Monday, April 15, 2013

Product Review: Nike Fuel Band

The ability to measure your progress toward a fitness goal is pivotal.  Today, I’ll review a product that can help you do this in a big way; the Nike Fuel Band.

The Nike Fuel Band is a tiny device that you wear around your wrist like a watch.  It contains a sports tested accelerometer that measures your physical activity.  It gives you a number of useful measures: including the number of steps you walk per day, the number of calories you have burned from physical activity, and most importantly, your Nike Fuel for that day. 

Nike Fuel is a universal metric of physical activity.  You set a goal for Nike Fuel points in a day, mine is 3000.  Your Fuel Band converts all of your physical activity into Nike Fuel points, including walking, running, weight lifting, basketball, and all other sports and activities.  The band has a series of LED light that turn from red to yellow and then to green as you progress toward your Nike Fuel goal for the day.  When you hit your goal, it lets you know.

Pros
1) This device measures all of your physical activity, not just your steps. This gives you a much better idea of your total activity.

2) You wear the Fuel Band like a watch.  This is a huge upgrade over most pedometers that you have to clip onto your belt.  I can’t tell you how many of my clients have lost their pedometer because it has fallen off of their waist at some point in the day.  In most cases, it is never found.

3) The Fuel Band plugs directly into your computer’s USB port to recharge and upload data.

4) You have free access to the Nike Fuel website, which keeps track of your activity and allows you to set goals.  The website is awesome.

5) Very good battery life.  In my experience, it lasts 5 or more days without a charge and once plugged in, recharges very quickly. 

6) It can store multiple day’s worth of data and then uploads automatically while charging.  Therefore, you don’t have to connect it to your computer every day.  Just charge it every week or so and your data will be uploaded.

7) It also tells the time.

Cons
1) The only con I can think of is that at $150, it is a bit more expensive than some of the other products on the market.

Would I Recommend the Nike Fuel Band?
Absolutely! Many of my clients have picked one up and they all love it as much as I do.  It will teach you a ton about your activity level.  You start to understand your patterns of physical activity.  You’ll be able to see which days of the week you consistently hit your goals, and which days you don’t.  When you come up with a plan to improve on the days that you miss, you can easily measure your progress.

It is very motivating as well.  I set a goal of 100 days of 3000 fuel points, which I’m proud to say that I hit! More than once, I was doing a few minutes of jumping jacks before I went to bed to make sure I hit my goal for the day.  My wife thought I was nuts, but once I set that goal; I wouldn’t go to bed until I hit it.

For my weight loss clients, I have them set a goal of 3000 Fuel points and 10,000 steps per day.

The Nike Fuel Band retails for $150 and you can pick it up on the Nike.com website.

Click here for more information or to pick one up.