Atlas Wristband Strength Training Fitness Tracker Review

I’ve already done a preview video for the Atlas Wristband Strength Training Fitness Tracker so you can check that video and article out for more basic overall info about the Atlas Wristband Strength Training Fitness Tracker.

In this review video I am going to focus more on how the Atlas Wristband Strength Training Fitness Tracker worked for me and if it does what it claims to actually do.

Before I get into my results I do want to go over the key points of exactly what the Atlas Wristband Strength Training Fitness Tracker claims to do and what it does not do.

What the Atlas Wristband Does:

• The Atlas Wristband is an exercise tracker you wear on your wrist .
• The Atlas Wristband automatically figures out what exercise you are doing and counts each rep as you do it.
• The Atlas Wristband has a built in Heart Rate Monitor for tracking your heart rate during workouts.
• The Atlas Wristband has 3-axis Accelerometer and a 3-axis Gyroscope built into it for motion tracking.
• The Atlas Wristband App will figure out approximately how many calories you burn during a workout.
• The Atlas Wristband does have a built in watch feature that displays the time and date.
• The Atlas Wristband has a built in motor to allow for vibration alerts.
• The Atlas Wristband is water resistant to 30 Meters.
• The Atlas Wristband Syncs to your Smart Phone via Smart BT (BT LE) and syncs your workout data to the Atlas App.

What the Atlas Wristband Does not do:

• The Atlas Wristband is not an all day fitness tracker.
• The Atlas Wristband does not track your steps or sleep.
• The Atlas Wristband does not automatically figure out how much weight you are lifting.
• The Atlas Wristband does not currently have an online cloud based interface.
• The Atlas Wristband does not pair or sync with any other devices or Apps at this time.

More Details for the The Atlas Wristband: 

• One of the better Optical Heart Rate Monitors I have tested. It was actually able to read my heart rate for the most part but lagged somewhat.
• The Atlas Wristband Currently recognizes about 50 exercises, however you can only place 15 of them in the Atlas Wristbands memory at any given time.
• After each set you will have to confirm the exercise type, how many reps and how much weight you used, the Atlas Wristband will remember the last weight you did from your previous set.

Let’s take a quick look at the Atlas Wristband:

The Atlas Wristband has a two piece design with a wrist strap and removable module. The module is held in place securely using strong magnets and it works very well.

The wrist strap is fairly rigid but not overly so and uses a standard watch clasp. There is some texturing on the back of the strap but not so much on the front which helps to keep it fairly lint free.

The main module has a White PM OLED touch screen, a USB charging port on one side, a kind of on/off button on the other side and the Optical Heart Rate Sensor on the back.

Once the screen is on you can toggle using the touch screen between different options: The main watch, your Programed Workouts, your Freestyle Workouts, your Heart Rate, Device Tips and Power Off. Within Device Tips you can see your battery Power Level, select which power saving mode you want to use and see a few quick tips on how to use the device.

The Atlas App:

Home Screen:  The Home Screen has three main areas: “My Workouts”, “Plan Workouts” and the “Sync” Icon. Pressing the Sync Icon will Sync your data back and forth between the Atlas App and the Atlas Wristband. “My Workouts” shows you your completed workouts, the Summary window shows you the type of workout you performed along with how many calories you burned, your average heart rate and how long your workout was. The Cardio Window shows you a diagram of your Heart Rate Activity and the Velocity Window let’s you know if your rep speed was where it needs to be. When you use the Atlas Wristband Exercise tracking feature you will also see the exercises you performed along with their reps and the weight used for each set. You can make changes after the fact in this area of the Atlas App. “Plan Workouts” has a several pre-programed workouts that can be loaded on the Atlas Wristband, you can also create your own custom workouts and have access to the list of Freestyle Exercises that you can sync to the Atlas Wristband.

My Profile: The “My Profile” area is of course where you would setup your personal information.  

Freestyle: This area again is where you have access to the 50 or so available exercises the Atlas Wristband is currently able to recognize. Again you can select 15 at a time that can be transferred to the Atlas Wristband for any given workout.

Exercise Guide: This is essentially the instructional area where you can watch a video of supported exercises. You can also select to view a brief description of how to perform an exercise and view a graphic of the muscles that are utilized in this exercise.

User Tips: This tab sends you to an online reference where you can access tips on how to use your Atlas Wristband.

Comparisons Between other Strength Training Tracking Options:

I wanted to show some side by side comparison of the same workouts being tracked using three different methods (The Atlas Wristband, My Garmin VivoActive, and Gym Hero Pro stand alone App).

