I started exercising about 18 months ago. At the time, I could barely walk for an hour at 5.6km/h. Today, I routinely walk 10km in under 1h20m and I often walk 12, 14 or even 16km per day. While I do not expect to win any medals at the next Olympics, what really strikes me is that back when I was sixteen, it took me about 40 minutes to run 5km (yes, I know, I have never been an athlete). Now, thirty years later, I can walk faster for at least twice that distance. Sure, I am probably bit taller now and also slimmer, but still, it is quite astounding what you can achieve by exercising regularly, no matter your age.
What I have learned is that while it is obvious that exercising is key to improve your fitness, collecting data about your progress is equally important. That is where Withings comes into the picture. I bought their Wi-Fi scale last year and was so pleased by the results that I later bought their new Pulse Activity tracker. I now have access to all my data on my iPhone or on their web site. It is easy to see what works and what doesn’t. For example, I used to believe that playing soccer with my colleagues was equivalent to playing Paddle. It turns out that playing Paddle is much more demanding. I also never imagined how little exercise I did on a normal work day. I now try to never go to bed without having walked at least 10,000 steps. It used to be “No pain, no gain”, today it is more like “No information, no gain”.
Right now I feel better than ever and I do not believe I could have achieved it without proper monitoring. I am sure that competing products from Nike or Fitbit work also very well, but what I like about Withings is that they also have a scale and even a blood pressure monitor that complete the solution. I do not endorse products very often, but I am so pleased with these products, that I really felt I had to.