1. Getting feedback for any activity is a powerful method for inspiring more effort and directing it towards your goals; these devices make it instant and accurate.
Our body gives us an amazing amount of instant fitness feedback, like temperature, heart rate, ability to breath, lift a weight… etc. but these devices allow users to actually convert those feelings into numbers, colors, etc. which makes it much easier to know where we are versus where we want to be. Heart rate tracking devices are very much the same as thermometers, scales, tape measures, etc. which are invaluable tools, only with our latest devices we get so much more data!
2. Tracking personal data over time has always been the best known way to make better decisions and accelerate progress and now it is automated.
Our minds are simply too distracted with all the other things in our life to be keeping track of all of our fitness information. Without that data we almost always make a biased decision to make ourselves feel better. We have all fabricated excuses like missing workout, quitting a workout early, etc. When you pop open your mobile app and see exactly what you did or didn’t do during that workout or last week or month, there is simply no hiding in excuses. The data isn’t biased or trying to tell you a story, it is just the facts. Seeing such reality is proven to motivate people.
- If you are a hyper competitive person. I define hyper competitive as being driven to “win” so much that you tend to do yourself harm, cheat others or miss the purpose of the challenge entirely. We have seen people take healthy things too far and it becomes counter productive, sometimes even dangerous. If this might be you, then get the heart rate monitor for your own education and goal progress, but don’t join the challenges.
- If you beat yourself up mentally. By this I mean a person that currently is really hard on themselves, talks down to themselves and would only use the personal data as proof of their ineptitude, laziness, etc. These phases of life can hit us all and exercise is in fact a ticket out of this bad feeling but this might not be the time to start such tracking. Unite is in the business of building confidence and uplifting people’s spirits so at this time just focus on enjoying the workouts, music and people.
- If you beat yourself up physically. Mental abuse is usually known to us, but some people just don’t seem to understand that there is such a thing as too much exercise or too intense a workout. Too intense is redlining without breaks. Too often is everyday doing intense and strength training workouts. Our culture has trained us that working harder and more often is always better but studies have shown that rest, recovery activities (yoga, foam rolling, walking), sleep and nutrition are so critical to building muscle, fitness and keeping ourselves injury free. If you are already working out a ton, then a challenge is not for you, however the heart rate tracking could be a great tool for keeping the intensity in check. With the instant feedback you don’t have to use it to go harder, in your case you can use it to keep your intensity in check and break your physical abuse habit finding balance. You just need to have the right self-awareness and coaching to be able to redirect your goals.
