Review: Polar M400

Hey guys!

I'm here to review the Polar M400 today. Ever since the introduction of Instagram and social media, people have been jumping on the bandwagon to get into the habit of keeping healthy and fit. I've had my polar ft70 for the past 5 years, and I figured it was time for a change. I've been eyeing on watches that don't just count calories burned but calculates the distance ran, monitoring different workouts and how hard you've pushed yourself. Enter the Polar M400.

I've been a huge fan of Polar ever since I've gotten into the habit of running. I know there are several other brands like Garmin that also specialise in sports watches, but Polar's price range is much more reasonable and in addition I enjoy switching my exercises up. I do enjoy running but I was looking for a watch that could determine how hard I worked out during any type of exercise.

I think the beauty of the M400 is that it does almost anything you could ask for. Although it's not a touch screen watch, it is waterproof, has a running programme, recovery status AND gets alerts for your incoming calls, received messages and push notifications! The watch has an internal GPS which monitors how far you've ran, and although it does take a little while for the GPS sensor to pick up, everything else works perfect. 

It creates automatic laps for you so you're aware of how long you take for each km/mile and at the end of each session, tells you how far you've ran, the calories burned and the duration taken. If you hit the down button, it'll tell you your fat percentage burned (something I don't really take into account but it's good for those that do), your cadence and your running index (which helps you to monitor the quality of your runs).

If you're like me and you enjoy HIIT sessions or anything other than outdoor running, polar allows you to create your own unique sports profiles to ensure optimum tracking. This way you're able to really know how hard you've worked, and you can review your intensity levels online after you've synced your device or on the watch, which tells you how long you've been in each zone. It's also great when you're midway working and you find yourself not pushing as hard as you'd like. There are profiles like outdoor sports, bootcamp and circuit training.

The M400 keeps track of your daily activity. The little boxes beside the dates are workouts that you've done each day, and this serves as a small motivation to get your butt out of the house to earn those squares! It's really satisfying to see majority of your days with little boxes beside them, and I'm sure you'd feel the same way too :)

You'll also be able to track your 'active time' and total calories burnt for the entire day (that is if you wear the watch even after your workout), in addition to the number of steps taken. It's amazing how I have to actually exercise to hit a miserable 8000 steps... Do I spend most of my time sitting down!? (The average person is suppose to take 10,000 steps a day) And although almost every other fitness watch does track this, the M400 just has added bonuses which makes this an overall great watch to own.

One of the few things I really love about the M400 and Polar is how you're able to see if you're improving and to keep up with goals you've set for yourself. The running index gives you valuable information about your maximal aerobic running performance and the calculation is based on heart rate and speed data measured during a run.

So whether you’re training for a specific goal or just running to keep fit and healthy, seeing progress is usually what keeps us motivated. With the Running Index report online you can easily monitor your progress and see how your running performance develops over time. You can also link it up to MyFitnessPal (iOS only) to keep track of your nutrition.

Charging is simple. Like a smartphone, plug the wire from the back of the watch into a port and charge for about 3-4 hours. The battery lasts for about a week which is pretty amazing in my opinion.

The only con I can think of (apart from the slightly longer time it takes to pick up GPS) is the one/two times I've encountered an issue when doing burpees. My wrist presses the top left hand button causing the backlight to light up. But it's not that big of a deal, and only happens from time to time.

The Polar M400 comes in black, blue, pink and white. I initially ordered a white one off amazon but for some reason got the black one instead. After much contemplation I realised the black would be better cos the white may turn yellow after a while. It's a tad bit too masculine for me (I'm not really able to use it as a day to day watch) but if it means it'll last longer, I'm all for having chunky wrists. 

The Polar M400 does require you to have the polar heart rate monitor (HRM) and strap (not pictured), which can be bought together or separately. I got mine separately so I'm not too sure if you'd require the bluetooth HRM or the normal one for the M400. Do check before purchasing!

The Polar M400 retails from £119 with the HRM on Amazon and £92.80 without. If you can find 2nd hand watches at almost brand new condition, go for those! Save your money.

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I hope this review helps anyone thinking of getting a fitness watch. It's not the prettiest out there, but it certainly does the job if you're looking for an all rounder watch that tracks almost any workout you do, and the zones you're in during your exercise.

