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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Sleep data
Awesome! I have wanted an activity tracker for ages. I would love to see how many calories I burn based on the types of workouts or days of the weeks. I think I am like you and am way more active on the weekends. It would be interesting to track!
I love the idea of the inactivity alert feature to remind me to get up and move!!!
I would be super interested see the inactivity alerts! I sit at work all day so it would be great to get reminder to go move around a bit! 🙂
I work in an office and think the inactivity tracker would be so helpful to keep me moving!
I’m most interested in the sleep data!
I’d love to have the inactivity tracker to get my butt off the couch!
I love the inactivity tracker!
I would love to use the polar loop for its inactivity monitor. I am a full-time student and a part-time paralegal, so I spend a lot of time sitting around. I would love the reminder to get up and walk around every once in a while!
OHMY GOSH! What doesn’t excited me about this wrist band? I have huge troubles sleeping and take prescription sleeping pills and I’m only 20, so I would absolutely love to know what my sleep patterns are and how many hours I’m actually in deep sleep.
I have to echo many of the sentiments already stated in the comments- I’d love to have a fitness app that also tracks my sleep! I often have trouble falling asleep (no matter how physically exhausted I am!) and would love something that helps me pinpoint the triggers/causes and how exercising plays a role.
Julie- I would love to win this! I am currently in a health challenge at work (i work at a community college) where we track our steps daily as a small team and compete against teams across campus. And I’m planning on running my second 1/2 marathon the first of June. I would love to update my watch of 3+ years to something this cool! It’d be perfect for my upcoming training AND for my work challenge. Pick this IOWA girl! 🙂
I think I would love everything about the tracker but the inactivity alert would be especially helpful. Love that you can wear it in the pool too!
I love that it has real-time updates about your movement and activity levels for the day! Thats amazing!
I love the combo of an activity tracker PLUS heart rate monitor!
I have an office job where I sit a lot…I’d like the inactivity feature to maybe get me out of my chair and walk around the office a bit!
I really like that it totals your calories for the day as well as well as the inactivity feature!
I set up a standing desk recently and am interested on how much my activity levels rise because of it!
i would love the inactivity alerts…thats awesome. i also love that it can tell between walkin, running, and etc.. awesome 🙂
The Polar Loop looks great! I love that you can see what others around you are doing as extra motivation, but the water-proof element of wearing it in the pool is fantastic and something that many other fitness trackers do not seem to have. Even with these cool elements, the inactivity tracker would probably be most helpful for me as I frequently sit in an office for extended periods of time, a little reminder to get up and move would be FANTASTIC!
I work on the computer all day, so would love to see the activity and inactivity alerts. I’ve been trying to be more intentional about moving throughout the day, but it’s easy to forget and I think having this would help motivate me to move more!
I would love the inactivity alert as well!! I work at a desk all day, so a little alert would be nice, to get me to walk the stairs 🙂
My desk job drags me down – it would be awesome to have a way to lift myself back up!
This will get me out into this cold weather!
I want to see calories burned!
I like that you can get real time update to see your activity goal status, that would definitely be motivating!
I like the fact that it isn’t huge like so many other ones seem to be. I would like to see my total daily activity!
I love the idea of an inactivity alert!! So cool 🙂
I LOVE THIS! I am an event coordinator located in Rochester NY- as fast paced as my job is there can often be times where i seem to never leave my desk. I would love it if I had one of these bands that vibrated or gave me an “inactiviity” alert. Thank you Julie for sharing- your blog is very motivational and inspiring.
My bestfriend and I have been ready your blog for awhile and have decided to try a 30 day PB Fingers challenge where we have to do a workout you have done, make a recipe or research a “things im lovin Friday”. So far so good! Would the opportunity to try one of these out. Thank!!!
Kelly
Plus i am running in my first half marathon on March 16th in NYC and would love to have this to track!!
I’ve been looking into getting a Polar Loop or Fit Bit for a few weeks, but I love that you can attest to all the great features Polar Loop has! I particularly like the inactivity alert. Since I have a desk job I sit most of the day, but the added reminder to get up would definitely increase my activity levels.
Also, I love that you can “follow” friends. That too would motivate me!
I think this would be so great to track my activity level. I am a graduate student and have noticed that during busy times in my semester, I can slack off in my fitness routine. This would be a great motivator and help me to be more mindful of my activity level!
This is so cool! I would love to see my calories burned and have the inactivity alerts keep me on track.
The inactivity alerts are such a cool feature! I often sit at a desk all day and hit the gym after work- I need reminding to get up and move during the work day!
I would most enjoy the inactivity alert. It would help me move more at work!
I’m constantly walking to and from school and studying all day. I would be very interested in seeing my activity levels throughout each day.
I would love to see calories burned! My job keeps me very active, but on my days off I tend to sit around a lot. This would be great motivation to get moving on those days 🙂
The little daily goals are the best thing about the product! I love the inactivity alert!
I have been dying for one of these!!! People at my work are getting them because we work at a large resort and are constantly running around. I would love to see how much running around I actually do at work!
I’m constantly on my feet so it would be cool to see my activity levels throughout each day.
I am so curious about the sleep data it would collect on me!
I would love to get a better idea of my daily activity and how to amp it up!
I would love to be able to track my calories throughout the day! Love your blog!
I would love to see how long I’m inactive during each day.
I would love to surprise my hubby with one of these. He’s been dying for one. I would love to see for myself how inactive a desk job really is!
The map feature seems cool!
My coworker has something similar to this and raves about it. I think it would be super helpful for when I’m in “busy season” at work and am sitting at my desk for 12-14+ hours a day.
This looks like such a great product! Love the fact that it records sleep and recognizes different kinds of activity. I have been trying to monitor rest and activity for health reasons, and this seems like it would be so user friendly!
To see how many calories I actually burn in a day!
I would love to see how active I am throughout the day. I just had a baby and I need some motivation to get me up off the couch and out from behind my desk at work. I really want to get back to my previous activity level! I love running and ran throughout my pregnancy, but since I have had my little bundle of joy I find getting up and moving around more difficult. I am sure the sleep deprivation does not help! 🙂
I love the idea of inactivity alerts! My job requires I spend most of the work day in front of my computer so I could definitely benefit from a reminder to get up and move.