Garmin VivoFit Activity Tracker with Heart Rate Monitor Bundle Preview

I have had a lot of people ask me about the VivoFit Activity Tracker and to be honest on it's own its really just another fitness activity tracking band. OK, so it does have a built in 1 full year of life battery which means no having to recharge it every few days, I kind of have to admit that is nice! Add a Heart Rate Monitor Chest Strap to it and now we're talking!

As many of you know I really like my Polar Loop combined with the Polar H7 Heart Rate Monitor Chest Strap, it gives me pretty close to my true caloric burn for the day really giving me detailed tracking of just about any type of workout I throw at it step based or not. The VivoFit Activity Tracker with Heart Rate Monitor Bundle is Garmin's offering of a very similar solution but with their own unique twist and that primarily being low power consumption and long battery life, a year to be exact!

That's all fine and dandy but what I really want to find out is how does it get the job done? Will it work as well as my Polar Loop / H7 combo or will it have some short comings, they all do, so what exactly are they?

I will be testing my VivoFit Activity Tracker with Heart Rate Monitor Bundle over the next couple of weeks and when I find out what's good and what's not so good, I will get back to you with my full review where I plan to not only do a complete review of the VivoFit Activity Tracker with Heart Rate Monitor Bundle, but also compare it heavily to my Polar Loop and H7 Heart Rate Monitor so stay posted on this one...

CrossFit Langley - Filthy 50, Wall-balls, Burpees, Lunges, Box Jumps, Kettle Bell Swing, Push-Press, Hanging Rows, Push-ups, Sit-ups.

It's been a while since I recorded a CrossFit workout. So here is what they call the Filthy 50, basically it consists of 50 reps of a bunch of different CrossFit activities. The goal is to get through them as fast as you can and yes you are allowed to break up the activities into sets. Some people like to take the hardest activities and get the 50 reps out of the way first but I preferred to break up my 50 reps into the following groups of sets: 25-15-10.

I also chose to do the hardest activities first so the order of exercises for me went as follows:

• Wall-Balls (20kg)
• Burpees
• Lunges
• Box Jumps (I subbed in Step ups because of my recent calf injury)
• Hanging Rows
• Kettle Bell Swing (24kg)
• Push-ups
• Sit-ups
• Push-Press (45 pound bar) 

This workout took me just over 22 minutes which was a bit longer than I hoped for but I was suffering with a bit if a chest cold ;)

Below is a graph of my heart rate and workout via my Polar Loop and H7 Heart Rate Monitor:

CrossFit Langley

#106 – 22575 Fraser Hwy

Langley    604.800.3318

www.crossfitlangley.com

Kids Taekwondo Martial Arts Class at CMA Martial Arts

I mentioned a few videos back that my kids where taking some Martial Arts classes over at my CrossFit Gym. Our CrossFit coach Darren is an instructor in Taekwondo and has taught kids for years. He recently relaunched a Martial Arts class for kids based on Taekwondo but with other aspects of Martial Arts mixed in.

In this video I show you one of the classes being taught by Darren, it was a rather hot summer day so the traditional Martial Arts attire was not being worn and the class was a bit more laid back then most others. Darren can be firm at times but also realizes they are kids and not every day is as productive as the rest due to varying concentration levels.

Gabriel (7), my son is part of the Black-Belt club which means he get's to wear a black uniform and trains three days per week with some one-on-one training mixed in. Gabriel is really excited to be training with Darren.

Jordan (9), my Daughter is a bit on the fence as to continuing on which is a bit of a shame since she has the flexibility and athleticism to do really well in Taekwondo but I do not want to force this on her and she is rather strong willed.

CMA Martial Arts - CrossFit Langley

#106 – 22575 Fraser Hwy

Langley    604.800.3318

www.crossfitlangley.com

How to Get Tight Glutes! Butt - Buttocks - Bottom - Backside - Behind - Bum - Fanny - Derrière - Fanny - Rump - Rear - Ass

This YouTube video is both a Video Request and a Muscle Target Zones video all in one!

The Request came to me via an email from Al.

Al aks:

"Would you consider doing a video on building or firming glutes?  I'm keeping it real here....my wife has pointed out my butt is sagging...I'm almost 50 and do stay in shape, but I was never like you...never did sports or wasn't an athlete during my youth, so building up muscle and staying firm is a task. Would be great if you can address this in one of your videos and provide tips for those of us that require more maintenance in that area. I'm free about walking around nude in my house, but I gotta tell you man, a comment like that sticks with you and self-consciousness kicks in. Any help would be great.

Thanks again for your vids."

So as you can see, it's not just the ladies who are concerned about a tight butt! And I too have been victim to my wife mentioning my lack of bum when last year I was pretty lean and perhaps not working my lower half as much as I should have been? Nothing that some CrossFit leg days and lots of heavy squats can't fix ;)

In this Youtube video, I show you some of the best exercises you can do to firm and shape your glutes, many with or without added weight so really anyone should be able to do most of these at home even if you do not have fitness equipment.

Some of the exercise I show in this YouTube Glutes Video are:

• Squats
• Jumping Squats
• Lunges
• Elevated Lunges
• Step-ups
• Hip Raises
• Straight Leg Deadlifts

If you have a Video Request question you would like to ask me, I will do my best to give you an answers, just send me an email using this link...