Golfspy Dave’s Fitness Gadget Review: Nike+ Fuelband SE

[GolfSpy Dave]

Dave's Fitness Gadget Review: Nike+ Fuelband SE

http://www.nike.com/us/en_us/c/nikeplus-fuelband

 

How's That New Year's Resolution Going?

As we approach the end of January, we enter the time when 84.2% of people who made fitness resolutions on January 1^st have already given that resolution up. I totally made up that number, but we all know that resolutions fall away when put to the steel of our daily lives. No one sets out to fail, but changing one's fitness patterns is difficult.

 

How do I know this? Have you been reading my fitness thread? That first post is a testament to the challenges of getting fit by changing one's exercise and eating habits. It may also be the longest single post by word count in any MGS thread. New update coming this Friday by the way.

 

One of the things that I have come to realize in the fitness game is that one needs help to be successful. I have been fortunate enough to find my personal trainer, Charles Burton. Charles has guided me out of the 200's and hopefully toward a fitter future. But working consistently with a personal trainer requires time, and no small amount of money. Not everyone who wants to be fit has those resources. Desire, yes. A quality trainer, excess capital, and “leisure” time, maybe not. So what can you turn to for help? Electronics, of course.

 

Is there anything these days that electronics don't help us with? Need to get someplace? GPS in the phone to the rescue. Want to find a tasty new IPA? There's an app for that. Want that Hot Pocket ready in under 3 minutes? Fire up the Science Oven! The human relationship with technology is nothing new, but the power of our tech tools has exploded in the last decade. Processors are getting smaller and smaller, reaching the point now where they are wearable. Wearable tech to help you get fit, that's the Nike+ Fuelband SE.

 

 

A Fitness Bracelet That Does Something

I have owned a number of bracelets that supposedly enhance fitness and health. I have a cool solid copper one, one with magnets and ions, and another one that uses holograms for fitness. The makers of these bracelets make lots of claims, and I believed them enough to buy them, but I am not sure I ever read any real science backing the claims. Many of us want fitness help so desperately that we are willing to believe in shaky science, provided it makes getting fit as easy as putting on a bracelet.

 

 

The Fuelband is different.

Nike doesn't claim that the Fuelband will make you fitter by ions, or magnets. Instead, the Nike Fuelband helps your fitness by tracking your movements and motivating you to move more. Movement. Move more. Over the course of my rather intensive fitness project, I have really come to believe that fitness is a simple equation of calories and activity. When my weight loss fell off over December, it directly correlated to lower activity rates and increased calories. My exposure to magnetic fields and ions remained unchanged.

 

 

Nike+ Fuelband SE: The Trainer on Your Wrist

The Fuelband fits into the exercise side of the calorie/exercise equation. First of all, it is able to log steps, calories, Nike Fuel, and even tell the time. If you want to log 10,000 steps a day, the Fuelband will let you know when you are there. You can also turn on or off the different measurements via a simple interface with your phone or computer. Initially, I set mine to Fuel/Calories/Time, but then I changed calories for steps because the calorie number was not one that I could easily interpret in terms of goal setting. Steps were easier to target. The really helpful measured matrix though is Nike Fuel.

 

 

What Is Nike Fuel?

NikeFuel is a single, universal way to measure all kinds of activities—from your morning workout to your big night out. Uniquely designed to measure whole-body movement no matter your age, weight or gender, NikeFuel tracks your active life.

 

That definition is a little abstract, but accurate. Don't ask me for the units that go with Nike Fuel. Is it calories/minute/pound/age/number of dogs owned? I don't know. What I do know is that as you move, you accrue Nike Fuel, and as movement intensity increases, so do Fuel generation rates. Although it sounds like you are earning the Nike Fuel, it actually makes more sense thinking from the burning fuel direction. You set a Nike Fuel target for your day, and then move yourself until you reach it.

 

 

Motivation and Rewards

You are in charge of setting your Nike Fuel goal for your day. I chose 3000 because that seemed to put me above a lot of people in the 40-49 age bracket where my body currently resides. Ah ego. Once you set that goal, you just clip on the bracelet and go about your day. Want to check progress, or the time, then just press the single button on the band and the display lights up to let you know the details. Just press it again if you need to cycle through the data points.

 

 

Side Track: Comfort

Before we get into the discussion of my Nike Fuel experiences, let's talk about the comfort of the Fuelband. There are three sizes available, based upon your wrist circumference. My measurement put me at the edge of the middle and large size. This would be a bit annoying except the band has some easily adjustable links that allow you to customize the size. With the large link, the band fit just a bit loose, while with the small one, it conformed to my wrist. The band itself is not very soft or flexible, so you do want it to be set to a comfortable size. I wore it tight and loose for a few days, and went with the looser setting. Once sized, I really never really noticed it was on.

