FitBit? body bug? I need an HRM!

Irishfaerie86

I've heard of so many heart rate monitors but I just need a simple effective one to track calories burned. I'm very good logging my food for the day but I can't be sure how many calories I'm burning or how accurate website "calorie calculators" are. I feel like if I had a fitbit or bodybug I hear so much about I'd have a fairly accurate amount of calories burned-and I think everyone would agree that when you see how many calories you're burning you are more motivated and proud you put all that work into your workout! Suggestions, nothing too complicated please!

perseverance14

Fitbit gets your steps, I have a Fitbit One, and here is an example, I carried a treadmill and other items, Fitbit got my steps, it can't tell if you are carrying something, scrubbing, etc. If you only go by that number and you do activities that involve things like I mentioned, or you lift weights, you are not going to get a correct burn, it is more like the minimum burn. If you mostly do cardio, it will probably work well for you. It "considers" my exercise calories I put in (otherwise it only considers steps), and I "consider" what it tells me my calories were for the day, but I pretty much always think it is off by at least 200 or 300. It has been a few months and I haven't gained (but if bit was right I would have) in fact I lost, so I think I am right. All I can say is it makes a good part of the total picture, but I sure don't depend on it. I lift heavy and need my calories, if I depended on bit, I would have no energy to lift. I look at it as the minimum daily calories burned, because it only gets my steps. Here is another example, it logs very active minutes, I squat 200 lbs., but it doesn't consider that "very active". Knowing all of that, I hope it helps you decide if it is for you. I really want something with an HRM built-in and the new one that can deal with weight lifting I read about, the new generation of things coming up is looking exciting. Editing to say Fitbit is not an HRM,I also use an HRM and put those calories in, and they are always more than Fitbit gives me, Fitbit is an activity tracker, mostly just steps, mine also tracks stairs and sleep.

Irishfaerie86

perseverance14 wrote: »

Fitbit gets your steps, I have a Fitbit One, and here is an example, I carried a treadmill and other items, Fitbit got my steps, it can't tell if you are carrying something, scrubbing, etc. If you only go by that number and you do activities that involve things like I mentioned, or you lift weights, you are not going to get a correct burn, it is more like the minimum burn. If you mostly do cardio, it will probably work well for you. It "considers" my exercise calories I put in (otherwise it only considers steps), and I "consider" what it tells me my calories were for the day, but I pretty much always think it is off by at least 200 or 300. It has been a few months and I haven't gained (but if bit was right I would have) in fact I lost, so I think I am right. All I can say is it makes a good part of the total picture, but I sure don't depend on it. I lift heavy and need my calories, if I depended on bit, I would have no energy to lift. I look at it as the minimum daily calories burned, because it only gets my steps. Here is another example, it logs very active minutes, I squat 200 lbs., but it doesn't consider that "very active". Knowing all of that, I hope it helps you decide if it is for you. I really want something with an HRM built-in and the new one that can deal with weight lifting I read about, the new generation of things coming up is looking exciting.

I do mostly cardio-big into Turbo fire so it's hard trying to figure out how many calories I'm burning. I heard a lot about fitbit and that it will tell u at least a close estimate. Without anything I've googled how many calories you burn in let's say turbo fire 30, but I think every

Irishfaerie86

Irishfaerie86 wrote: »

perseverance14 wrote: »

Fitbit gets your steps, I have a Fitbit One, and here is an example, I carried a treadmill and other items, Fitbit got my steps, it can't tell if you are carrying something, scrubbing, etc. If you only go by that number and you do activities that involve things like I mentioned, or you lift weights, you are not going to get a correct burn, it is more like the minimum burn. If you mostly do cardio, it will probably work well for you. It "considers" my exercise calories I put in (otherwise it only considers steps), and I "consider" what it tells me my calories were for the day, but I pretty much always think it is off by at least 200 or 300. It has been a few months and I haven't gained (but if bit was right I would have) in fact I lost, so I think I am right. All I can say is it makes a good part of the total picture, but I sure don't depend on it. I lift heavy and need my calories, if I depended on bit, I would have no energy to lift. I look at it as the minimum daily calories burned, because it only gets my steps. Here is another example, it logs very active minutes, I squat 200 lbs., but it doesn't consider that "very active". Knowing all of that, I hope it helps you decide if it is for you. I really want something with an HRM built-in and the new one that can deal with weight lifting I read about, the new generation of things coming up is looking exciting.

I do mostly cardio-big into Turbo fire so it's hard trying to figure out how many calories I'm burning. I heard a lot about fitbit and that it will tell u at least a close estimate. Without anything I've googled how many calories you burn in let's say turbo fire 30, but I think every

Darn phone, anyway, I was gonna say everyone's body is different so how can I get an accurate calorie burn number only going by a website calculator?

