The Official Gym & Fitness Thread

That's a lot.


Also damn you're old.

 

I ain’t doin sets of 43 with the bar. Fuck that.

 

Older, no wiser.

 

As someone who's running a 50 mile race only because I agreed to while I was drunk, I think those who agree to do shit they know is stupid are the ones with the mental problems. Not the other way around.

































Be Well

Happy 43rd Old Man
Now I dare you to drink 43 beers.
If you throw up you have to start over.

 

100% you are right. I don’t even think I could do 43 samplers at this point...lol. Thanks for the birthday wishes ...

 

I'm pretty sure I couldn't either.

I quit doing brewfests because it was basically just like beer shots and the carbonation would build up and yeah... I'm done doing that.

 

And yet they say we do stupid shit on our own..yeah..

Look on the plus side, at least you ain't my age

 

@PackCon did you end up getting a Garmin watch? If so which one? Amazon has the Instinct for $150 right now

 

No, I have a Coros Apex. I deliberately avoid Garmin products.

 

lol whats your hate on garmin?

 

You want the cliff notes or the Ted Talk version? lol

I don't like any company that dominates a particular market. It reduces competition and typically means a sub-par product over time.

When I was getting my watch I knew I wanted to get into ultras, so I needed a watch that has reliable battery life. Garmin got consistent complaints for reduced battery life as the product aged. I also owned a Forerunner (hate that name) in the past and the battery life dwindled with age. I wanted a watch that would last in GPS mode for a minimum of 50 hours.

Coros has the best battery life of any other brand on the market and they got very good reviews. The Apex I got for like $300. The only comparable Garmin was the Fenix 6, which supposedly was going to have awesome battery life. But it was a brand new model, so no reviews and it ran over $600. So I went Coros.

I have a love affair with my watch. I never take it off. Except for 2 hours every 3 weeks to charge it.

Garmin has a cult following. People overall really like their Garmins and are brand loyal. They have a lot of different models that can be a good price point depending on the features you want. I hear their apps interface is fancier, hooks to their website for more analytics, and you have better mapping options on the higher end models.

Do use caution when buying Garmin products from Amazon (another company I boycott). There are a lot of counterfeit items on Amazon. When I was looking at Garmin reviews on Amazon it came up frequently that when it came to making warranty claims on the products they contacted Garmin and found out it was a fake and not covered. It was clear reading the reviews which sellers were problems.

DCRainmaker on Youtube reviews like every single watch. He did a comparison of a Coros, Garmin, and I think a Suunto or Polar on like an open water swim. He talked about how the swimming features work with GPS and the difference in tracking. Unsure if you are wanting this to be a swim/surf watch.

He also posts deals on his site too for each watch. His site was how I got my watch cheap on black Friday.

Unsure of who your medical insurance company is but Anthem/BCBS will sometimes have reduced priced fitness watches through them. Garmin is a popular company for discounts.

 

Obviously I don't run so I don't really need 90% of it's features. I really only want the heart rate and health metrics tracking that it may do. I probably wouldn't wear this one as a surf watch because no tide. They have a solar surf one but it's like $450 and I have a G-Shock that I use as my surf watch with tide. I really just wanted a new watch as I broke my apple watch a couple months ago and my wrist feels weird without one now. I'm thinking about just ordering this Instinct since it's only $150 and I can always return it if I don't like it. It's sold from the Garmin store on Amazon so I'm not worrying about it being a fake.

 

$150 is not a bad price point if you just want the health metrics.

Garmin pairs well with other products and 3rd party apps.

I will say what sucks about mine is I can't link my watch to most apps or websites so I can't get a steps discount on my health insurance or like do step competitions at work because nothing pairs with Coros. Got 50,000 steps yesterday, if I can't brag about it to people at work does it really matter?

 

Not just insurance, but also your place of employment might.

I work for and am insured by BCBS (not Anthem though; short version is most states are independent and can set their own rules on that stuff). Insurance wise, I can get $300 of my gym membership reimbursed at 100% end of year. I think that might offer something for specific home equipment but don't hold me to that.

As an employer, I can claim back up to $600 a year (again, 100% back) for some stuff like treadmills, fitness trackers, etc. Has to be bought new though.

 

I have Aetna. I get ads every so often about getting a "free" apple watch, but it's like 2 versions back if you do the daily/monthly fitness things. If I'm getting another apple watch I'm not getting an old version. I haven't seen anything about any other activity tracker type watches. Also, I'm not committed to anything ever so I'd end up slacking and having to pay anyway lol. While free is nice, it's not something I want badly enough and it's something I can afford so I'm not that worried about it.

 

True but with mine if you just buy the tracker you get the $$ back even if you aren't wearing it and logging in. Worth a gander at least.

 

I'll take another look into it. I can get the newest Apple watch but I have to pay an upfront fee (idk what it is I never looked) but I don't think I want another Apple watch. I want something I can wear with anything and do anything with it. I never felt comfortable taking it in the ocean or doing anything other than day to day activities with it. The Garmin I could definitely wear surfing and what not. I'd consider doing the log tracker thing if it got me that Garmin Instinct Surf model though

 

I bought a Fitbit Charge HR several years ago..basic thing but does all I need of it. Waterproof wasn't a need though..I just take it off before I jump in my pool haha

 

Nick Bare is apparently copying me. Him and his coach are using the Maffetone Method now (MAF Method).

Just want to say I was into Saucony's and MAF before him.

 

You should reach out to him and try to meet him.