ADIDAS’ NEW FIT SMART

Adidas has announced the latest addition to its miCoach digital fitness system: A new wearable called Fit Smart that is designed to help people form and keep weekly workout habits.

The wrist device measures heart rate, calories, pace, distance, and stride rate, and works in tandem with a new update to the popular miCoach mobile app that will focus on both weekly goals and long-term training.

Fit Smart will be available in late August for $199. Adidas’ other miCoach wrist wearable is the $400 Smart Run, which is an Android-powered fitness-tracking watch. Initially, the Fit Smart will be sold exclusively at Best Buy and BestBuy.com, with availability at adidas.com and other retailers to follow a few weeks later.

The Fit Smart is not designed to compete with do-it-all wearables that count daily steps or monitor sleep patterns, but rather to be worn during specific running and athletic training sessions and then synched with the miCoach platform via Bluetooth.

The Fit Smart’s primary feature is a glowing band of colored LED lights that are connected to the heart rate monitor and indicate workout intensity at any given moment in blue, green, yellow, or red. Vibration and visual prompts help users regulate their workout based on the needs of the training session and set goals.

The hundreds of training plans available through miCoach were designed by coaches at athletic research company EXOS. “Setting weekly goals initiates a change in mind-set that results in much more successful personal training,” said EXOS president and founder Mark Verstegen in a statement. “Who we are and how we perform are direct reflections on our existing habits, so much that 90% of our daily actions run from our subconscious. Creating weekly goals allows you to create winning rituals, which become new habits in weeks.”