Weekly Review: Nike Fuel Band

Maybe you’ve heard the hype all around the internet; the next big thing will be…. The nike fuel band! They’ve created a small frenzy by only selling about 1,000 of these things at a time in select “pre-ordering” session, creating insane demand for their $149 device.

First of all, what is it?

Nike created a more integral and effective way to track your fitness during the day than a typical pedometer. Nike fuel is a wrist band that you wear either all day or during exercise that can track all types of movement through an accelerometer. The band can sync up with your iPhone and tracks your progress throughout the day. It also comes with a USB port to plug right into your computer (similar to the Nike Plus system). You are able to set a fitness goal for the day and then your iPhone displays a red, yellow and then finally green light as you achieve your goal. Here’s a link to Nike’s website: Nike Fuel Band

Is it worth it?

Maybe, depending on who you are. One thing to note, however, is that I’ve read many many stories already online about people who purchased defective bands. It seems that Nike may have sent the first few thousand out too soon and plenty of the bands are defective. So, be careful and make sure you have a number for customer service.

You might think it’s awesome if….

You love to track your progress and need motivation. This will give you up-to-the-minute data about how active you are and can be an incredible motivational tool. You may be surprised at how sedentary you are at work, and it can be fun to try to get to that green light everyday. You can upload your results online and compete with your friends or your significant other, so it could be a turning point for you if you just haven’t been able to get an exercise routine going.

Not worth your money if…

You’re a swimmer. (It isn’t water-proof) Or, if you care at all about accuracy. While an accelerometer certainly is more accurate than a pedometer, these devices are typically worn on the upper arm, not the wrist and often correlated with a hip accelerometer. Additionally, instead of using a typical counts-per-minute analysis, Nike has correlated the counts with an algorithm to estimate oxygen utilization, a process they dubbed “oxygen kinetics.”  They then have created their own measure of total work, “Nike Fuel” which is a term they made up. You set your daily goal in Nike Fuel and track your progress that way. You can get estimates of calories burned and total steps taken, but that information can also be estimated through a simple heart rate monitor and pedometer, which would be significantly cheaper.

Overall, if you have the money to spend and you’d like extra motivation, this may be a great product for you. Just make sure you understand how to use the technology and that you’re not too worried about accuracy.

Have any of you guys tried this thing? What did you think?

*We just finished our first ebook! It’s available on amazon and on the kindle! Come check it out: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B007VI58SI

 

-Sara