 

 

GOLF NOTE: The band is very light, and I did not ever notice it when playing golf. Not even when putting with my glove off. I am not a watch wearer either, so wrist ornamentation is not the norm. I think that speaks to the comfort. Swing away and earn that fuel.

 

 

Back to Motivation and Fuel

For me, reaching my fuel goal really became a motivator to move around. It also made me realize some activity facts about my life. Working with Charles or playing golf earns lots of Nike Fuel. Sitting on the couch, or typing on the computer, not so much. On days when I trained, played golf, then walked my three miles, I smashed my 3000 goal. On days when I wrote, or drank beer and watched college bowl games for exercise, the fuel count remained low.

 

 

The Fuelband has made me do funny things to reach that number. More than once, I have gone out to the garage in the evening to do “aerobics” when I am a few hundred Fuel short of the goal. If I was not using the Fuelband, there is no way that I would be running in place in the garage for 15 minutes at the end of my day. It motivates you to reach that goal. I am usually focused on the total daily goal, but the band can motivate you to move more each hour if you want. Just set the reminder and you are ready to win the hour.

 

Badges!

One of the bonus features of the associated Fuelband app is that it awards badges for your Nike Fuel accomplishments. Beat your daily goal by 1.5x? Have a “water” badge. Double your daily goal? That's an “ice” badge for you. They are silly, and in the grand scheme of the universe, worthless, but they did motivate me. I was at 5500 one day, and realized that I only needed 500 more to double. I pushed myself to be more active to reach that 6000 mark. Getting to 5500 took a lot of work that day, the band and badge made me work more.

 

 

My trainer Charles has also been wearing a Fuelband SE for the past month or so and he LOVES IT! Right away, he saw the motivation that could come with the generation of Nike Fuel, and he had fun earning it. One day, he had to sit through a day of PGA training and his only complaint was that his Nike Fuel count was so low from just sitting. We have motivated each other to earn Fuel/badges, often comparing notes about the amount earned in different activities. In the land of fitness, I trust Charles' insights implicitly, and he thinks that there is a huge benefit to lashing a Nike+ Fuelband to your wrist. He has said more than once that the Fuelband is a great way for him to keep his clients motivated.

 

 

Cost

The app is free, but the Nike+ Fuelband will set you back $149. It's no small investment, but it does work as a motivator for movement. I could say something sappy about how much is your health worth to you, but I won't. What I will say is that the $149 equates to about 2-3 hours with a personal trainer. The band doesn't have the trainer's knowledge, of course, but it does push you to be more active like a trainer. You have probably spent that much money on the gym that you never have time to go to”. If you need motivation to increase your physical output, the Fuelband will work.

 

Other Nuts and Bolts

• Charges via USB and seems to go about a week on a full charge.
• Connects to phone via Bluetooth to sync Fuel
• Phone keeps a log of days/weeks/ months
• You can connect to friends through app/Nike site to see how they are doing
• Band comes with a few color choices along with limited metal editions
• Display does get washed out a bit in the sun, but reads excellent in shadow or lower light

 

Earn Some Fuel

Most of us really need motivation to get more active. That's what the Nike+ Fuelband SE is all about. You can't cheat the band, it knows how active you are. Follow the goals of the band, perhaps supplementing with a calorie counting app, and you have a concrete fitness plan. Don't be surprised if you come to look forward to increasing the line of lights on the bottom of the band as you approach your goal. When you reach your goal, the Fuelband plays a little animation for you as well. I thought of including a video of the animation, but really, you need to earn it to see it. Don't be surprised if putting on the Fuelband is the first thing you do in the morning, and taking it off the last thing you do at night. I do that to maximize my Nike Fuel, but really what I am doing is maximizing my activity. The band does its job.

 

[MmmmmmBuddy]

I love my FuelBand.. Had a pretty good year, until the sun quit showing itself in the Pacific Northwest.

 

[GolfSpy Dave]

I love my FuelBand.. Had a pretty good year, until the sun quit showing itself in the Pacific Northwest.

I have noticed that outdoor fuel builds up quicker than treadmill fuel.

[MmmmmmBuddy]

They made a change to the algorithm a few months back, and my fuel totals changed dramatically. Places more emphasis on total body movement, and less on arm movement.

[fozcycle]

Terrific Review Dave,  I have worn my Nike Fuel bad for over a year (my daughter gave it to me for my Birthday - Christmas Day 2012).

 

I use the Goal to "force" me to go that extra to meet it on a daily basis.