Adidas Breaks Into Wearable Tech with miCoach Fit Smart
Adidas puts your heart rate on your wrist.
On July 9, the company unveiled Fit Smart, a new wrist-based workout intensity tracker, with a key feature the ability to track heart rate from the wrist. With no extra wires or straps.
“If we are going to take you as an athlete and get you better, we need to understand how your body is responding to the activity you are doing,” Paul Gaudio, Adidas general manager of digital sports, tells Edge. “We need to measure you, not just what you do.
“Heart rate drove us from the beginning because we are training your heart as opposed to having you run harder or faster. We want to understand more about you and your condition and monitor that and guide you and train you through workout intensity.”
As the latest addition to the Adidas miCoach line of data tracking equipment, the 1.3-inch-wide device with a silicon strap aims to track the intensity of a workout for all level of athletes, measuring heart rate, calories, pace, distance and stride rate from the wrist.
A LED light array offers color-coded cues on intensity levels and vibration and visual prompts offer feedback and coaching through the dedicated app created in conjunction with EXOS, a 20-year Adidas partner.
Gaudio says the Adidas Fit Smart isn’t meant as an all-day activity tracker, but a dedicated workout tracker for any type of exercise. “Whether I like to run at lunch, am a kid trying to get ready for the football season or using basketball to stay in shape,” he says, “it is fit for all of those different purposes.”
Sweat Mecca: EXOS Demands Intensity
Users can specify their workouts with the EXOS-led trainer-run app—connection is wireless via Bluetooth—which allows them to download training plans focused on anything from getting ready for soccer seasons, marathons or even beach vacations.
“It is driven by the app and the goals you set for yourself,” Gaudio says.
“We believe Fit Smart is more than a credible and effective training tool,” Gaudio says. “It is also a real difference maker for people looking to get active and stay active. It works because it measures what you do against the weekly goals and personalized training plans to turn your workout data into action and results.”
The app, which will update in August to time with the release of the Fit Smart, allows users to customize wristband readout settings and access hundreds of training plans. The device can store 10 hours of continuous training, meaning it will last days before needing a charge.
Available in black or white, the look of the Fit Smart was created first and foremost to deliver results and “feels more like a rugged athletic product,” even though Gaudio says the sleek and low-profile piece still looks fashionable in a sporty vein. Well, a sport-tracking vein.
Tim Newcomb covers stadiums, design and gear for Sports Illustrated. Follow him on Twitter at @tdnewcomb.