My Garmin VivoActive does not track exercises, reps, sets or weights used. It tracks your weight lifting workout activity level based strictly on your heart rate activity (while wearing an additional Heart Rate monitor). All other workout details are not recorded but in terms of calories burned this method is very accurate.

Gym Hero Pro is an App for the iPhone that is software based only and all data must be manually entered in by the user. Gym Hero Pro is however very clever and will auto fill your past data in for you which can be helpful not only by saving time but also being able to see exactly how you performed during your last same workout. Gym Hero Pro does a pretty good job of figuring out how many calories where burned and has a lot of other very useful data that you can review either on the iPhone App or online using (fitty.co) cloud based web services. 

Overall the Atlas Wristband was in the ballpark in terms of Heart Rate measured but was a little on the low side which is pretty common for Optical Heart Rate Sensors and in terms of claoreis burned I felt it tracked a little bit low. I did find it was pretty good at recording what exercise I was doing and usually got the reps right. I did notice that every once in a while the Atlas Wristband would think I was doing a workout set when I was simply moving around the gym getting ready for a set. This can throw things off a bit if you don’t catch it before you start your next set. I did like that the Atlas Wristband preloaded the last weight I used from my previous exercise set which made it pretty easy to adjust quickly if I went up or down 5 or 10 pounds between sets.

Is the Atlas Wristband Strength Training Fitness Tracker the Real Deal and does it live up to all it claims to be?

I am a bit on the fence here. I have know doubt this technology will get better and better to the point that any objections I have now will be taken care of, perhaps even sooner than later since I know for a fact that Atlas is working feverishly to improve the user experience on their Atlas Wristband.

What I think is really cool about the Atlas Wristband is that it does do a fair amount of the work for you so in a way you only have to enter in some of the data, but it is not fully automatic and either the Atlas Wristband can get confused or sometimes it’s me to blame for not interacting with the Atlas Wristband at the right time. This can lead to some missed data and if you really screw up, you may even kick yourself out of a session and not be able to get back in again.

There are around 50 pre-programed exercises you can pick from but I found there where many exercises I regularly perform that where not listed and so I either had to change those exercises or leave them to the end and skip them on the Atlas Wristband. I know Atlas is working hard to bring more and more pre-programed exercises to their Atlas Wristband but as of right now this is a big limitation for me. Atlas has said that in the future, you will be able to create your own exercises using a type of monitored user programming mode.

I was really impressed with the optical heart rate monitor since most of them simply do not work with me at all, completely failing and sometimes thinking I’m dead when my heart rate becomes elevated. So for me, at least for now I can choose the Heart Rate option for tracking my workouts but that is really not what the Atlas Wristband is all about. Once a few of these limitations are taken care of I really feel the Atlas Wristband will come into its own and I think a revisit may be in order at that time. Unfortunately for now I will have to stick with my Garmin VivoActive and Gym Hero Pro for tracking all my workout data.

Watch my Full Review Video for the Atlas Wristband Strength Training Fitness Tracker:

Athletes Collective Athletics Wear Review Video

Again I want to thank Adam from Athletes Collective for providing me with these really great athletics shirts!

This is my final review of Athletes Collective Athletics Wear so this video not only goes over the key features and benefits of the Athletes Collective Athletics Wear line but I also talk about my experience wearing this clothing line. The beginning section is more info based while the end section are mainly my thoughts and Opinions about Athletes Collective Athletics Wear.

Key Points & Features:
All shirts are unbranded, so you can wear a nice quality athletics shirt without being a walking advertisement for some company. After all you more than likely had to pay for your shirt so why do you need to advertise for them too?

All Athletes Collective Shirts are Pre-shrunk, you can dry on high heat and wash and dry them as often as you like and Adam has promised they will not shrink no matter what! Mind you Adam has not met my wife...

Another awesome fact about Athletes Collective is that they are Canada based and all products are made just outside of Toronto Canada - eh!

Adam boasts that his Athletes Collective Shirts have an Athletic fit, not a compression shirt and not too lose, true to size. I am a large in real life and so I asked Adam to send me all large shirts trusting him that this was true and they are a perfect fit. They are also super stretchy so you will not feel constricted at all while working out and as you get even more huge, the Athletes Collective shirts will accommodate your new massiveness :)

Pricing is very competitive as compared to other similar major brands, and that’s in Canadian funds which is good for us here in Canada and for all everyone in the US since your dollar is so strong right now!: 

• Sleeveless $22.50
• Short Sleeve $25
• Long Sleeve $30

Athletes Collective also offers Free Shipping to Canada and the US on orders over $50 which is a great deal since you only need to buy a couple of items to take advantage of the free shipping.