Love

thehungryunicorn

Trib3: More than just a workout

Ever since I've been more occupied with school work, I've gotten hooked onto the idea of high intensity interval training (HIIT). For those of you that need a little breakdown on what HIIT is, it comprises of doing high intensity exercises that shoot your heart rate up for a short period of time 5-7 mins) for a number of rounds for 30-45 minutes. 

Being in a smaller city like Sheffield, you rarely find boutique gyms as you would in London which specialise in good HIIT sessions. One of the reasons I've been on the lookout for such a place is because I've attended Barry's Bootcamp in London and I loved it. Think doing the shaun T insanity workout but suffering with 30 other people in the room - it's that intense and that much more motivating. I'm not too sure if that means I'm a masochist (i hope not!) but recreating that feeling with home workouts sometimes just doesn't cut it. In addition my wallet always felt much lighter after attending each session @ barry's -cue sad music for wallet-

So I stumbled across TRIB3 on my way home one day and did a little google search on it. Located just above Sainsbury's along Eccessall Road, this boutique gym recently opened in January 2016. From the website itself, TRIB3 prides itself in being a bootcamp gymnasium where 'we savour the pain'. Perfect! Booked in for my free trial class over the weekend and off I went.

I'm a sucker for interior design, and I loved how modern and chic the interior looked. They have a main counter where you register, purchase your post-workout smoothie if you wish (£4 onwards) and they also provide towels (£1 for rental) for you to rent. Walking past the 'hall of fame' (or shame if you died in there like I did), polaroids of people who have participated are plastered on the wall and leads into the open bar concept, where you pick up your post-workout smoothie. They also have a seating area for you to chill before/after class.

The toilet has 2 wash areas so you're free to bath after your workout, but the most pleasant surprise was when I was told that they provided toiletries for your use! This means no need to bring shampoo, conditioner or even body wash. They also provide lockers for your use and hairdryers and straighteners too. Btw, can we have a moment for these gorgeous white tiles against these brick walls?

The basic idea involves 3 types of exercises for 5 minutes each, twice, followed by a 3 minute blast before you end your workout. The first 3 letters of the gym- TRI, stand for something more than just the name itself. T stands for treadmill. Yes, the dreaded thing that many of us battle with at the gym. R stands for resistance, which comprises mostly of dumbbells, strength exercises for the core and back and a high threshold for pain. The last, I, stands for intensity. If you think treadmills are hell (they are in this scenario), intensity is just as bad. Think doing burpees, jump squats, mountain climbers and high knees within 5 minutes.

To be honest, each section felt like the longest 5 minutes of my life, and each type of exercise was just as tiring as the next. George was the one leading the trial class, and if there's one thing that keeps a class running it's a good, motivated instructor - and he was great. 45 minutes felt like 60 minutes, mountain climbers felt like I was climbing mount everest itself, sprinting felt like I was flying, but the rush of endorphins you get that is madness. I'm pretty sure everyone was happy it was over, and happier that they did it.

They even provide sweatbags for you to dump your clothes in!:)

I would say HIIT is best for people who want a quick but good workout that involves cardio and strength (depending on which kind of HIIT you do but most will involve getting your heart rate up to about 80% of your max heart rate). Some health junkies even claim that the after-burn (in terms of calories, if you'd like to know) is much higher than if you were to run on the treadmill for, say, an hour. This means that even if you don't burn as much in 45 mins as you do in 60 mins, the after effects would be that your body continues to burn more calories than usual. How much truth there is to it, it's up to your body to show you the results!

From their website, TRIB3 is set to open in Krynkl (Shalesmoor) in Sheffield and to neighbouring city Manchester. Just to add I wasn't paid nor sponsored for this review, I'm writing simply because I love what TRIB3 has offered to us in Sheffield and I'd like to spread the word about it :) Their introductory offer is £6/class and £70 for 10 classes + 2 free classes at the moment. I'd like to think that is reasonable, especially for the upkeep of such a place.

If you'd like to try it out, they're still offering trial classes every weekend and all you've gotta do is head on to their site or download their app, sign up and register yourself for a class! I promise it will be worth it. Join the tribe.

TRIB3

557 Ecclesall Road Sheffield, S11 8PR
Classes run from 6.30am on weekdays and 9.15am on weekends
Find them on Facebook, twitter, on their website and instagram