Fitness Trackers - what's yours?

GillianLF

I have a Garmin Forerunner. I only used it when I was seriously running so its been in the box for 18 months, I'm just getting back into running since this Summer so must dust it off and put it to work.

jeffpettis

I have a Garmin Vivosmart with a chest strap. I love it. I have found that the wrist based HR monitors are okay for normal day to day activities but the accuracy really isn't there during strenuous exercise. Some of them won't pick up a heart rate at all if you get it above a certain limit. Doesn't make much sense to me to pay that much for a band with a heart rate monitor that won't work for exercise.

cronus70

I've become a bit of a polar fan boy. I've been using a polar watch and HRM for a while now but now I'm using a Polar Loop 2 to track my activity through the day. When i work out at home I stick my H7 HRM on and link it to the polar beat app on my iPad mini and select the type of workout I'm doing. When I have finished I load up the polar flow app on my mini and it syncs everything from the Loop wrist strap and polar beat app over to MFP.

Matt200goal

I bought a Fitbit ChargeHR three days ago. I like it. I used to have a Garmin 405. On day 1, I wore both during a run & a walk to try to compare. Distance - about the same, Instantaneous HR - about the same when I checked (4-5 times during the run/walk), Avg HR for the work out, Calories burned - the Fitbit said about 3.5 times as many as the Garmin (must use way different estimation methods ?!?).

Either way, the Garmin is retired (it froze up again during the run test) and I've been wearing & using the Fitbit since Sunday afternoon. I really like not having to use a chest strap. The Fitbit Dashboard is cool.

Overall, pleased with the purchase.

My $0.02

tiffanyfoundit

Do all these have to have chest straps ?
Sorry if this is a dumb question, just never used them before.

tiffanyfoundit

Also, does the fitbit have to be synced to a phone to fully work?

shadow2soul

@tiffanyfoundit - The Fitbit ChargeHR and Fitbit Surge have HRM's on your wrist (no chest strap).

Fitbit can be connected to some smart phones (iphone 4s or newer and well, it should work with phones that have bluetooth 4.0) and it can be synced to the PC. All Fitbit's come with a little usb dongle, so that you can sync with any computer if you don't have a smartphone (or if you don't want to use your phone).

tiffanyfoundit

@shadow2soul thank you!!! Looks like I may be getting a fitbit??
I feel like it's kind of like joining a cult.

andyluvv

Matt200goal wrote: »

I bought a Fitbit ChargeHR three days ago. I like it. I used to have a Garmin 405. On day 1, I wore both during a run & a walk to try to compare. Distance - about the same, Instantaneous HR - about the same when I checked (4-5 times during the run/walk), Avg HR for the work out, Calories burned - the Fitbit said about 3.5 times as many as the Garmin (must use way different estimation methods ?!?).

Either way, the Garmin is retired (it froze up again during the run test) and I've been wearing & using the Fitbit since Sunday afternoon. I really like not having to use a chest strap. The Fitbit Dashboard is cool.

Overall, pleased with the purchase.

My $0.02

I'm quite pleased with mine too though some of the comments here made me want the garmin. But then again, I'd hate the chest wrap I think - it'd be yet another thing to carry to the gym.

tiffanyfoundit wrote: »

@shadow2soul thank you!!! Looks like I may be getting a fitbit??
I feel like it's kind of like joining a cult.

I think you won't regret your decision. There's a group on mfp too for fitbit users so it kinda is a cult haha
Welcome!

tiffanyfoundit

@andyluvv @shadow2soul
Does the charge hr give you the ability to time runs and see calories burned in those runs?

Like I typically breakdown my exercises with warm up,my real run, and cool down. Would I be able to Do that still? And also see my mile (or whatever I am running that day)time? Along with what's burned specifically in that time?

Sorry to be obnoxious and ask so many questions, I'm just trying to figure it out before I drop that much cash.

andyluvv

tiffanyfoundit wrote: »

@andyluvv @shadow2soul
Does the charge hr give you the ability to time runs and see calories burned in those runs?

Like I typically breakdown my exercises with warm up,my real run, and cool down. Would I be able to Do that still? And also see my mile (or whatever I am running that day)time? Along with what's burned specifically in that time?

Sorry to be obnoxious and ask so many questions, I'm just trying to figure it out before I drop that much cash.

It would base it on the activity. So fitbit can tell when you're doing something extraneous (like a run for example). You'd have to log those manually on the app though I think to make it more accurate it wouldn't be done automatically.

marieamethyst

I've had my Fitbit Flex for over a year and a half now, and it's still my favorite basic tracker! I just charge it whenever I know I'm going to be at my desk for a bit.

ScubaSteve1962

tiffanyfoundit wrote: »

@andyluvv @shadow2soul
Does the charge hr give you the ability to time runs and see calories burned in those runs?

Like I typically breakdown my exercises with warm up,my real run, and cool down. Would I be able to Do that still? And also see my mile (or whatever I am running that day)time? Along with what's burned specifically in that time?

Sorry to be obnoxious and ask so many questions, I'm just trying to figure it out before I drop that much cash.

If you're looking for something for running, you would be better of with a Polar are Garmin with GPS features, they will give you what you want, and they come with chest straps which is all so better when doing actual exercise. They will also track your daily activity.

vjjohnson3

Apple iPhone 6Plus and Apple Watch
I really like the new watch operating system 2.
The watch is a great heart rate monitor and with the iPhone it pretty much covers what I need to track

Lefty1290

Misfit Flash. It's not fancy, but it works for me. I like that I can wear it on wrist or my shoe.

bellesb169

Garmin ViVo2 with heart rate monitor (chest strap) for me. I've been using it for 2 months and I absolutely love it. It tracks my sleep and shows deep sleep and light sleep patterns. The HR monitor is great. On some machines at my gym it syncs and the HR is pretty accurate as far as calories burned normally within 20-30 calories of each other.

mmarshall74

I have the Fitbit Charge HR and am considering upgrading to the new Vivosmart HR.... waterproof and better workout tracking and smartphone functions... my Fitbit I've had for about 7 months and really enjoy it. FitBit and MFP have helped me lose ~ 50lbs since March.

rbakedq

tiffanyfoundit wrote: »

@andyluvv @shadow2soul
Does the charge hr give you the ability to time runs and see calories burned in those runs?

Like I typically breakdown my exercises with warm up,my real run, and cool down. Would I be able to Do that still? And also see my mile (or whatever I am running that day)time? Along with what's burned specifically in that time?

Sorry to be obnoxious and ask so many questions, I'm just trying to figure it out before I drop that much cash.

In Runkeeper Premium, you can pre-program a custom workout with warm up, cool down and various splits. For example, I have a workout set up with a 5 min warm up walk, 1 miles moderate run, 2 min walk, 1 miles moderate run, 2 min walk, 1 miles moderate run, 2 min walk, 1 miles moderate run, and finish with a 20 min cool down walk. I also use the Wahoo fitness app. which allows you to mark the various laps on the fly. I have the companion Casio BT watch so just one button push. While the Wahoo fitness app is only phone based, no web app, you can send the workout to MapMyFitness and see the splits there. You do need to pay for premium to see HR data, though.

ZeroDelta

I have two. I use a Fitbit Flex in a magnetic clip on my T-shirt when I'm out shopping or pushing a cart. For normal daily use, I have a Fitbit Charge.

I purchased my Fitbit Flex used on eBay. I paid $30 for it. Wiped the outside down with alcohol, tossed the yucky used band and put it in the magnetic case.