Eagerly looking forward to my 8km (or more) run later #RunningFever
— David Wang (@blogjunkie) January 12, 2013
Since starting on my fitness journey a few months ago, I’m really enjoying running. I’m enjoying running so much that I want to do a half marathon this year 🙂 Read More »
Nike+ FuelBand
I decided after my birthday in July that I needed to get into better shape. I knew from the start that it wasn’t going to be an easy journey – I only began to take the first steps 2 months after making the decision!
After some research, I purchased a Nike+ FuelBand to help me stay motivated on my fitness journey. It was one of the best decisions I made in 2012, and now fitness is something I actually look forward to instead of being a boring, unexciting chore.
From observation and experience, staying motivated long enough to get into the groove is probably the biggest hurdle to becoming fitter and healthier. Once you see results it’s a lot easier to stay motivated. That was definitely the case with me, and that was the problem that my Nike+ FuelBand helped to solve.
The Nike+ FuelBand is a wristband with a bunch of electronics inside that automatically tracks your movement (activity) and translates it to a score called NikeFuel. You set a daily goal for the amount of NikeFuel you want to achieve and the FuelBand keeps track of it.
In addition to the Fuel score, the Nike+ system rewards you with awards. Win trophies by scoring a certain number of points. Get on a streak by meeting your daily Fuel goal multiple days in a row. It’s the principle of gamification where your activity is automatically scored, so you compete with others (or just yourself).
The FuelBand is just one of the many devices within the Nike+ ecosystem. Each product tracks different activities better and the FuelBand is the best one for tracking all-day activity.
Therefore, the Nike+ system is the platform that turns fitness into a game. And to play the game, you need a toy device like the Nike+ FuelBand.
It’s a simple idea, and it’s just the thing that fitness newbies need to keep motivated. Even if the activity of exercising is not fun, the achievements, visualizing your progress and comparing it with others gives newbies the sense of achievement and engagement that they need to stick with their fitness journey and begin seeing results.
Running is easy right? You put 1 foot in front of the other and repeat. But if you run over long distances at faster speed, you put a lot of stress on your ankles, knees and hips. So the correct running technique is important so that you can run more efficiently and avoid injuries.
I’ve turned into quite the running addict on my fitness journey. (LOL! I know right?) However after starting to run further and faster, I found that my joints hurt! I realized that my running technique was off. So I began researching proper running technique online and found surprisingly that you can learn a lot from YouTube videos.
I’m made a playlist of the best videos that I found on YouTube called Running for Beginners. It’s a compilation of videos that teaches beginners the basics of proper running technique, mistakes to avoid and choosing the right pair of shoes. I wanted to provide a little bit of context for each video so I’ve annotated the videos below.
The first thing I learnt when researching running techniques was that there are many running techniques and styles. Who would’ve thought?! Many of them seemed overly complicated to me. The one that made the most sense and seemed to be the most straightforward to me was the Good Form Running technique. Good Form Running advocates 4 elements – posture, cadence, landing on your midfoot and leaning forward while running. This video provides a quick introduction to the technique. Read More »
I’ve recently started to enjoy running and after increasing my distance and speed, I realized that I need a good pair of running shoes. So last week I went shoe shopping and I had an opportunity to observe myself making a buying decision for a rather expensive product.
I have 2 favorite sporting brands – adidas and Nike. Just the previous month I have purchased gear from both brands. adidas seemed to me like the more affordable brand and I probably own more adidas workout and training apparel than Nike. However the Nike Running sub-brand spoke to me more directly since I actually enjoy running. Read More »
Totally enjoying this fun little gadget. It’s not only fun, it’s helping me spend less time sitting on my bum!
I’m David a.k.a. the blogjunkie. This is my personal blog where I let my hair down. I’m an entrepreneur making a living from the internet, without the scammy get rich quick, make money online methods. I’m an Apple fanboy, and WordPress geek.
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