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I make myself exercise regularly and workout usually 5-6 times a week and have done for a while now. I want to feel better about myself and clearly, it’s good for my health so I make myself do it, but I certainly don’t enjoy it and I do spend half my day dreading having to do it!
I always like things to fit into my day easily and as unobtrusively as possible, so that it isn’t this major thing that I have to do hanging over my head. Whilst it’s been hot, I haven’t been able to do my usual Fitness Blender workouts — it’s been so hot in the room I work out in that I’m just exhausted immediately and feel awful. So I’ve been trying to just generally move a bit more throughout my day whilst I’m not doing my usual HIIT and strength workouts so I don’t lose all of my fitness and strength that I’ve built up since recovering from my surgery.
I’m trying my best to get more steps in, as obviously whilst being in lockdown I’m just at home for the vast majority of the time so I am doing way less than usual. We recently got a treadmill (an early birthday present!) so I have been running when I can ( I’m doing Couch25K reluctantly at the mo!) and just walking a lot when it’s too warm.
I don’t feel too great about myself at the moment — the surgery and HRT have had an effect on my body and even though I’m exercising a lot I’m finding it hard to get back to where I want to be and it’s affecting me quite a bit, so the little things that add up are really important for me at the moment.
Another thing I’ve started doing, and am enjoying it being a part of my day and that’s easy to fit in, is using my new Activ5, which is dubbed ‘A tiny gym in your pocket’. I was sent this interesting little gadget to review as it’s a great thing to use at home during this time when we are all at home more, in particular.
The Activ5 is a portable fitness device that encourages you to fit in some activity into your day for short bursts of time. It’s ideal for everyone of any fitness level, from those of us sat working at a desk all day, to older people who want to keep themselves active, to busy mums and dads. And it’s perfect for anyone travelling as well as it’s nice and small and the app has in-built workouts for doing in small spaces or when seated and travelling. It is even suitable for use by children and Ava has seen me using it and wanted to have a go.
You need a smartphone or tablet to use it with as it works with the associated app (plus the games apps if you want to use those) so you can pretty much do the effective quick workouts from anywhere.
I was pretty clueless about how it worked at first and didn’t exactly understand how this small thing that fits in the palm of my hand could provide me with an effective workout. But it’s actually pretty straightforward and easy to use and you can really feel it having an effect, and it’s quite fun too.
The Activ5 is a small handheld Bluetooth-enabled device that you exert pressure on alongside a short workout or game within the apps. It uses your own body as resistance in short burst isometric workouts, so you don’t need anything else. It uses gamification to work — your muscle contractions are held for a sustained period and applied along gamified tracking screens as you follow them as closely as you can.
It’s a really unique product, providing full-body toning from both sitting and standing positions, all whilst tracking results on the companion Activ5 coaching App. The device registers more than 200 lbs of force and is really durable, so it can take a lot!
The app features more than 100 unique workouts that are calibrated to your individual strength level, which is measured when you first start an exercise. It measures all sorts of data, such as strength, strength increases, precision and other personal metrics so it can help you reach your fitness goals, including increasing your strength by as much as 30% over 6 weeks working out just 15 minutes per day, or by 5% each week!
Isometric exercise is a form of exercise involving the static contraction of a muscle without any visible movement in the angle of the joint, such as planks or yoga poses. It works your muscles hard and can burn lots of calories and increase your strength.
Scientific research has proven that this type of exercise is one of the fastest and most efficient ways to build strength, accelerate fat burning and tone the body. Just five minutes of isometric exercise can be equivalent to 25 minutes of gym-machine exercises!
Studies have shown the benefits of isometrics include: increased energy, lowered blood pressure, weight loss, boosted endurance, reduced pain, as well as bad habit relief (such as smoking), among others. Medical studies have also found that exercise split into short segments throughout the day can deliver all the results of longer workouts while contributing to heart health, overall well-being and reducing the risk of disease, such as diabetes.
I find that it is so much easier to fit short bits of exercise into my day than one longer chunk, and it is less overwhelming that way too. Even if it’s just 5 minutes in the morning, at lunch and in the evening say, then that is an added 15 minutes of activity each day using the Activ5, and improving my health and fitness pretty easily.
It’s really quick and easy to set up the Activ5 for the first time; you just need your phone or tablet and the main Activ5 app downloaded and then you turn on the device and click to connect in the app, so it can find it using Bluetooth and then you can get started.
I’m not going to tell you about how I was an idiot and didn’t check the instructions and so downloaded the wrong app at first, and couldn’t work out why I couldn’t find the games or the workouts for doing on planes etc that I had read about. We’ll just pretend that didn’t happen, okay?
You can choose to work your whole body or focus on particular areas, as well as whether to follow short workouts within the app, or choose individual exercises such as squats and lunges to create your own routine. There are even yoga and pilates workouts, workouts that you can do easily whilst watching TV, in a hotel or in a car or on a plane or train, which I think are so useful.