And if that was not enough already, every first purchase comes with these free items: 

• 32oz water bottle
• Drawstring back with front zipper pocket

What did I think?
So now that I have had some time to wear my Athletes Collective Athletics Wear shirts and put them through the wash several times. I can say they have faired really well and look and feel pretty much exactly the same as when I first got them, no shrinking, fading or material changes after wearing and washing.

I am 6 feet tall and about 195 pounds and the shirt size I chose was large. They fit really good but because they are so stretchy I may even be able to get away with a medium and they should still feel pretty comfortable but I do like the way the large fits on me.

One note to point out is the neckline, you may find it to be on the loose side but this works out really nicely when working out since you do not feel constricted in this area or feel like your neck is getting rubbed by your shirt. When wearing more for casual use the looseness may not be a benefit? I did find that after washing the shirts the neckline seemed to fit a little better.

I would like to see more variety in design and colors and it would even be nice to see more clothing options like shorts, pants, hoodies and even hats! I am sure this is probably in the works but I thought I would mention it anyway.

Adam also gave me a Promo Code "GETFITOVER40", so my viewers can save an additional 15% off on their first order, so make it a big one! I am sure you will not be disappointed and will wish you had purchased even more shirts from Athletes Collective.

Getting Real Series - Going Bald and Scalp Micropigmentation

This video is the first in a series of videos I hope to create for my YouTube Channel and GetFitOver40 Blog. In this "Getting Real Series" I want to touch upon subjects that at least for me I feel may be more private, so in other words I would normally not share with most people, especially the YouTube community. It is human nature to want to put our best foot forward and we all have things in our lives that we don't want people to see or know about, they may not even be all that bad but for some of us they can be embarrassing or make us feel less than adequate.

What most people, see when they watch one of my videos or talk to me in person is the person I want them to see, the person I wish I was perhaps and that is usually at their best, not their worst. We all tend to be a little this way.

My first subject in my "Getting Real Series" is the subject of going bald and this may not even just be for men, many women struggle with thinning or balding hair and this video will show people in this situation a rather interesting option to correct not only hair loss on top of the head but also in other areas like thinning eyebrows or even lack of facial hair.

There are all kinds of hair loss options out there, some to try and grow your own hair back, some to mask the effects of baldness and the most extreme measures are to surgically transplant hair back where it has fallen out. The cost for these options can vary a great deal and cost as much as several tens of thousands of dollars. Personally I am not prepared to have surgery or pay a ludicrous amount of money to have my hair back but one option that came to my attention called "Scalp Micropigmentation" looks really appealing to me in terms of the look I want to go for, the lifestyle I want to live and the cost I am prepared to pay.

In a nutshell, Scalp Micropigmentation is basically very similar to a regular tattoo but instead of getting a tattoo to create artwork on your body, Scalp Micropigmentation is used to cosmetically create the look of hair on your body, in my case it will add hair density to the areas where my hair is thinning and even over time will continue to create the look of a full head of hair as my real hair diminishes. I will have to keep my hair short since the hair being tattooed does not look like long hair but rather looks like short hair follicles, so a buzzed hair look works really well with Scalp Micropigmentation. If you have some hair on top of your head like me, you can get away with a bit longer hair even with Scalp Micropigmentation since your scalp will have a darker appearance in general making it hard to distinguish between the real hair and the added shaded hair.

Scalp Micropigmentation technicians also use different ink and needles compared to regular tattoo artists since hair follicles are rather small and so much smaller needles must be used. The ink used in Scalp Micropigmentation is also very different and is charcoal based since it must remain a shade of grey even when fading over time. Regular tattoo dyes can go blue or red over time which would lead to a very unnatural looking hair line. Another very important distinction between a regular tattoo artist and a Scalp Micropigmentation technician, is the level of training required for Scalp Micropigmentation. Scalp Micropigmentation is not something you can simply do even if you are a very good artist, you must be trained and certified or again the results will not look natural or believable.

So after a lot of research in the subject of Scalp Micropigmentation, I feel I will be moving forward with this procedure since I am comfortable with a short or buzzed head look and Scalp Micropigmentation will give me a back my full looking head of hair that I once had :) And at a price that is very affordable compared to other solutions out there. If you live in the Langley BC area and are interested in looking into this option for yourself, then you may want to checkout Studio Sashiko! I will keep you posted on my results...

