Fitness Friday: Jawbone Up 24 Review

Friday is my favorite day at the gym. There are fewer people there than other days, and I feel like I have all the time in the world to complete my workout. It's true that my energy is totally zapped by the time I roll into the parking lot after a long work week, but I always, always leave feeling 110% better on Friday for some reason.

So true! 

So here it is- We made it! Happy Friday.

Let's kick it off with a gear review! I think this is the first time that I've shared any fitness "gear" reviews other than sneakers, and we all know that I am pretty loyal to one brand when it comes to kicks.  The Saucony Ride 6 are my favorite pair ever, and I've been searching high and low for another pair for about six months now.

The Ride 7 were awarded an Editor's Running Choice pick from Runner's World and are consistently highly rated, but they are nowhere near their predecessor in my opinion. The 7s have a wider toe box but a narrower cut throughout; the cushioning feels stiffer though I think it's the same they used in the 6 version; and there's an uncomfortable design overlay that hits right near the ball of your foot and big toe.

Ride 6

Running posts:
About that time I...
Only Half Crazy
Run for your life
Spring Spruce Up

For my birthday back in June, the Sailor got me a Jawbone Up 24. While I'm an impulse shopper, he's a pro when it comes to reading all the reviews, comparing features and considering which model has everything I want. I requested a "fitness band," and the Up 24 made the cut.

I've worn it every day for nearly ten months and love it. When I initially got it, I forgot I was even wearing it after a day or so -- that is until I felt the "buzz" or alert reminding me of my goals, telling me I'd been sitting idle for too long or just updating me on my progress. Ten months later and I can honestly say I've really only taken it off for showers, swimming, doing dishes and a couple of fancy dress up occasions. It just doesn't match formal attire or strapless/sleeveless gowns.

In the ten months of continuous wear, I've experienced only a couple of slight technical problems. The device has seemed to take longer to update with steps and sleep a couple of times in the past couple of weeks. I ended up having to shut down my phone once in an attempt to reboot it. And the sleep/wake mode button on my original Up cracked. Although it still logged steps, it couldn't calculate sleep. When I emailed customer service, they sent me a new one within a couple of days- Two thumbs up for their service!

Admittedly, I love the Up even without fully using all of the features. I don't join teams or let friends find me, and I don't sync it with all of the other apps that I could use or allow it to wake me at the "perfect" time in my sleep cycle.

Here's a quick list of the pros and cons:

PROS
* Comes in a variety of colors- red, persimmon, lemon, pink, blue
* My opinion- it's not as clunky as some of the other fitness trackers- Admirers have even mistaken mine for a trendy piece of jewelry
* Smart Coach daily insights and challenge messages encourage me to take more steps or get more sleep and tell me how I've been doing with respect to my goals
* Daily health tidbits linked to full articles are tailored to your preferences. As you click on the articles, Up sends you more articles like the ones you've clicked on, favorited or flagged in the past.
*Definitely makes me more aware of the number of steps I am taking per day and makes me more active. I've even found myself looking for reasons to run up or downstairs if it's nearing bed time and I am way below my goal.
* It only has to be recharged about once a week. I think I plug mine in once every 5 or 6 days for a matter of minutes, and before long, it buzzes to alert me that it's fully charged.

CONS
*After about three weeks, I regularly ignored some of the alerts like the buzz telling me I haven't moved for thirty minutes (That's a user problem though!)
*Some syncing issues with My Fitness Pal have prevented me from keeping Up linked with MFP. It seems to calculate workouts twice.
*I forget to put it in sleep mode...although most of the time, if you enter sleep manually, it adjusts and can pretty accurately track when I've been awake in the middle of the night or when I've been in a deep sleep. (Again, another problem that stems with the user!)

If I had to choose, I'd go with the Up all over again! Cheers to an active weekend!