift towards fitness which has been wonderful.

anonporridge 4y ago

I'm getting this effect even better now with smartwatch tracked runs and activities uploaded of Strava, which has a premium feature that tracks a "fitness score" alongside with a fatigue score, based on the intensity of the workouts you record. https://support.strava.com/hc/en-us/articles/216918477-Fitness-Freshness https://support.strava.com/hc/en-us/articles/216918477-Fitne... It's really motivating to see that number go up, or at least maintain it and build more area under the curve. The Strava social component is also motivating because it adds some accountability with friends seeing and liking your workouts, and then noticing if you stop.

kerpotgh 4y ago

[dead]

alpaca128 4y ago

It can definitely be motivating, though some features are more "one size fits all", like the intensity minute counter. I know a person who gets maybe one intensity minute per week when it should be 300+, simply because the heart rate is lower on average than the manufacturer expects. Meanwhile my count is usually doubled because it counts very intense minutes twice and 99% of the time I exceed the seemingly hardcoded threshold while doing sports.

eminence32 4y ago
Mine fortunately has an "automatic" mode for determining those thresholds, as well a way to manually configure the thresholds (which sounds like it would be useful for the two cases you mentioned)

SamPatt 4y ago

Even better than the step count is the resting heart rate. Mine went from mid 60s down to upper 40s within 6 months of getting my fitbit. I started hiking regularly, and seeing that number drop consistently felt rewarding. I did this when unemployed and hiked Arizona mountains almost daily, so this probably isn't typical, but it was part of a lifestyle shift towards fitness which has been wonderful.