The following post is sponsored by FitFluential, LLC on behalf of Polar. As always, all opinions are my own. Stay tuned for a giveaway at the bottom of this post where you have a chance to win a Polar Loop of your own!
Polar Loop Review
Having a goal motivates me. It doesn’t have to be a big, lofty goal. Small goals add up to some pretty amazing accomplishments, right?
When I received the opportunity to try out the Polar Loop, an activity tracker that notices every jump, step and run, I was very intrigued and immediately agreed! I had a feeling it would motivate me to move more throughout the day and I was absolutely right. That is my favorite thing about the Polar Loop: It’s motivating!
I see so many people at my gym wearing fitness trackers and I’ve heard more than a few of my clients rave about them, so I couldn’t wait to set up my Loop and get moving when it arrived in the mail.
Set Up + Battery Life
A little tip: When fitting the Polar Loop to your wrist, check out the instructional How To video online.
Though directions are included, I found it much easier to watch someone go through the steps of fitting the Polar Loop to their wrist than figuring it out with the illustrations.
Once I had the Polar Loop fit to my wrist, I charged it using the USB cord that came with the Loop and set up an account on Polar.com. An important side note: The Polar Loop has great battery life and charges quickly! I figured I would need to charge it at the end of each day, but it lasts several day without needing a charge.
When I created an account on the Polar Loop site, I loved checking out the map of the world to see what people around me were doing! I zoomed in on Florida and enjoyed looking at the activities my fellow Floridians were completing.
You can also set your profile to private (which is what I did) if you’d like so no one can see what you’re doing and you can be oh-so-sneaky. Or, you can allow only certain people to see your profile by adding them as “followers” which I think is a great way to sync up with friends and family members to motivate each other to move more throughout the day.
Once the Polar Loop is set up, you can press the button on the front of the tracker to view the LED display that flips between showing you the time of day, calories burned, total steps and your daily activity goal.
Polar Flow App + Inactivity Alerts
The Polar Loop can also connect to the Polar Flow (free) app and give you real-time updates about your movement and activity levels for the day.
Here’s an example of the breakdown:
One thing I really liked about the Loop was the inactivity alerts! If you’ve been sitting for too long, an alert will let you know and that was a big motivator for me to get off my butt and walk around or move even if it was for only five minutes or so.
Adding Your Heart Rate Into The Equation
The Polar Loop does not come with a heart rate monitor so this is an added cost if you want it, but it’s a great way to get accurate data about your overall calories burned and how hard you are working at certain times during the day. The Polar Loop retails for $109.95 and the heart rate monitor is an additional fee, but even without the heart rate monitor the Loop can tell the difference between activities like sleeping, walking, running and more. It’s also safe to use in the pool!
What Trends Did I Notice?
Some days it was really easy for me to hit my activity goals. On Saturdays, Ryan and I often work out and then take Sadie for a long hike after breakfast, so meeting my activity goals on Saturdays is rather easy. (And if I incorporate running into my workouts, it’s much easier to hit my goals!) On other days when I am working from home or even days when I am personal training, it’s a little harder because I am often sitting or standing around and only walking from one place in the gym to the next.
Since my hometown is not very walkable, the best way I found for me to hit my activity goals was to increase the distance of Sadie’s walks!
So, I think it’s safe to say Sadie is the Polar Loop’s number one fan.
On days when I might be more inclined to play fetch with Sadie in the backyard, if I was under my goals on the Loop, I’d leash her up for a walk instead so she wasn’t the only one getting exercise.
Polar Loop Giveaway
Now here is your chance to win a Polar Loop of your own!
To enter this giveaway, please comment on this post and tell me what feature of the Polar Loop intrigues you most. Are you most excited to see your overall activity for the day tracked? Are you interested in your sleep data? Do the inactivity alerts intrigue you? Let me know!
I will randomly select a winner on Friday.
Good luck!
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The calorie counter definitely grabs my attention! I would love to use this when I’m working out.
i would definitely love to track my activity level..as i stay in Chicago, its really getting harder to increase my activity this winter…adding Polar would easily help me up my workout in a day…
I would be all about tracking my sleep habits!
I would love the activity tracking info. That is the main area I need to work on in my physical health as I feel my diet is pretty good… but I am extremely lacking in activity and have less energy than many 80 year olds I know, so I need all the motivation I can get to do any form of activity, because even basic daily activities seem exhausting to me… ie: get up, get dressed, brush teath, have breakfast, and I’m ready for a nap…. and I’m only 23! Being active is really hard for me, but I think that perhaps the more I do the more I will be able to tolerate over time! I just want to have energy to live!
I have an office job so the inactive alert would be great! Knowing I need to get up and move around while I’m busy and not paying attention to that would be so helpful!
Oh my gosh this is exactly what I am looking for to motivate me to move more at work!!
I would LOVE to keep track of my activity level during the day!
The sleep data! Since I have a little guy, I”m very curious how much actual “sleep” I get!
