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ARTGIRL35
8/15/05 10:44 P
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| I think the tracker works great
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| I'm afraid I do, despite its shortcomings, because it's the first one that I've come across that's actually useful. I'd love to see more exercise options, using machines, for example, and the ability to keep track of weight and number of sets. Dreaming on...
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The new tracker is very handy. It is so easy to ask for a new workout so I don't get bored. There are a few things like pushups that my wrists won't allow but there are plenty of substitues for that.
Bonus - the ability to print this out.
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| Thanks for the input. I may just purchase one before Monday which is when I plan to start my new fitness program (Mari Winsor's accelerated body sculpting for maximum weight loss for 10 weeks). It recommends daily cardio of 36-60 minutes.
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SPARK_COACH_JEN
7/13/05 10:32 A
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Ria,
I'm sorry the tracker doesn't account for those calories. One option you have is to wear a heart rate monitor. That's one of the best ways to know how many calories you are burning.
Coach Jen
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| Ok Coach Jen. The bottom line with me is that I know when I am finished with my stretching program (The 5 day stretch program of THE FIRM) PLUS my 20 minute Pilates work out I have definitely burned some calories. How do I know this? I am breathing heavy. I am perspiring. Calories are expended. Over a week, the number can amount to a significant chunk of my target calories, not just bonus. Unfortunately, SP can't track these yet.
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SPARK_COACH_JEN
7/12/05 1:20 P
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Ria,
Although the calories burned through cardio are also estimates, it's easier to get closer on those than you could with strength training for example. There are many other factors involved there- how hard you are working, how many reps/sets you do, how much rest you take in between sets, etc.- that would all affect the calories burned. There are a lot less variables when it comes to cardio.
Coach Jen
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TRUEACSAH
7/12/05 12:18 P
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| Hi Coach Jen, The same argument you gave applies for cardio too though. And as for stretching, I think it depends on what kind of stretching. Using the calorie counter tool provided in the fitness resources of SP, I find that i attain calorie targets of the day if I do Pilates and stretching.
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SPARK_COACH_JEN
7/11/05 11:58 A
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Hi Ria!
Thanks for the feedback. We hope to incorporate a stretching section into the Fitness Plans in the future. You really don't burn a lot of calories from stretching, so it shouldn't be too significant. As for Pilates and strength training, the calories burned vary widely from person since there's no way to measure how hard you are working compared to someone else.
I just consider those to be "bonus" calories!
Hope that helps!
Coach Jen
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TRUEACSAH
7/10/05 12:58 P
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| I wish there were a way that the fitness trackers count calories expended by my "other exercises" such as stretching and Pilates and not just the cardio exercises which are already programmed into the tracker. In the fitness section, I found that those activities burned a certain amount of calories, but unfortunately, they may not be counted with the current tracker, and therefore may not be included in my goal tracking and/or sparkpoints!!! Wish there was a way you could integrate these two services SP has.
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HOLIDAYBOWL
6/21/05 1:12 P
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Ok, I take back the first part of what I said. The tech people were nice enough to correct this error in the scheduling. I guess it's a work in progress.
Thanks again for your help, Jeremy.
Kris
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HOLIDAYBOWL
6/20/05 4:34 P
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Mine doesn't seem to work very well. I have my strength training scheduled for Sundays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays, but my exercises still appear on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Then they don't appear on Saturdays.
It's sort of tedious to change it to customize my own strength training routine (in addition to removing those that incorrectly appear on "off days"). It would be nice if there were some way to save my strength training exercises - or at least have the next day of strength training list the same exercises as the previous day's by default.
Kris
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Thanks!
I SWEAR that when I tried yesterday it didn't work -- but it does now. (I probably did something weird.)
Anyway, thanks!!! :)
~Heather
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| If you click onto the exercise you have entered, it will bring up the edit cardio page.
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Hi again,
Can you make corrections to cardio sessions that you entered? I tried but couldn't figure out how to do this... thanks!
~Heather
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SPARK_COACH_JEN
5/18/05 9:51 A
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Paolina,
One of our future "enhancements" will be the ability to add your own exercises. Right now you can't put your "other exercises" in, but we hope to change that in the future!
Coach Jen
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I reset my goals but can't find a way of putting back my "other exercises" on the "Fitness" page. I'm more interested in getting the exercises back than the fact that I now have five fewer points I can earn in a day but, if I were feeling competitive this month, it would make a quite a difference.
I'm also finding it a bit frustrating having to enter custom exercises every time but I should imagine this is something which will be changed as time passes.
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Hi Coach Jen,
Thanks for the quick response!
The post you responded to wasn't written by me -- it was written by my 'evil twin' -- the one who is VERY spoiled and set in her ways and doesn't want to try new things.  I looked more at the tracker and have to say that there are some nice features there. The demos are great! I think this will come in handy on those days when I work out at home.
My 'evil twin' would STILL would like the things mentioned in the earlier post though --  especially the ability to add custom exercises and to work out different body parts on consecutive days...
Thanks again!
