Not very many, especially when you think about how your muscles are screaming in pain as you swoosh your way through deep piles of snow, or pole your way across an uphill section to another run.
On Monday and Tuesday of spring break, I wore my WW ActiveLink . . . I also wore it in the car as we drove to Colorado and managed to score one point! But while skiing, I only earned 2 activity points.
Whaaaat? *said like a 'Despicable Me' minion*
I literally worked my bum off and my thighs were burning in pain along with the serious tricep workout I got while poling. So what gives?
The ski lifts, baby. The ski lifts were the kicker.
I might have been working hard while skiing down those steep blue and black slopes, but I was also sitting on a ski lift from 5-12 minutes between runs. This is the valuable information that you can get from the WW ActiveLink or any other monitoring device. When I plugged it in and it calculated the points, it also shows how much activity you accrued in shorter increments--and no, I don't think shivering on the ski lifts helped me earn any points. :-(
Good to know, right?
Though I didn't earn as many activity points as I thought I would, I also learned that any amount of poling will work your triceps and lats very efficiently.
Think about it: you have to propel your body weight up an incline using only two poles, while on a pair of skies . . . sometimes directly into the 30 mph wind. Yes, this was rough.
Why couldn't it have been a tail wind??
Who knows? Life works in mysterious ways.
As I mentioned there are numerous flat areas in a ski resort: the area where numerous lifts dump you off, the area in front of the on-mountain food places, the area where numerous runs merge into one run taking you to the next mountain, or a catwalk that zigzags across the steeper runs that your daughter wants to ski because they're 'fun'.
No matter where you are, you will find areas on a downhill mountain where you have to pole your way across an expanse. This is where I discovered my friends--pecs, lats and triceps. They were sad that I hadn't spent much time time with them in the past, and made themselves known that they were on the slopes to party hard.
They joined my friends, the quads and hams . . .
I might not have earned many activity points, but I had fun and managed to work some muscles that normally didn't get much toning on my walks.
I love skiing.
But I love skiing more when I can wear sunglasses, but I can't complain because I had my buddies, quads, hams, pecs, lats, and triceps joining me on the trip.
Later, Peeps!
Showing posts with label Activelink. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Activelink. Show all posts
9/19/12
Weighty Wednesday -- Activelink
I was going to write different post, but I thought this one was more current.
A couple of weeks ago I purchased a Weight Watcher's Activelink. This is a handy-dandy little USB that also contains an accelerometer chip that gauges all the movement you make throughout the day.
The old calculation method had its flaws. For example, walking. We all know that I enjoy walking. Well, the calculation measured any pace between 3.0-5.0 mph the same. So if you are a fast walker (me) you are sort of penalized.
So the Activelink measures everyone individually.
You can clip it to a bra or shirt near your heart, or hang it on a lanyard, or clip it at your waist. You just have to tell the system which one you choose because it calculates it differently. It also takes into account your weight, age, sex and height to calculate activity points.
Then the 8 day assessment begins.
And no, it won't tell you how you're doing during this assessment, but you can get a general idea when you plug it in at the end of the day.
The purpose of this gadget it to stimulate you into moving during the low parts of your day, to get off your bum and walk around.
After my assessment, it allowed me to see my activity points. One day I actually logged in 17 activity points! That was a day that I walked almost 10 miles, 4 in the AM and 5.5 in the PM. This number was nowhere near the calculated values would have been!
Do I expect this to be the norm?
NO. For one, I'm not going to be walking twice a day when winter comes. It'll be too dark. I'll find something else to do.
But I do know that I can easily earn 6 activity points with my AM walkies and a little activity throughout the day.
Activelink also provides you with a challenge to consistently reach a certain level daily. It originally set it at 12, but I changed it to 10, which is still a challenge on the days I don't walk twice a day.
On Sunday, I was truly lazy and didn't walk. I almost didn't even meet my baseline criteria for health! And I certainly didn't earn any activity points!
It does cost a little every month to monitor the Activelink, but I think it's worth it if it gets me out of the desk chair a little more often.
Later, Peeps!
A couple of weeks ago I purchased a Weight Watcher's Activelink. This is a handy-dandy little USB that also contains an accelerometer chip that gauges all the movement you make throughout the day.
The old calculation method had its flaws. For example, walking. We all know that I enjoy walking. Well, the calculation measured any pace between 3.0-5.0 mph the same. So if you are a fast walker (me) you are sort of penalized.
So the Activelink measures everyone individually.
You can clip it to a bra or shirt near your heart, or hang it on a lanyard, or clip it at your waist. You just have to tell the system which one you choose because it calculates it differently. It also takes into account your weight, age, sex and height to calculate activity points.
Then the 8 day assessment begins.
And no, it won't tell you how you're doing during this assessment, but you can get a general idea when you plug it in at the end of the day.
The purpose of this gadget it to stimulate you into moving during the low parts of your day, to get off your bum and walk around.
After my assessment, it allowed me to see my activity points. One day I actually logged in 17 activity points! That was a day that I walked almost 10 miles, 4 in the AM and 5.5 in the PM. This number was nowhere near the calculated values would have been!
Do I expect this to be the norm?
NO. For one, I'm not going to be walking twice a day when winter comes. It'll be too dark. I'll find something else to do.
But I do know that I can easily earn 6 activity points with my AM walkies and a little activity throughout the day.
Activelink also provides you with a challenge to consistently reach a certain level daily. It originally set it at 12, but I changed it to 10, which is still a challenge on the days I don't walk twice a day.
On Sunday, I was truly lazy and didn't walk. I almost didn't even meet my baseline criteria for health! And I certainly didn't earn any activity points!
It does cost a little every month to monitor the Activelink, but I think it's worth it if it gets me out of the desk chair a little more often.
Later, Peeps!
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