[FOR FUN] "Extracurricular activities" with the Band

[gadgetrants]

Just a random, somewhat personal observation: this morning around 6am I happened to...ahem, how should I put this..."get lucky." Now please vacuum all those naughty thoughts out of your mind -- I'm an old married guy and nothing unconventional happened.

But what makes the occasion newsworthy is that on a whim I decided to leave the Band in sleep mode, to see what I might learn from the biometric wonder. Upon surveying the data a few hours later, I was struck by the fact that my peak HR was around 85 bpm -- surely not as fast as I sensed at the time (for a bit of context, my resting HR is upper 60's and a medium-paced walk is ~100 bpm, so yeah Band come on, 85?!?). Second and somewhat strangely, there's no indication of a change in HR in the Calorie details view, which I suppose makes sense if that particular measure is only sampling HR once every 10 minutes (ooops...what did I just imply? LOL). However, there is a reasonable increase in calorie burn somewhere between 6-7am -- jumping from 100 cals/hour up to about 200 cals/hour. ***wait...let me google that...hmmm, seems I am a bit above the 144 cals/hour average (or is the Band just being generous?)***

The takeaway message for me -- especially after testing all the various activity modes on the Band during "normal" exercise -- is 100% clear. If I want a more accurate picture, the next time I end up in the same situation, I need to: (1) turn OFF Sleep mode, (2) turn GPS on, and (3) make sure I record the activity using Run mode!!! :winktongue:

-Matt

 

[Talderon]

I can't think of anything relevant to say other than... LOL! That was a good read!

 

[gadgetrants]

Thanks! I really pondered whether the Band community could take the heat. In the end figured that if I kept my observations family-friendly, then hey the topic should be fair game! But please don't ask if I got spousal approval on the post... LOL

And also, I figured if the "colorful" post in this thread hadn't gotten yanked than my little tale was fairly tame in comparison. :winktongue:

-Matt

 

[b52hbuff]

Cute. There are a variety of "activities" where we perceive an increase in heart rate mode.

I'm always interested in learning... Why didn't you use the "Exercise Mode"? My understanding is that Exercise Mode increases rate of heart rate sample, but also disables GPS.

Other interesting activities to monitor...

Theme park rides / roller coasters, and "stressful" conversations.

 

[EuroKnuter]

Awesome, thanks

 

[gadgetrants]

Cute. There are a variety of "activities" where we perceive an increase in heart rate mode.

I'm always interested in learning... Why didn't you use the "Exercise Mode"? My understanding is that Exercise Mode increases rate of heart rate sample, but also disables GPS.

Other interesting activities to monitor...

Theme park rides / roller coasters, and "stressful" conversations.

Oooh, those are some really good suggestions! I'm really jealous of the new app that provides real-time HR readings -- too bad it's not available for Android (yet?). Stressful conversations...yeah, I could definitely gain some insight from that. :smile:

I deliberately left the Band in sleep mode...well, how do I put this???...hmmm, let's just say I didn't want to start fussing with it and you know, ruin the moment. Another way of saying it is, "wow there wasn't a window of opportunity to take it off, let alone change the mode!" And you're absolutely right -- Exercise Mode is the way to go. I only slipped in the GPS comment (Run Mode) as a joke that I'd want to view the activity on a map later! But that opens up all kinds of new questions, doesn't it? rly:

​-Matt

 

[b52hbuff]

One other recommendation... I took my Band to Disneyland. I would setup the Band in exercise mode before each ride. After the ride, I would rename the activity to the ride name. Made an interesting log to see how I reacted to each ride.

 

[gadgetrants]

One other recommendation... I took my Band to Disneyland. I would setup the Band in exercise mode before each ride. After the ride, I would rename the activity to the ride name. Made an interesting log to see how I reacted to each ride.

I'd be curious to see your data! Sounds pretty cool.

Given the discussion of adult-level activities, I've taken the liberty of creating a (hopefully inoffensive) new tile/mode that could be added to the Band (I'm sure a firmware update could be offered to accommodate those with "other" needs!):

-Matt

 

[aximtreo]

Thanks! I really pondered whether the Band community could take the heat. In the end figured that if I kept my observations family-friendly, then hey the topic should be fair game! But please don't ask if I got spousal approval on the post... LOL

And also, I figured if the "colorful" post in this thread hadn't gotten yanked than my little tale was fairly tame in comparison. :winktongue:

-Matt

Matt, you sir, are on my **** list. Here I am a very old man and you post something like this. Do you have any idea how badly you hurt my pride and my feelings. You dirty rat!

By the way, "back in my day" we use to use the kitchen timer for such ahh, hanky panky. LOL

 

[b52hbuff]

I don't understand what you mean by real time HR tracking not available on Android?

On the Band, you have three options...

1. In exercise mode, you can choose what information to display. One of the metrics you can choose is your HR.
2. In watch mode, you can press the secondary button (specific name escapes me), and Band will cycle through, date, HR, calories, steps and distance.
3. Go to "My Tile", which is first tile. Press it, and scroll through to HR.

I'm obviously missing something.... So where do you want to see HR?

 

[gadgetrants]

By the way, "back in my day" we use to use the kitchen timer for such ahh, hanky panky. LOL

I'm afraid to admit a simple egg-timer might suffice in my case! :grincry:

-Matt