Tore My Hamstring Bad! What Now?

We all know it can happen but we think it won't happen to us. The big injury that stops us in our tracks. We all get those smaller injuries that set us back a little bit every once in a while. The injuries that are more annoying than anything else, they just kind of make working out less enjoyable but at least we cam still get in a good workout when they happen.

When the big one comes, at first you're not so sure what to think? Did I really just hurt myself that bad? Is this serious? How is this going to effect my training now and long term? It took me a little bit for it to kick in and for me to accept the fact that yup, that was more then just a little pull or strain and I'm going to have to take some time off training! And yup, this is going to effect my gains :( 

So the big one happened to me last night during my Heavy Deadlift session and no I was not going for any PR's or even that crazy high of a weight for me. I have deadlifted 500 pounds with no hint of injury in the past. The weight on this day I had worked up to with lots of warm ups involved was 405 pounds for reps of 5+. I am very familiar with repping out 405 pounds. I'm pretty sure my 405 PR was 15 reps so we are not talking about anything I am not already accustomed to lifting. The only warning sign on this day was that the weight felt unusually heavy to me, why I don't know? I had already finished a set of 5 reps and was working on my second set of 5 when half way through I felt it. It was like a rip and a pop at the same time and it felt really gross. It even made my leg jerk a little like you would except if strands from a rope had let go but the rope had not completely torn in half. The memory of it happening is the worst part, not the pain, I can deal with that part!

I immediately dropped the weight and knew this workout was over. I was kind of in shock and disbelief at what just happened to me. How could this have happened on a weight I had lifted so many times in the past with no problems at all? What was this going to mean now for my current training and future training? Will it effect my upcoming Physique Contest in July?  So many thoughts going through my head...

I am now seriously reevaluating what my workout goals are and how I am going to train in the gym moving forward. What good is lifting heavy ass weight when in a split second you can literally set yourself back months with an injury. I am not a power lifter, I am more into body sculpting so perhaps I need to rethink how I lift and how I train because I do not want this to happen to me again.

So what if I don't have a 4 plate squat, or 5 plate deadlift or 3 plate bench press! It would have been nice but I would rather have my health and be able to train at the end of the day! So be it, I will heal up and I will carry on and I will still compete because that's who I am.

Does TRT - Testosterone Replacement Therapy Give You An Advantage in the Gym?

I wanted to discuss the subject of TRT (Testosterone Replacement Therapy), because it seems that anytime a person on YouTube is somewhat fit and/or lean then it is assumed by many people that they are on some sort of performance enhancing drugs - since there is no other way this can be possible ;)

I get comments from people listing a bunch of drugs I’m supposedly taking that enable me to be lean and muscular and they claim that I’m for sure on a bunch of performance enhancing drugs. Again because there is no other way this is possible (like hard work and a strict diet), and since there is an easy way to get these results, then I must be getting an advantage somehow.

I also get questioned a lot about if I am on TRT and so I wanted to address this in a YouTube video to explain the purpose of TRT because I feel most people think TRT will give a person this huge advantage in the gym over a person who is not on TRT.

First off, what is TRT or Testosterone Replacement Therapy?

TRT is a therapy usually prescribed by a doctor to replace the hormone Testosterone in a Man or Woman that is not naturally producing enough of their own Testosterone, and yes a Woman can also be on TRT since women can be low in both Testosterone and Estrogen!

What are some of the symptoms of Low Testosterone?

• Low sex drive
• Difficulty with erections (Men only)
• Fatigue & lack of energy
• Loss of muscle mass
• Increase in body fat
• Decrease In bone mass
• Mood changes
• Hair loss

What are normal TRT prescribed dosages?

Testosterone can be prescribed in the form of Injections, pills and jells. Prescribed injectable levels of Testosterone for the purpose of Testosterone Replacement Therapy can range drastically from person to person. In Men a dose can be as low as 100mg every two weeks right up to 300+mg per week. It all depends on how each individual reacts to the Testosterone replacement therapy and at what point they start to see positive changes in their symptoms.

As a point of reference: A starting does for a person using testosterone for enhanced body building purposes is generally no lower than 500mg per week and can be as high as 2000mg per week. Keep in mind the Testosterone is usually stacked with other injectable and oral steroids at the same time compounding the effects.

