Trying out the Polar A360

I have used polar products since the beginning of my weight loss journey, starting with the Polar Ft40 back when I very first started losing weight.  I think that accurately being able to track how many calories I burn while working out has really kept me on track with my weight loss.  

Polar recently came out with a Polar A360 watch that I got to test out and I wanted to share my experience with you! The A360 is Polar's first wrist-based heart rate monitor that is water proof and offers 24/7 activity tracking.  It has smartwatch features (like connecting it to your phone to be notified if you are getting calls or messages) and has a color touch screen.

Basically, it's pretty fancy and pretty cool ;)  I like it because it offers the step tracking AND an accurate heart rate monitor for tracking your workouts.  It even tracks when you haven't moved for awhile and will tell you that you should probably get up and move some!!! I really like this feature for when I'm at work and have been sitting for too long: it's a great reminder to get up, fill up my water bottle, walk to the shredder, just do SOMETHING to get moving a little bit around the office and not stay stuck on my butt for another hour!

I also really like that there is no chest strap required, it makes tracking your workouts super easy and super convenient.  Sometimes I like to go for a walk around town during my half hour lunch break from work.  I don't even change out of my stockings or skirt before I go, I just slip some socks and sneakers on right over top...so there is no way I would want to spend time to hook up a chest strap to measure my heart rate for this little walk either.  With the A360 though all I have to do is press two buttons and it will start tracking my heart rate during the activity and I can check to see my calorie burn at the end of the walk!

The watch has different settings built in for different types of workouts as well. This past weekend my sister was in town and we are both very much into fitness these days and didn't have much planned for Saturday so we decided to go to my gym for awhile together. We ended up staying there for about two hours!!! We did a bunch of different workouts: I first set the watch to track me while we did some weight lifting.

I'm really trying to grow some baby biceps these days ;)  And I could check the burn at the end of the weight training session:

Next we went to a Zumba class and I tracked on the watch using the group exercise setting...and then finally I ended with a little session on the stair master because I had a LOT of extra goodies on Christmas and felt the need for a good sweat!!!  The watch also keeps track of what heart rate zones you are in while you workout: I was in the middle zone for most of my stair master segment with some good old fashion steady rate cardio.

 At the end of the day it's cool to be able to look back and see everything I have done.  Saturday I was well above my normal activity goal: I was up to 205%!!! I guess that's what two hours in the gym will do for you haha.  It also shows how many steps I walked that day, miles, and total calorie burn for the day as well. 

If you are really into tracking your activity you can also go online  to the Polar Flow website to see your daily activities online or even set it up on the Polar Flow mobile app.  You can use the app to track your sleep as well.  Personally I just love how much data you can see on the watch itself though, so I didn't even use the online service or app much.   

The only thing I do NOT like about the watch is that it is a new product so there are no options out currently for having a fancier strap for the watch, current options are only rubber in black or white.  I work in a formal office and wear dress clothes every day and sometimes I just feel a little silly wearing a rubber activity tracker with my formal clothes. With all the cool features the watch has though, I'm sure I can get over the vanity of how it matches with my outfits haha.

If you are interested in checking out any Polar products, the code POLARFITBLOG is still good until 12/31/15 for 20% off any heart rate monitor or activity tracker (The A360 is excluded since it is brand new) at Polar.com! 

This post is sponsored by FitFluential on behalf of Polar.