<p>fireandrain- very impressive!</p>
<p>The Vivofit is going to drop in price because the VIvosmart is now out. One of my friends who ran in Toronto has one and loves it. I’m waiting for DCRainmaker’s updated review on it.</p>
<p>Fireandrain - what a trooper! Thanks for sharing the outcome - sounds like it was a bear but you worked through it. Better you than me… 
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<p>Thanks for the link on the Vivofit Deb…I don’t have any type of “device” but am very curious about one. Not sure when I will bite the bullet on something and what it will be…I do like the idea of something I can wear all day and keep me moving, monitor how much I’m moving, </p>
<p>Kudos, fireandrain! </p>
<p>MOWC. Does she have the vivofit or the vivosmart? I have to replace my fitbit which was recalled.</p>
<p>I have Vivofit. My friend has Vivosmart. I love Vivofit but Vivosmart has more capabilities. However, it needs charging which Vivofit doesn’t. I believe Vivofit is better than FitBit because of the Garmin technology. I researched it a lot before I picked Vivofit. </p>
<p>NY Times has a new advanced 7 minute workout and an app (full disclaimer, I haven’t looked at the app) - to walk you through it. Looks intriguing! </p>
<p><a href=“The Advanced 7-Minute Workout - The New York Times”>http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/10/24/the-advanced-7-minute-workout</a></p>
<p>sabaray:</p>
<p>Whew. That is a tough 7 minute workout from Mark Verstaggen. Interesting that he’s using 30 second side planks and planks as the “rest” between exercises.</p>
<p>The second exercise – push up to plank row to burpee jump – has got to be brutal.</p>
<p>I’ve done the original 7-minute workout in two different airports. This new one appears to require weights, which I typically don’t have in my carry-on bag!</p>
<p>Evidently some folks were getting too comfortable doing the original workout and needed more of a challenge. I like planks but don’t know that I’d like them as a “rest” exercise. Whew is right. </p>
<p>I downloaded the “app” - it is a bookmark to the webpage on your homescreen. Voiceover to walk you through both workouts, which is good for someone like me who can’t walk and chew gum at the same time. </p>
<p>Kudos, fireandrain, on your achievement! Weights in your carryon…wonder what TSA would do with those! Weapon? </p>
<p>Thanks, MOWC. DH is suggesting I wait for the Iwatch. Thoughts?</p>
<p>I think the first exercise is really interesting. With the lunge stretch, the rotation stretch, and the rocking back to stretch the ankles/calf muscles, it’s a fairly comprehensive 30 second warm up.</p>
<p>Verstaggen is the guy who trained the German and US World Cup soccer teams. He’s a guru in the Boyle/Cosgrove circles and especially in training NFL players. They are all using core exercises as active rest between strength exercises. I’m going to give this workout a shot, but I generally prefer real rest between exercises and being fresh enough to give 100% to the core stuff. When I have tried this approach in the past, I end up doing really bad half-baked versions of the core exercises.</p>
<p>I’m not crazy about the bent-over rows (exercise #7). I always substitute 3-pt rows (hand on bench) to take the lower back out of this one. However, these will be done with relatively light DBs if you do the whole seven minutes with a single set of DBs The DB row will be the limiting factor on weight selection for me.</p>
<p>jym, I love Apple products but I am not a first adopter. The second-year model is either thinner/cheaper, or has more memory, and if there are any kinks or problems they’ve worked them out. I think the iWatch will do a lot more than just track your fitness – if you want something that connects to your phone and alerts you about texts or emails, then it’s probably worth paying the extra money, but if all you want is a fitness tracker, then the iWatch might be a lot more than you need.</p>
<p>I have the Fitbit now and it’s OK. I’m waiting to see the reviews for the Mio Fuse, which hasn’t been released yet – it is a fitness tracker plus heart-rate monitor, no strap needed. The reviews for the Vivofit on Amazon suggest there is something wrong with the band – lots of complaints that people lost it.</p>
<p>Problem with the iwatch for me is that it doesn’t have gps—you need to the iPhone 's gps. Plus the verdict isn’t in yet on the effectiveness of it as a hr monitor.</p>
<p>I haven’t any problems with my vivofit coming loose , although they are sending me (unsoilicited) a clasp for the band.</p>
<p>The Vivofit does need the little “keeper” which Garmin sends, or can be cheaply ordered from 3rd parties (a couple of dollars). It keeps the clasp from getting knocked loose. It’s a very minor problem and a simple fix. I’m had Vivofit since April (wear every day except when I was on the crutches and it didn’t work with them) my daughter and son in law got theirs in May. We are all happy with the product. Vivosmart will alert you to texts/emails. I don’t think I need that feature right now.</p>
<p>That clasp looks remarkably like the one I had so much trouble with on my fitbit.</p>
<p>And the problem with iPhone is that it does not have a GPS built in either. It uses the AGPS, so if you outside the phone coverage, you are out of luck (at least my 5 works in this way). Also, using the locator on your phone will eat into your data plan. The advantage is that could work better than a true GPS receiver in urban environments, where GPS satellite signals could be weak.</p>
<p>Glad to hear you are back to your routines, Sabaray! </p>
<p>Good fitness week for me–missed Monday (had minor surgery) but since then I did two workouts with the trainer–one was heavy duty TRX and the other was core and balance work with kettle bell swings in between. Also did a basic flow yoga classes and today, I had a crazy schedule and only had an hour to workout. Went to the gym and did 45 minutes on the elliptical (by the end I got it up to the highest level–which was tough). I’ll have to see if I can do the tread mill challenge. Downloaded the NY Times 7-minute exercise app. Will try those this weekend.</p>
<p>Don’t know if anyone is considering a Polar Flow activity monitor (wrist bracelet). I got one a few months ago after I lost my Fitbit. The Polar Flow gives you steps, calories, and other activity information (e.g., hours of sleep). You can pair the Flow with a Polar H7 bluetooth chest strap and get your heart rate. There’s also an iPhone app that gives you have access to all your info on your phone. Overall, I like it–the downside is you’ve got to charge it (every 5-6 days). Syncing with with the chest strap and the iPhone app should be easier than it is. Also, you have to estimate how many calories you burned for a specific activity unless you looked at the wrist band immediately before and afar your workout. I still wear my Polar F6 watch.</p>
<p>I hear you on those KB swings Idad–I hadn’t done them in a while and the ones I did on Thursday really got my heart rate going.</p>
<p>Did pilates, then took a barre class (different studio from the previous one I tried - I am a sucker for “first class free”). Wow, it was hard! </p>
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<p>My mistake was video’ing a couple sets and realizing that to make them look halfway decent, I’ve got to put 100% effort into accelerating the KB!</p>
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<p>I would spend a whole workout just doing lunges if I could get my hands on something like this. I’m so tired of wearing my strap! Truth be, I think it’s just old (probably almost five years old), and the elastic is wearing down and so the strap loosens up on me frequently and it loses the contact it needs to report the HR to my watch. </p>