I’ve been looking forward to the Nike Fuel +, as I’ve been using Nike + for my runs for years. I had the little pod attached to my Brooks running shoes, and even my earliest iPod would have Lance Armstrong telling me how great my 5 K running time was. So I have been eagerly awaiting the Nike Fuel band and incorporating it into Nike Fuel +.

Unlike the little pod I used to attach to my shoe, or the GPS app Nike developed, the Fuel band stays on your wrist and measures your activity for the day. It can give you feedback on how many calories burned overall for a wide variety of activities, from sitting on your sofa doing nothing, to playing a pick up basketball game after work.

The band and the program calculate something called Fuel Points, that you upload to the website you can use to compete against other Fuel+ users to see how you stack up. You can also track your points to see how you are doing.

It remains unclear how exactly the Fuel Band manages to make all of these calculations. Given the early days of Nike+ was often off quite a bit during some of my runs, having me finishing my 5 K before the trail markers said I was done; I am a little skeptical about the accuracy. Can the band really know the difference between me doing jumping jacks in my living room vs. just waving my arms around a bit like a crazy person? Can I just move my legs while I am sitting to convince it I am running? I am curious.

Also, the idea of being forever connected to a machine is a little intimidating. Do I really want something tracking all of my movements? Or just my running and working out? While it might be motivating in the beginning to see how many points you are collecting, and it might push you to move more, I don’t know if I want to voluntarily strap this thing on full time.

Current reviews of the Fuel band show that some users have had problems with the band and the software. Like many apps, there are glitches when you update the program, but these often get worked out quickly.

The Fuel Band is not cheap. If you are someone who is already getting a good workout, you don’t need this to keep it up. If you are someone who likes to track their own development and you like gadgets, you will love this one.

Me? As much as I was looking forward to this, I think I might appreciate my running apps on my mobile phone more, as I can shut them off when I am done.