This should give you an idea of how minimal the effects are at least for the purpose of body building a normal 100-200mg per week TRT dose really is. No you will not get huge and ripped on TRT! If you don’t workout you will not look any different than anyone else with normal levels of Testosterone. If you do workout you will look the same as everyone else working out to the same level as you.

Is a doctor the only one that can prescribe TRT?

Usually but not always, there are hormone replacement clinic and there are also location where Testosterone can be purchased legally without a prescription. For example here in Canada it is not illegal to buy and use Testosterone without a prescription. It is however illegal to sell Testosterone, go figure ;) 

What am I getting at? There are people on TRT programs using various methods to do so. Doctor prescribed and regulated, Clinical, and even self prescribed (with or without doctor monitoring).

What are some possible TRT (Testosterone Replacement Therapy) Side Effects?

• Increase in DHT and Estradiol which can cause: Acne, Prostate enlargement, increase in male patten baldness, fluid retention, breast tissue changes.
• Reduction in testicle size and suppression of fertility.
• Thickening of the blood from increased red blood cells which can cause high blood pressure, possability of a stroke. 

Will a person on a regulated TRT program have an advantage in the gym over a person who is not on TRT?

Keep in mind that this is based on the assumption that both subjects have levels or Testosterone that are within normal and natural ranges.

The short answer is no, there is no difference, for the simple reason that the person on TRT requires a Testosterone supplement in order to bring them back up to natural and healthy Testosterone levels. The person who is not on TRT already has enough natural Testosterone in their body so both subjects are on a equal and level playing field in this example.

Why do people who are on TRT claim to see strength gains, fat loss and recovery improvements when they go on TRT?

This is because the person in this situation was Testosterone deprived before going on TRT, they where not on an even playing field with a someone who has normal natural levels of Testosterone in their body. When the TRT program increases their levels of Testosterone they obviously would feel the benefits of normal healthy levels of Testosterone which include muscle gain and fat loss as compared to their Testosterone depleted former self.

Example: Let’s use a race car engine and a turbo charger as an example. A turbo charger is a device that increases air pressure in a cars engine. The higher the turbo pressure the more air is compressed into the engine which in turn allows more fuel to be mixed per engine stroke which provides a bigger boom and more power. If the turbo is not outputting enough pressure, then the potential power of the engine is reduced. When a turbo is producing optimal air pressure, then more power is provided to the engine.

Car A in this example has an engine with normal race car turbo pressures and normal power output for that race division. Car B has the exact same setup but for some reason the turbo settings are not producing enough air pressure so power output has been limited and not up to race performance levels. In this example the doctor would be the mechanic and by manually increasing the air pressure output of the turbo in Car B, the mechanic can in turn bring that engines power output back up to the same race performance levels of Car A.

So of course the owner of Car B is going to notice a significant power increase after his Turbo performance has been optimized, but his car will not be faster than the owner of Car A as they are both now on an even playing field. Would it be a fair race if one engine was more powerful than the other? Is the owner of Car B cheating in any way now that his engine is performing up to normal race standards?

When would a person on TRT (Testosterone Replacement Therapy) have an advantage over a Natural athlete?

The only time this is possible is if the individual on TRT was taking more Testosterone than necessary. So similar to my engine turbo charger example, the mechanic or engine doctor turned the turbo settings up higher than they should be causing the engine to have more power than normal race setup. Relating this example back to our Testosterone discussion, this would be similar if a doctor was prescribing too much Testosterone for that individual making his levels higher than what they should be in a normal healthy situation and creating an uneven playing field with the person on TRT having an advantage in the gym over a person not on TRT with normal Testosterone levels.

How can this TRT over-prescribing take place?

As with all good things, even TRT can sometimes be manipulated or taken advantage of. Some athletes will use a TRT program to get an advantage over their competitors in sports, some people simply just want all the benefit of TRT plus a little boast since additional strength and increased recovery time is a benefit when workout out. 

Are you lying to people about your gains if you are on TRT?

Not at all if you are within normal ranges, again we are talking about everyone being on an even playing field, there is no advantages or disadvantages for anyone if all parties have similar Testosterone levels at the end of the day.

Is a person obligated to tell others about their TRT program?

This is really up to each individual and how they feel about sharing it with others. Do you expect people you know in person or on YouTube to simply tell you about all their medical history and all prescriptions they may be taking. Or perhaps any legal matters they may have been in. How much money they make each year… What a person decides to share with others is totally up to them and they are not obligated to share if they are on TRT unless they want to.