Mywellness key in print!

For the last 10 days I've been out of action with a nasty virus and ear infection so I'm sorry to say my key hasn't seen much use. Whilst recovering I've been keen to see what's happening in the world of health and was interested to hear about a new trial starting involving the MWK - I'll pass on more details and the results as I get them.
Word about mywellness key is obviously spreading! My boss, Anna Daniels (Director of DFG) recently met up with actress Linzi Peel who starred in the hit tv series “The Only Way Is Essex”. Over coffee Anna and Linzi discussed health and fitness matters and, after seeing how Anna uses hers to keep a track of her daily activity levels, Linzi is now the proud owner of her own key. Looking and feeling fit is obviously important to someone in the public eye but, with hectic schedules to stick to, regular exercise programmes are not always feasible. Read what Linzi has to say about using her mywellness key in her online "Styled" magazine at  http://www.styledmagazine.co.uk/linzi.html

Getting used to MWK

I’ve now been using mywellness key for a few weeks now and am quite used to wearing it on a daily basis. I don’t even think about putting it on first thing in the morning – I’ve found the best way to remember it is to leave it in my dressing gown pocket overnight and then it’s recording moves from the minute I leap (!) out of bed. It’s been quite interesting making a note of what activities clock up the greatest number of moves. This morning I didn’t have much time to exercise and set up a simple circuit at home which consisted of step ups, lunges, squats, skipping, shoulder press (got to start thinking about those arms as it won’t be long before we’ll be wearing vest tops – hopefully!) and some abdominal work. Before using the key I could only guess at how hard I was working based on how much I sweated and how out of breath I was but now I can use the key to monitor how many moves I accumulate. Today a workout that cost me nothing and which I didn’t have to leave home for notched up over 500 moves – all done by 10am – not a bad start to the day...

All Change

What a difference a week makes! I have worn mywellness key for 7 days and it has registered the fact the I have been achieving 500 moves and more quite easily. This clever little stick has taken into account my daily move result as well as additional exercise sessions I have manually entered via the pc and come up with a move target of 1275. I was surprised how much it had risen from the initial 500 and am now interested to see how difficult it will be for me to achieve this on a daily basis. From now on the target will change every 24 hours so will vary depending on my activity levels. I know that some days this may prove a little tricky as at the moment a lot of my work is sedentary and I find myself sitting in front of the computer for several hours just like thousands of other people whose work doesn't allow them to move around. I'll let you know how I get on...

My First Week

                 

7 days after first plugging in my new mywellness key and reading the Technogym manual I’m pleasantly surprised to say it’s been plain sailing. The key initially set me a goal of 500 moves per day and I have been managing to achieve that without too much effort – it’s obviously much easier on the days that I exercise as I was clocking up over 700 moves on a short run.

Being a results driven type of person 2 things about the key appeal to me:

1 – the fact that the visual display shows me exactly how much I’ve done and how much more I need to do to reach my target

2 -  the software package allows me to track my progress and see how much activity I have been doing on an ongoing basis.

At first I had to keep reminding myself to wear my key but after a few days it became habit and I put it on immediately after getting up so I don’t miss a step! I have also used the pc package to manually enter running and swimming sessions that I had done without the key. This was easy to do and quite pleasing to see my activity building up on the display.

I have to admit that the mywellness key is definitely making me more aware of my activity levels and motivating me to do more. As my activity level increases the key adjusts my daily goal - I'm sure that next week the target number of moves will increase and that I'm going to have some hard work to do...

Me and Daniels Fitness Group

Having been a Personal Trainer since 1999 I have enjoyed training a wide variety of clients, all of them with different needs, goals, personalities and ideas on what a healthy lifestyle should be. I became a member of the team at Daniels Fitness Group (DFG) just after qualifying when Anna Daniels (Director of DFG) encouraged me to use my skills and knowledge to train clients in need of health and fitness advice. Over the years I gained confidence and experience and moved on to leading a team of trainers and managing one of our busy corporate gyms in London before relocation forced me to relinquish the job I loved. Initially supplying Personal Trainers to private clients, the company has expanded, changed direction and now focuses on providing corporate health solutions. One thing remains the same though – every client is unique and so is our service.

I'm glad to say I'm still working for DFG from my office at home and look forward to our daily phone calls wondering what my next challenge will be...

New Challenge

So, here it is, my next challenge and what an exciting one! DFG have teamed up with fitness equipment providers Technogym to launch their brand new product the mywellness key - I have just received mine in the post. This innovative tool aims to encourage the nation to become more physically active and ultimately healthier.

It looks a little like a pedometer and is worn on your belt but does so much more than just counting steps – it measures your level of activity throughout the day. The key sets you a goal to achieve which is reached by filling the white lines on the display screen: as you become more active the goal is adjusted and becomes higher therefore ensuring you are constantly challenged.

The key comes complete with a usb adaptor allowing it to be plugged into your computer for charging and to download data. You can also plug it into any Technogym equipment during your workout to record your activity. The software package is comprehensive and shows just what you have done and when – there is also information on diet and other lifestyle factors.

My key is charging at the moment – can’t wait to get started…