EthosWhippet

I have the Garmin Vivofit, and it was not calculating the burn well at all. It was very low, as I do a lot of Cardio as well. It didn't take into account that 1 hour of elliptical is NOT the same as a 1 hour walk. So, I got the heart rate monitor chest strap that goes with, and now it is MUCH more accurate.

perseverance14

Irishfaerie86 wrote: »

Irishfaerie86 wrote: »

perseverance14 wrote: »

Fitbit gets your steps, I have a Fitbit One, and here is an example, I carried a treadmill and other items, Fitbit got my steps, it can't tell if you are carrying something, scrubbing, etc. If you only go by that number and you do activities that involve things like I mentioned, or you lift weights, you are not going to get a correct burn, it is more like the minimum burn. If you mostly do cardio, it will probably work well for you. It "considers" my exercise calories I put in (otherwise it only considers steps), and I "consider" what it tells me my calories were for the day, but I pretty much always think it is off by at least 200 or 300. It has been a few months and I haven't gained (but if bit was right I would have) in fact I lost, so I think I am right. All I can say is it makes a good part of the total picture, but I sure don't depend on it. I lift heavy and need my calories, if I depended on bit, I would have no energy to lift. I look at it as the minimum daily calories burned, because it only gets my steps. Here is another example, it logs very active minutes, I squat 200 lbs., but it doesn't consider that "very active". Knowing all of that, I hope it helps you decide if it is for you. I really want something with an HRM built-in and the new one that can deal with weight lifting I read about, the new generation of things coming up is looking exciting.

I do mostly cardio-big into Turbo fire so it's hard trying to figure out how many calories I'm burning. I heard a lot about fitbit and that it will tell u at least a close estimate. Without anything I've googled how many calories you burn in let's say turbo fire 30, but I think every

Darn phone, anyway, I was gonna say everyone's body is different so how can I get an accurate calorie burn number only going by a website calculator?

When I do a workout, I use my HRM and record those calories in MFP which I have synced with Fitbit, so Fibit then "considers" those calories. I would call it accurate within about 300 calories most days, but when I know I am doing something it won't get right, if I want the calories I put on the HRM with the chest strap. If you do mostly cardio, it should get pretty close, but remember it can't get your heart rate, so you might want to go with something more geared towards that.

You want to record the workouts you do, so Fitbit knows you were not just walking, either on MFP or Fitbit, I record all of mine on MFP and Fitbit gets them from here.

One last piece of advice, if you get a Fitbit (I got the One so it also gets stairs and sleep) make sure you measure your stride, best way to do that is lay out a measuring tape, say 20 feet, then walk it and count your steps, so if you do 20 feet in 10 steps, your stride is 2 feet. If your stride is not right, your calculations won't be either. Fitbit kept underestimating mine because my stride was too low. A lot of people think you should make the number for your stride lower if it is not right, it is the other way around...I put 1.9 instead of 2 feet for mine and it was not accurate at all, I knew I went 4 miles and it had like 2.5, you really need to get that number right.

MeanderingMammal

Irishfaerie86 wrote: »

..... I can't be sure how many calories I'm burning

Given what you've said about your training, any method of assessing your calorie expenditure is going to be a general approximation. So the point becomes about having something that whilst inaccurate is going to be reasonably consistently inaccurate so that you can accommodate that error in your logging process.

I feel like if I had a fitbit or bodybug I hear so much about

I think it's worth recognising that each of these things has benefits and disbenefits, and how you use them depends on your lifestyle and constraints.

An HRM will approximate calorie expenditure by using HR as a proxy. That requires that you're working in a way that makes an HR proxy meaningful. That means working aerobically, between 40 and 85% of maximum heart rate, and consistently, so no rapid shifts, spikes or dips in HR.

For me, as a runner, I can be reasonably confident in the calorie expenditure from my HRM if I go for a long steady paced run. If I go out and do an intervals session where I have long (3-5 by 1km fast) intervals, then it's less accurate but still close. If I go out and do sprint intervals (10 by 400 metre very fast) then it's less accurate again.

Cardio DVDs aren't really appropriate for an HRM, as you've got lots of variation in HR.

Fitbit, bodybugg etc are essentially pedometers. They're approximating based on a step count. So if you're doing something else that it'll think is a step, but isn't then the approximation is inaccurate. Then you have to think about how that inaccuracy plays into your day. If you do 20000 steps per day then a half our DVD workout isn't going to inject much error. If you only do 5000 steps per day then it's going to have more of a significant effect.

If you just stick with the web approximations, then at least you have some consistency in those approximations. If you eat back everything that you log and you're not losing at your target loss rate, then it's over-estimating expenditure. Ease back on your refuelling. If you're losing faster, then it's under-estimating.

Fairly regularly on here you'll see people agonising about the numbers, but you have to appreciate that they're all approximations, we have to track the trend and account for that, rather than getting hung up on the day to day variations.

MikeInAZ

FitBit just announced the new FitBit Charge HR and FitBit Surge. However those aren't going to be available for awhile (Q1 2015 at best).

