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!
![\"Quantcast\"/](\"//pixel.quantserve.com/pixel/p-1e3-7hOJ_U8Bg.gif\")
The inactivity alert will make sure myself and family keep moving!! With the cold weather I need all the motivation I can get!
Love the inactivity tracker feature! I try to remember to take a lap around my office every hour or so, but this would be such a great help!
Wow, this is so neat! I think the inactivity feature is the most intriguing!
I would most like to see the daily breakdown of my activity over the course of a week. It is interesting to see the breakdown of inactivity, sleep and exercise.
I have been wanting to get an activity tracker because I am a fitness instructor, health and physical education teacher, and personal trainer. Some days I am up and ‘at em’ for over 15 hours. I am trying to get preggers and think that using the ‘loop’ would be beneficial in my caloric intake since sometimes I teach 2-3 classes a night. It sounds like the ‘loop’ ranks up there as one of the top new trackers! Thanks for the info!
The polar loop inactivity alerts sound right up my alley! As a veterinary student I sit a lot just studying and it would be nice to have a reminder to get up and take a mental and physical break…not to mention I’m sure my dog would also love some extra walks 🙂
I’ve been seeing so many of these around too! I’m always trying to find balance in my life (sleep/exercise/activity/rest) and I’m interested to see how that actually looks on a day to day basis.
The activity level using the heart rate monitor! I suspect it is more accurate than many similar devices.
I would love to see my sleep data (and general activity throughout the day)!
The inactivity tracker! Since I work at a desk all day, that is exactly the push I need to get up….even if I only take a walk around the office, that is better than nothing!
everything about the polar tracker motivates me!! I’ve wanted one forever but broke college kid status means expensive gear is a no go…
I have a heart rate monitor I wear when I workout, but I would love this to be able to look at my overall activity. I love all the analyzing it does for you!
I have been on the lookout for a fitness tracker for the past few weeks, but I hadn’t seen the polar tracker yet. I like that you can link to a free app and the fact that there is a calorie counter. Like you, I am motivated by seeing small goals come to life on a computer screen! Glad to know that it got a thumbs up from you. I will definitely do some more research on the polar tracker and invest in a tracker soon.
I’m a new reader to the blog and love it! I live in Michigan so need some extra motivation to work out in the winter. I would love to win the Polar Loop and like the inactivity feature because I have a desk job and it would help kick my butt to move more during the day. I’m also curious at how many calories I burn in a day and see how I’m really doing.
The inactivity alerts would be really helpful! I sit so much between work and school and often lose track of how long I’ve been sitting for, so this would be great.
I love the inactivity feature. I’m a desk worker, so it could be motivating!
I’m interested in all of the features, but mostly the inactivity one. When at work, I can go for hours just sitting. It would be nice to know when it’s time for a walk around the office!
I love the inactivity reminder! As someone whose job is primarily at a desk, this would be a great feature to have.
This looks so fun! I would like the breakdown of my activity level through the day!
I am so excited about this! I had no idea polar had one, I have looked at other brands before. Does it work with an existing polar heart rate monitor? If so that would be amazing! I’m most excited about something that tracks sleep patterns, but also recognizes steps. And the inactivity alert sounds awesome!
I am so intrigued by the Polar Loop’s ability sense different types of activity. Last year right around this time I bought a FitBit but stopped using it because it was unable to differentiate activities so my running mileage with it was very inaccurate. I also really would like to experience the real time updates and think they could be the key to attaining goals!
I like the step tracker!
Love that it tells you when you are inactive for too long!!! Really cool!
The inactivity alert sounds great. I need a reminder to get up off my butt sometimes.
I’m really excited about the sleep pattern recording. My new year resolution was to get more sleep. So hopefully it will help me meet that resolution:)
I’d like to see how many miles I cover when walking the dog, walking at work and up and down stairs at my house. How does Polar Loop know that you’re doing something like spinning? Heart rate?
The inactivity tracker for sure! I’ve used similar bands from other companies but I get really sucked into my work and forget to take breaks so the inactivity tracker would be a huge help!
I would love both to see my overall activity and inactivity alerts. I spend a lot of time at a desk so I would love to have a reminder to just get up and move around a little. I think this would be a fabulous motivator to spend less time on my butt!
I would love the inactivity alerts to encourage me to get moving!
I think the idea of an inactivity alert is great. Any nudge to move on long workdays or days i am feeling blah would help.
I like the inactivity alerts. I have a desk job so a reminder to get up and move more while at work would be awesome!
Thanks!
I love the tracking my activity. I think it would be very helpful to see how little or much steps I get on days without a workout.
I love that this can be used in the pool, and would like to see how that works!
I’d love to be able to track how active I am during the week vs. weekend! I think it’d be helpful in preventing those all-day Sunday Netflix binges. 🙂
Wow, I was just looking into buying one of these and now will have to add this one to my list of considerations. I particularly like the inactivity feature. I sit at a desk all day and I know I can be bad about reminding myself to get up and move around a little. This would be great for that.
I often lose track of time sitting at my desk staring at the computer so the inactivity tracker feature would be most helpful! The sleep tracker sounds interesting as well.
I think the inactivity feature is awesome! Thanks for the review and giveaway!:)
I sit at a desk most of the day so even though I think I’m pretty active after work, I’m interested to see how inactive I actually might be!
I teach fitness classes, so I am most excited about the feature to add a heart rate monitor in order to see how hard I’m actually working- it would motivate me to teach even more effective classes! 🙂
-Libby
i would love to get the inactivity alert! i love going for short walks and i think having an external reminder would be essential.
What I love most is everything– the entire, holistic view it seems to provide of your lifestyle. Not only does it measure your activity & calories, but your sleep too, which is just as important to your health.
Ahhh I’ve really been wanting this for my husband! He was thinking of getting the Nike band because he sits so much at work, and we’ve noticed his health getting a little taxed. He wants to be motivated+reminded to move more throughout his time at the desk, so the inactivity alert is definitely the coolest feature in my opinion. 😀
I would love to know how many calories my daily activity burns, especially given the fact that I work as a waitress!
I’d love to see data about my sleep patterns the most!! And, I could use the inactivity alert. I tend to get completely distracted in what I am doing and end up sitting a bit too long. 🙂
Everything! Especially how it shows the number of calories you are burning. I dance so I would be curious to see how many calories I burn per class!
I like the inactivity alarm feature
Great giveaway Julie!! I think I’d like how discrete it is most. Does not look like a fitness tracker at all!
I want to know when I have been sitting too long and need to get up and move!
I want one for the inactivity alerts. I get so sucked into my work at the office that I forget to get up and move as often as I should. A reminder would be great!
I work in a hospital so I’m always curious about how much I move during a 12 hour shift!