SP ROCKS!
~Heather
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SPARK_COACH_JEN
5/17/05 1:59 P
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IM,
I'm sorry you are frustrated with the new tracker. The first two things you want to do- add your own exercises and split up your workout- are capabilities we will be adding at some point.
If you have to switch the day you weight train, could you just go back to yesterday and add it in? That way you would still know how much you are doing on a weekly basis, the days would just be a little off.
You should be able to do the same things with this program that you did with the old one- this just adds more features.
Thanks for the feedback!
Coach Jen
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I'm FRUSTRATED with the new Fitness Tracker!
1) I work out at the gym on the weight machines and I can't add my routine to this tracker.
2) It won't let me do upper body one day and lower body the next -- it just gives an error message saying something about not doing weights on consecutive days.
3) If I start running out of time one day and have to switch and do my weights the next day I have to go into the set-up mode again -- is there an easier way to do this? (Do I have to go into set-up everytime I want to change it?)
I have to admit, I liked it MUCH better before when I could just check off what I did on a particular day...
Thanks in advance,
~Heather
:)
P.S. There doesn't seem to be a way to customize your routine and save it to your favorites. That would be SO much easier than re-entering it every time! IS there a way to do this?
P.P.S. I don't mean to complain -- I LOVE Spark People! This new Fitness Tracker just isn't working for me. I would GREATLY appreciate any suggestions on how to make it more 'customizable' -- thanks!!!
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SPARK_COACH_JEN
5/16/05 9:38 A
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Ali is exactly right. You can still see the whole week with the new plans.
Coach Jen
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| If you click the "Print Cardio Tracked" button at the bottom of the cardio page, it shows you everything you've done for the week.
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MY3ANGELSMOM
5/16/05 1:22 A
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I believe the Sparkpeople will come up with something to show the week. They can do anything!
Come on SparkPeople, do you know we believe in you?! 
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WENDYFELS
5/11/05 11:46 P
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I liked the other one a whole lot better than this one. This one is not inspiring me at all.
I liked seeing my whole week's worth of working out in front of me.
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| I like the tracker, but seeing the week as a whole helped me---
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KTBSPA2001
5/11/05 10:35 A
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| i like the new Fitness Tracker but think it would be better if you could add the exercise to each day at the same time like the old tracker, but with the new one you have to click on the new day before you can add exercises!!
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| Like others have mentioned, I would love to see a way to enter steps per day. Also, I have a gym workout routine I like to stick to; many of the exercises aren't in the list so I can't get "credit" for them. It would be great if I could save my routine as a "favorite" so the next time I need to enter my upper body workout exercises, I can choose the routine from my favorites and it populate that day's exercise list.
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| Yup, being able to print out the work outs is great. I was surprised to see that it also prints out the demo photos.
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| Thank you for the "Print Cardio Tracked" button. I think it is a good compromise between the old and the new cardio pages.
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| I like the new one. It really keeps me on my toes and trying new things.
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| I was also thinking about the step tracking. I have a pedometer now!
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| It would be good if we could register the number of steps taken during the day on the fitness tracker. Some days it isn't possible to do a "workout" but, by taking more steps during the day, we are still being active.
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If you would like to see the cardio you have tracked during the week, you can now do so by clicking the "Print Cardio Tracked" button on the fitness page. This button will give you the ability to see the entire week's cardio on one page.
Jeremy
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| Overall, I really like the tracker. My life is kind of hectic (school, work, community involvement). While I do get in my 3 day of cardio & (trying to get some) strength training. But the days I make it to the gym are always changing. I feel guily if I miss the 'right' day & doing it on the 'wrong' day doesn't seem to fix it. I wish I had a weekly 'countdown.'
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| Would it be possible to at least add an extra bar graph to the fitness reports showing minutes of exercise per day? The number of calories burned per session could be typed inside each column, the way they are in the current cardio report graph. (Or vice versa: graph the calories burned and type the minutes in each bar.) That would be a good compromise between the people who prefer the one-day-at-a-time view and the people who need to see the whole week to stay motivated.
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SOONERSUNFIRE
4/28/05 10:54 P
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I don't know, I'm kind of torn about the new tracker. I love the new look, and like many others, I really like being told what to do. I don't have a problem with not seeing the whole week - actually, I find it less intimidating that way - and if I want to know what's coming up, I just switch to a different day. It hasn't been a big deal at all.
That said, I do wish that there were more options for customization. Such as putting in gym machines, or making your "customized" workout stay put from week to week. I don't like having to change the exercises every time either.
Maybe there could be some way of ranking - or not allowing - certain exercises. For instance, if you could pick your top 5 exercises for each body part, it would be no problem for the plan to rotate through those 5 from workout to workout. I don't know how practical that is, just an idea.
Thanks for listening!
Soonersunfire
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ARIELLEHEMP
4/28/05 4:27 P
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Like Paolina, I also do weight training on machines at my gym. I think it would be great if you could customize and save your fitness routine like you do with the food database.