I would love to see my “inactivity” gaps and my sleep patterns!
I would definitely take advantage of the inactivity alert! I work at a desk all day so this would be a great reminder to get up and move
I def. need motivation to move more during the day. I feel like my workouts aren’t enough anymore!!
I love that you can wear it in the pool and that it can be used with a heart rate monitor. I bought the nike fuel band when it first came out and was very disappointed in how inaccurate it was and that even washing you hands you had to be careful not to get it wet. I’d love to give this one a try!
I definitely think the calorie counter intrigues me the most, just because sometimes we have to remember that calories are not only burned in the gym, and there are other ways to stay active throughout the day!
I would love tracking everything. I’m a nerd like that 🙂
The inactivity alert is most interesting. Esp. since I sit at a desk all day, it is nice to have a reminder to get up and moving (Break Time!!!!).
I’m very intrigued by the inactivity alert! I work an office job, and while I try to get up and move around every hour or so, it’s easy to forget when I’m in the midst of some gnarly paperwork! A reminder would be so helpful!
As a teacher, I would love to see how high my activity level is from chasing around 24 little people every day!
It would be so interesting to see my sleep trends.
the sleep data is most intriguing to me!
I have wanted to track my sleep for a LONG time now because I am curious as to how much I get each night!
I feel like I’m on my feet all day long so it will be interesting to see how that corresponds to my activity level with a tracker!
The inactivity alerts would be great for me since I sit at a computer all day!
I think it’s safe to say that there’s not one feature I’m NOT intrigued about with this little guy. It sounds like an excellent way to set and track your goals. I would love to try it out!
It would definitely motivate me more to see the activity tracker! Even though I workout every day, I still sometimes struggle to get in the recommended 10,000 steps per day!
After losing 200+ lbs, I have been stuck in a plateau and I know a lot of it has to be contributed to working from home. I think inactivity alerts would do a lot for me to get off my rump and lose the rest of the weight I want to lose.
Awesome giveaway! I am interested in my sleep patterns (pretty sure it’s horrible) and also how often it would tell me to get up and move since I work at a desk job – the little reminder would be so helpful.
I’d love to know my daily activity each day. I work in an office, so most days during the week I am sitting and I think if I had an activity tracker, it would motivate and remind me to get up and move!
I NEED the inactivity alert! that would be the most helpful for me!
I have been wanting to get one of these! I would love to track my physical activity and sleep!
I am most interested in the sleep data- I feel like I don’t sleep very well at all, and often wonder how much actual restful sleep I am getting. Thanks for the opportunity!
The inactivity alerts are genius! I could definitely benefit from them 🙂
the link up with heart rate is so unique!
I sit in my chair in an office all day, so I would love to be reminded to get up out of my chair and go for a walk every once in a while!
I am most excited about the inactivity alerts. I am a stay at home mom and though I do go to the gym 5 days a week, I’d be interested to see how much of the rest of the time I am inactive. Also, I have a Polar Heart Rate Monitor watch already. Do you know if the heart rate strap would work with the Polar Loop or would I have to buy a new one? Thanks for the review and giveaway!
I love the inactivity reminder. I am a student who sits a majority of the day while studying or in class so it would be great to get a reminder to get up and move, even if it is only for a few minutes.
I think this would be a great tool to help me get a few extra steps in while at the office or even around the house.
The inactivity alert sounds awesome! Thanks, Julie!
I’d love to track my activity level – I recently started working with a trainer at the gym and focusing more on my eating habits. It would be interesting to see how I can maintain activity levels (and sleep!) while making these changes.
I really love how motivating the polar loop looks! I’m a student so I am sitting a lot of the day and sometimes forget I need to get up and move around.
I would love to see my daily activity. I’m pretty good about working out, but I have a desk job so I sit A LOT. I need that inactivity alert! Very cool give away Julie 🙂
I would definitely use the calories burned feature — when I run on the treadmill, those counters are never accurate!
I am most intrigued to see my activity level on days I work vs days I have off. As a trauma nurse working 12.5 hour shifts I run all day long but it’s not “exercise” so I’d love to know how many miles I’m actually walking!
The inactivity alerts really intrigue me. As a full-time student, between sitting at school all day and slaving away on homework in the evening, I need the reminder to get up and take a stretch and/or walk break often. That way I won’t be so tight from hunching over!
I would love to track my activity level especially when I’m working as a gymnastics coach!
I would love the motivation that the inactivity alert would provide!!
I would love to get the inactivity alerts. I think it would help motivate me to stay active 🙂
Hi Julie!
As a busy mom of two and an avid runner and exercise enthusiast, I am definitely interested in the Polar Loop’s ability to show me my overall calorie burn throughout the day. It would be much easier for me to determine my proper caloric intake if I knew how much I was actually burning!
Thanks, again, for another awesome giveaway!
I really love the inactivity alerts! I’m a student and I need something like this!
I would love to be able to track my sleep patterns!
I love the inactivity alerts. That could be very helpful!!