Why I Wear My Garmin All Day Long

Please enjoy the following guest blog post by Garmin Ambassador Kati Keenan.

It wasn’t until this summer that I started wearing my sports watch all day and to be honest it wasn’t my choice to start. We had a summer step challenge at work and if you know anything about me, you know that I’m just a little competitive. I quickly found out that my runs weren’t enough steps to keep me in the game. So the watch went on and the tan line on my left wrist began to stand out more and more every day. Also, let’s be honest here, the vívoactive HR watch looks good with just about everything. Even your everyday work clothes.

Here are the 3 major benefits that I have noticed over the last few months by wearing my Garmin watch.

The amount I move and don’t move:

This has become extremely important to me on rest days. I try to stay off my feet as much as possible and having my watch on me at all times helps hold me accountable. So many days we are “resting” but really walking around/doing other active things that aren’t truly letting our bodies take full advantage of rest. During training, rest is so important. The watch helps remind me to slow down on these days. I typically try to stay around 5k to 7k steps on my rest days.

Keeping active and moving throughout the day:

The “Move” feature quickly became my best and my worst enemy as the days of summer rolled by. I honestly never knew how much I actually sat during a given day. You can clear your move bar with just about 250 steps. This seems so easy but a simple walk to the bathroom and back doesn’t do the trick. So I made a promise to myself, every time that watch buzzed I was on my feet (when I could). A few times I actually had people ask me if I was “lost” or who I was looking for. “Oh no one, just getting my steps in. Want me to take yours for a spin?”

Monitoring heart rate activity.

This is something that I have never done and has recently sparked an interest. Whether I’m just sitting at my desk, feeling a little anxious, or perhaps drank too much coffee that morning, it has been fascinating to watch the patterns my heartrate experiences throughout the day. There are also some awesome features within the Garmin app to look at your heart rate details. This includes your range for the day as well as times where your heart rate peaks. You can even look at a more detail view minute by minute of your heartrate stats.

I thought once the step challenge had ended at work I would stop wearing my Garmin watch. But here I am, weeks later still wearing it every day to work. It’s the subtle reminder throughout the day to go on a walk or even just take a lap around the office. I have honestly felt so much more focused at work when I get up from my desk and take walking breaks. It’s the little things throughout the day that remind us to get moving and to beat yesterday.