When I circuit train I do 5 minutes on the treadmill then 3 machines, back to the treadmill, etc... I have 3 different workouts I do- upper, lower, and core. I usually end up walking a mile and a half, in between machines.
I've always thought the circuit training selection gave me more calories burned credit than I was actually earning...I know nothing is perfect, but I'd love to think it was more in the ballpark!
-Arielle
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I agree with Paolina it's a pain to have to customize each weighted day instead of it staying the way you changed it. And none of the "routines" really match what I do so I have to change it in order to track my weighted workout. I still say seeing the week total is the way to go. That way you push yourself. I know it does a running total but like it was mentioned If I'm not reminded of what I did on x day I don't push as much as I could.
Jamie
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I'm enjoying the new tracker. I can see where it might cause problems for some people, but I'm the type that just wants to be told what to do. However if I don't like an exercise, or want something without weights, I love being able to change it with a couple clicks. Oh, and it looks cool, too. :)
For those that preferred the week view, remember the reports are still available.
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I like the new tracker but would prefer to be able to put in my own exercises because I use the machines at the gym for my weight training.
I'm also having a problem at the moment because the changes I make [I'm using the Spark exercises closest to the ones I do] only stay for the current session, which means I have to customise them every time.
There are always some glitches with a new program and, once they are ironed out, I think it will be good.
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| The only thing that I don't like about the new Fitness Tracker is that I can only see one day of exercise at a time. Being able to see the entire week helps to motivate me to get out and exercise more. If I can't see on Friday that I skipped a workout on Monday and Tuesday, I might forget that I missed those days and not meet my goal of exercising 5 days a week. Please please please bring back the week-at-a-glance feature on the fitness tracker!
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Coach Jen,
Thanks for clearing that up for me. I appreciate your reply.
Sherrie_G
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SPARK_COACH_JEN
4/22/05 2:24 P
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Sherrie,
The reason it doesn't automatically change every 4-6 weeks is that some people like to change more frequently, so it give the flexibility for you to change whenever you are ready. The reason it doesn't give calories burned for strength training is because those vary widely depending on how fit you are, how much muscle you have, etc. So to give an estimate would not be accurate.
Hope that helps! Sorry I couldn't give you better answers!
Coach Jen
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I have 2 views. First, I like the new Fitness Tracker because it gives you strength training exercises to do. I like that...tell me what to do & I'll do it. I wish when it was time to change things up (4 to 6 weeks) that it would automatically give you a whole new set of exercises to do. (Maybe it does - I haven't gotten that far, of course, but I'm under the impression that you have to change them yourself). Second, what I don't like, is that it doesn't give you calories burned for each set that you do, once you check it off. Other than that, I think it's a good way to change up your routine. Again, I wish it would automatically give you a new set of strength training exercises every 4 to 6 weeks.
Sherrie_G
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I don't like it either and have a lot more motivation seeing my weekly progress then day to day. I really found myself pushing to get more with the old set up. I also am way to flustrated with how long it takes to change the weight lifting to the exercises I do. The site hangs up frequently and 10 minutes later I've only added a couple of the ones I want to use. Sorry I know change and all but if it's flustrating to use and not motivating is it really working? Sorry I see what you were trying to do, but I think it might need some tweaking. I wish I could go back to the old set up and wish I hadn't changed it either. And sometimes more isn't always better, just more. I would like to point out I really appreciate everything that's done on this site and love that you're trying new ideas. I also realize you're not going to please all the people all the time,but input is important.
Thanks!
Jamie
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| I love the fitness tracker. It is easy to use and a great motivator.
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SP_COACH_JOE
4/16/05 3:58 P
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Hey Pixie... that's a very interesting point, you have me thinking about how much this really effects us! Do you have any other thoughts?
"Coach" Joe
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| Thanks Coach Jen. I don't mean to sound harsh. It just seems that whenever I get in a routine with something someone changes it and then I have to spend lots of time getting used to it again. Then it changes again. I guess that's life though right?
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SPARK_COACH_JEN
4/14/05 3:57 P
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Hi Pixie!
I know that change can be a little frustrating sometimes, but I hope you'll give this new feature a chance! Although it might take a little time at first, I think it's just as good as our previous tracker (with the same capabilities) except there's even more you can do with it!!
Let me know if you need any help with it!
Coach Jen
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Ok I don't want to be mean here but I hate the new tracker. It's going to take me FOREVER to choose exercises I like (especially since I'm not familiar with the "correct" names for them). It won't let me do strength training two days in a row for different body parts and I don't like to do total body in one day it's just too much for me. I can't go back to the old way and it totally erased all my exercise tracking for the whole time I've been on SP-over a year! I was able to re-enter this weeks exercise but I think it's a bit off. Also I like to see my progress week to week instead of day to day. I'm probably going to abandon tracking it here altogether and just start a calendar I guess. I hope this doesn't sound too harsh as I know you all have put lots of time and effort into setting this thing up and I'm sure it will work well for many people. I just don't want to avoid giving feedback especially if there are others out there who aren't happy with it. Thanks for listening!
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