Keith has had the Nike Plus for a few years now. His enthusiasm goes in waves; sometimes he uses it religiously, and other times (probably when he's not training as hard) he can take it or leave it. When he does use it, he really enjoys uploading his runs and tracking the stats about how far he ran in each month, when he ran fastest and slowest during each month, etc.Knowing of his interaction with the Nike Plus, an article on Wired caught my eye the other week, titled "The Nike Experiment: How the Shoe Giant Unleashed the Power of Personal Metrics." The article discusses how seeing and analyzing the workout data motivates people to keep going. In particular, I found the reference to the Hawthorne Effect, where workers performed better just because they knew they were being watched, fascinating.
I would say that this blog is a form of the Hawthorne Effect. I put it out there to the world when I have running or weight loss goals, or all of my various New Year's resolutions. And whether anyone happens to read the post or not, I think I'm being watched, so it gives me motivation to keep to my goals.
I don't think I want to get a Nike Plus; I already have the desire to run. Maybe I need to get something that counts calories as I consume them, and then tweets them out to the universe. Or have surveillance cameras installed in the kitchen. Just the thought makes me shudder!
4 comments:
www.everydayhealth.com
Since January 1, 2009 I have been tracking everything I put in my mouth and all of my workouts using their calorie counter. It holds me accountable and I like to see my progress, which I am proud to say has been 20 POUNDS!
It tracks your average daily calories, fat, sodium, sugar, etc. It also tracks your average minutes exercising per day and calories burned. There are certain averages I try to stay above/below and that keeps me motivated.
Try it for thirty days and see what you think...
I've wanted to do/get/be the Nike Plus thingie...I have the shoes, I have the iPod, I have the computer...there really is no reason why I haven't, other than laziness. Maybe I should do it, esp. after reading the comment above. I've gained a few pounds of fat, and I'm not happy about it. Hmmm...Nike Plus, here I come!!
I have the shoes but the wrong iPod. I've wondered how the program works. I ended up going with a different nutrition/exercise calculator for my PDA. I love it though! I really stay on track when I write it down.
Stacey: That's great! Congrats!! (You should check out Gege's blog, too:)
I have used fitday.com off and on for years to keep track of calories and exercise. The last time I actually lost weight, before our wedding, it was because of tracking EVERYTHING. I've never tried to keep above or below certain averages, though. I'll have to keep that in mind.
Gege: I find it hard to believe you gained any fat;) But I think you would like the Nike Plus!
Cat: When Keith had a Nano, he had some adapter thingie to use the Nike Plus. But it sounds like you found a program that works for you. Let me know how it goes!
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