If you choose the individual exercises then you can then choose from seated, standing or advanced exercises which I think is brilliant. It allows and encourages me to do five minutes of exercise more often even when I’m feeling lazy and want to stay seated! That will also be great when we can travel again and I’m sat down for long periods.
There are over 100 different isometric exercises to choose from and once you have decided what you are going to do you just need to turn on the device and then press start on your chosen exercise(s) and follow the instructions. When you first start an exercise it will get you to calibrate it to find out your maximum strength, by following the action shown and pushing as hard as you can, so the exercises are all tailored for you and the point you are at.
As you work out, you squeeze the Activ5 device and it measures the force you apply and it might get you to work harder or use less pressure. I love isometric exercise as there is no jumping about or feeling like you can’t go on anymore, but your muscles are working really hard and you’re toning your body, improving your strength overall as well as your core which is so important to keep our bodies strong and healthy.
The fact that you are not jumping about all over the place or lifting a heavy weight does not mean that it is easy though. It works you hard for a short amount of time, targeted to your own strength level so that it is still manageable. I have found that I don’t tend to ache much the next day, as I would with HIIT or strength training, which makes sense as muscles aren’t damaged in the same way with isometric exercises.
It’s low or impact, which means that anyone can use it and the device is really well-built — it’s got to be really seeing as you will be standing on it during some exercises — but it feels really sturdy and strong too.
There are three associated games with the Activ5, which you download individually; ActivSumo, Activ Fly and Rocko Jump. I haven’t had loads of luck with these, to be honest. For ActivSumo you need someone else with you who also has an Activ5, as far as I can tell, so I can’t play that. And the other two have taken a while to connect properly in order for me to move onto the next screen and play the game once it has found my device. I haven’t had this issue with the main app at all though.
I have managed to get onto Rocko Jump which was fun for a few minutes play, but for the faff, it hasn’t been worth it yet. It’s possibly signal problems but it’s hard to know for sure. You can also play Rocko Jump without the device which again is fun to keep you occupied for a few minutes!
I do like the idea of having the games to use with the Activ5 as you then don’t really think about the fact that your muscles are working, but at the moment they aren’t much use to me. Hopefully, they will improve over time and if they worked properly then I think Ava would use them too.
I’m really enjoying using my Activ5. It’s really encouraging me to fit more activity into my day and hopefully when I have been using it consistently for more time I will see improvements in my strength and fitness. My strength is already increasing using it every day and I’ve started to get into quite a good routine with it now.
The Activ5 currently retails at £129.95, so they are certainly not cheap and obviously it isn’t a necessity to have the device to workout. However, I do think they’re really clever tool for helping you move more, especially for those who sit at a desk all day or spend a lot of time travelling. It makes exercising and fitting it into your day much easier and the workouts are easy to follow once you get the hang of it all and they can also be pretty fun too.
The Activ5 is perfect for now whilst the gyms are all closed, but it will also be great to use alongside longer workouts in general and get us more active every day. For me, it’s to use in addition to my longer workouts and runs, so that I can get some regular isometric exercise in, as well as on days when I don’t do a longer one.
It is brilliant for travel and I will definitely take it away with me, whether I’m away for a weekend or a week abroad – it should keep me moving and maintain my strength at a time when I’m very (very!) unlikely to be doing a half an hour workout and won’t have weights with me. You could even use it on a plane to remain active when you are stuck in your seat for hours at a time – and there are workouts built into the app for exactly this purpose too.
Your progress is all tracked in the app, so you can see any improvements in your strength and fitness and be motivated to keep going which is a great benefit of this.
I think the Activ5 would be particularly useful when being used in physical therapy or for rehab, or for people who are stuck in the hospital or bedridden for any amount of time to keep them moving and their muscles active. As it’s low-impact it should be okay to use in many cases I would think and as it’s small it wouldn’t take up a lot of space and would help you get a bit of exercise without doing starjumps in the middle of the ward!!
The Activ5 has a minimum 6-month battery life so I obviously haven’t had chance to see how easy it is to change them but it sounds pretty straightforward and I think it is useful that it runs on a battery so you don’t have to charge it and it won’t suddenly run out when you’re out and using it . You get the phone stand in with the Activ5 device in the box when you buy it, so you can prop up your phone easily whilst following the workouts, which is a nice addition.
The Activ5 makes fitness easier with its portability, fitness tracking and ease of use and I’m really enjoying having it and fitting more activity into my day!
Activ5 is available now from Amazon for £125 (currently) here.
I was sent an Activ5 to review, but all words and opinions are my own. See my full disclosure policy here.
Welcome to Birds and Lilies! I'm Lou: mother, blogger and freelance writer. This is my lifestyle blog, where I talk about motherhood, infertility and IVF, beauty, my love for food and wine, as well as my thoughts about stuff, and our real-life and travel adventures.
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