Answering all your questions about health trackers - AMA with CEO of Movitalis
Hi everyone!
I am the CEO of Movitalis, an activity tracker focused on longevity. I am here to make noise about my upcoming launch and provide as much value as I can in the process. While building this product I got to learn a lot about activity trackers, important and useless metrics, common mistakes and hidden gems. I've also learnt what the science has to say about these metrics and trackers, so if you have any questions, fire away! š„
Why you should be tracking your VO2 max - and how to do it better
Hi all! Movitalis is launching soon and I want to talk about one of the most important but under appreciated fitness indicators: VO2 max.
While it did become more popular lately it is still not widely known that VO2 max is an amazing indicator of overall health and predictor of longevity. In this study of over 1 million participants, a low VO2 max was linked with a 3-5x increase in overall mortality. This is an amazing finding as VO2 max is something we can increase through regular exercise, especially if done correctly.
Can an iOS-only app be successful?
Hi everyone!
Iām launching Movitalis soonāan activity tracker app focused on longevity, currently available only on iOS. The most common question I get is: āWhen will it be available on Android?ā And, unfortunately, my honest answer is: āI donāt knowā. Here's why:
What fitness app do you use the most, and why? šš»āāļø
Hi all! Movitalis is an activity tracker focused on longevity and it is launching soon. Until then I want to see what other cool fitness apps people love. š
The app I use the most (besides Movitalis ofc) is probably @Strava , they just nail it with the statistics and the community, it's really fun to see what your friends are up to (and sometimes a bit scary that you can know what heart rate Dave had 2 hours ago).
The āOne More Featureā Trap ā When Do You Stop Adding?
You know that feeling when you think, āJust one more feature, and itāll be perfectā? Yeahā¦ same.
Iāve been stuck in this loop more times than Iād like to admit. Thereās always something that feels almost essentialāuntil you step back and realise you might never actually launch if you keep going.
How are you balancing work and health as a busy professional?
I sometimes feel like health and work is a zero sum game. When I focus on one, the other tends to suffer, making it hard to keep my progress. However, I know that staying healthy will actually help me be more productive in the long run, decreasing my risk of getting sick, improving my mental and cognitive health.
In these past few years I've learnt from my mistakes and there's 2 main lessons I want to share:
We tend to do too much too fast. Whenever we decide to get into fitness we typically are in a rush to get results. We feel guilty for what we haven't been doing and we try to compensate. This is not sustainable and after a short while it starts affecting our work, we lose consistency and often give up.
Building on lesson 1, we can actually get pretty good results with a relatively low amount of time dedicated to fitness (talking about 3-5 hours / week), if we actually use the time well. In short, getting a little high intensity strength work and cardio in, then using the rest of the time at a low intensity gives great results while allowing for enough rest to recover and be productive with your other demanding activities.
Did you know your smartwatch tracks your VO2 max - and why you should care
Hi all! Movitalis is launching soon and I want to talk about one of the most important fitness indicators that is readily available but flies under the radar for most of us: VO2 max.
Most smartwatches nowadays estimate this value pretty well, but they don't do a good enough job at presenting it to the user. On Apple Watch it is hidden under Apple Health > Heart > Cardio Fitness and on Garmin under Performance Measurements, making it seem something only athletes should be paying attention to.
However, VO2 max is an amazing indicator of overall health and a very strong predictor of longevity. In this study of over 1 million participants, a low VO2 max was linked with a 3-5x increase in overall mortality. This is an amazing finding as VO2 max is something we can increase through regular exercise, especially if done correctly.
Who Here Creates Content Alongside Their Product?
I've been thinking a lot about the power of content when building a product. Gary Vee always talks about personal brand, and I see more founders using content to build an audience and create trustāway before their product takes off.
Iāve been doing this myself by sharing educational content about fitness and health, which also helps introduce people to Movitalis (an activity tracker focused on longevity). It feels like a long game, but I can see how it helps.