But I question how accurate the LED based HRM will be.

I use the Polar H7 - http://bit.ly/polarh7 I like it because it syncs with the Polar FT4/F7 and Polar Loop. Also it syncs with a lot of gym treadmills and ellipticals. And it works with a lot of apps.

I use the Digit Fit app ($5 http://www.digifit.com) It gives me really good and meaningful data. I don't mind having the chest strap at all. I don't even notice it. And the battery lasts a good 6 months.

StaciMarie1974

Fitbit has new products coming out that include a HRM feature - but not yet. Polar Loop is an activity tracker that can be paired with a Polar HRM for more accurate burn info during cardio.

A HRM does not give accurate all day burn info. From what I understand BodyBugg/Body Media is the only device that comes close. All the activity trackers can do at best is estimate during non-cardio, and estimate (if there is no HRM feature) during cardio. But a tracker can still be a useful tool. As with all else, you have to do a little trial & error to see how it works for you.

Research the brands, think about what features you want. Its not a one size fits all item.

lisajuliette

I have a Polar RCX3. Absolutely looooove it. Gives alot more detailed info on my workout than just calories burned. Much better than my old Polar FT4.

kCalCrusher

I've had almost all of them- the Garmin Vivofit has been my fave by far. I would hold off... word is Microsoft is releasing a Fit band next week that is supposed to be amazing.

docsandy

I am a Body Bug acolyte !!! It accurately records my activity, my steps, my sleep and sleep efficiency and it syncs with My Fitness Pal. I don't think a heart rate monitor would be an added benefit. I couldn't ask for more

STrooper

I have both a Fitbit One and a Zephyr HRM with a chest strap (Heart bra?). The Zephyr will connect (via Bluetooth 3.0) to just about any phone. As for programs that go with the HRM, I use Digifit ($5 add-on for HRM related functions and fitness tests). Both Endomondo and Runtastic also directly connect to the HRM and can sync directly through MFP (those two programs are also free but have some add-ons/enhancements that are inexpensive add-ons) and there are certain features that I like on each of those programs, but Digifit is my "go to program" for nearly all of my data needs.

My Fitbit does a lot of things like tracking sleep, activity, steps and for normal activities like walking about, walking on a treadmill, etc. it does a good job. AND it can detect when I am running and give its own estimate of calorie expenditure and distance. But even though it has a pressure based altimeter on board, it can't detect when I'm carrying stuff, or a pack, or otherwise exerting in a way that is outside it's own motion sensors and whatever weight and height data I give it.

For running, hiking (particularly with a pack) or something like very energetic walking, I use my HRM and it's estimate of calorie expenditure (which it does automatically sync with both MFP and Fitbit).

So, why Digifit? It's the tests (part of that purchase. If you have an iPhone, the purchase can be a couple of dollars more for a few additional features). There are some basic and advanced walking tests (Rockport) as well as a couple of advanced running test such as the Cooper 12-minute running test and the CP-30 (Critical Power) test.

I have used the CP-30 test to determine all sorts of things. It does require you to measure your resting heart rate and it requires you to perform a maximum sustainable cardio output for 30 minutes. I have always used it for running but other sustainable cardio exercises like biking can also be used. I either run this test on a track or on a known flat course where I can run at a sustained pace. Of course your weight, age, sex are also part of the equation and must be current and up to date.

The two keys are maximum and sustainable output. If you go out too fast, you'll naturally slow down because you can't sustain the pace (that will show up in your maximum heart rate). If you go out too slow or run so slow that you aren't putting out maximal sustained output your heart rate won't come all the way up to its maximum sustainable level. Note: the standard medical disclaimers apply and are part of the app acknowledgement each time you do the test. It is not an easy test.

The output includes an estimate of your maximum heart rate (in my case, the 220-age is SO WRONG), the lactate threshold HR (approximately 85% of your maximum HR but more nominally the average heart rate during the last 10 minutes of the test), and the 5 customized heart rate training zones and an estimate of your VO2 max. Test to test, your measured maximum heart rate won't change much. What does change as you become more fit is your resting heart rate and your average heart rate during various phases of the test. It also assesses your fitness based upon how much your heart rate recovers during a two minute recovery at the end of the test.

I've used the training zone data from Digifit and transferred those to other programs that allow me to customize the HR zones. But for 99% of my training, I use Digifit.

Digifit gives you access to the equations that it uses for calorie expenditure, VO2 max (for both Cooper Running Test and CP-30 Test; they are different equations), and the source. So, it isn't some big secret.

Why an HRM in addition to my Fitbit? Well, I realized that there some things that Fitbit and other monitors like it did not do well. Second, I noticed as I became more fit, my heart rate was dropping through 60 bpm.

I've just run a marathon and, although my body is still recovering from the strain of running my fastest pace yet and my body is still recovering, my resting heart rate is about 45-48 bpm. Maybe the new Fitbit monitors might be able to account for this.