Fit Bits

bremcgehee14

I'm thinking about buying a fit bit, but wanted some actual feed back.
I go to the gym 5 days a week and do 45 mins to an hour of weight lifting then usually a 10-15 min HIIT for cardio to finish my session.
I'm looking for a device that can count (estimate) calories burned while at the gym, a pedometer, a calorie tracker, ect.

Are the fit bits even worth the money? And which ones do you guys recommend over others? What features do you like best?

AnvilHead

None of the calorie counter devices are terribly accurate for weight training. The algorithms they used are based upon steady state cardio training, whereas with weight training you have short periods of activity interspersed with rest periods (and varying levels of exertion depending upon which bodypart you're working).

Are they worth it? Yes, to help give you an idea of how much you're moving during the day, how many calories you're burning overall, remind/motivate you to move more, etc. Not for strength training.

I use an Apple Watch. I like that it has 3 "activity rings" (Move, Exercise, Stand), which you're supposed to complete each day. If you've been sitting/not moving, it prompts you every hour to stand up and move around for a few minutes, with the goals being to get up and stand at least 12 hours out of the day, exercise at least 30 minutes a day, and move until you've burned a certain number of calories (which it adjusts based upon your activity). It makes me aware of what I've done (or not done) during the day and motivates me to get my movement and exercise in to close those rings. It also has workout trackers and heart rate monitoring (which is surprisingly accurate). It has a variety of workouts you can track (outdoor/indoor walking/running, cycling, etc.), but even it doesn't have a specific logging for weight training - you just start an "Other" workout and it bases calories burned upon your heart rate during the workout.

bremcgehee14

Awesome. Thanks for all the info! I need to look more into calories burned while weight training as it seems pretty hard to calculate.

I'm not worried about the watch motivating me as I'm already active. On the two days I'm not in the gym I work as a waitress so I'm walking between 5-11 miles a shift. I guess I just want it for tracking and logging, which this app already does all of that! So I was hoping to also get advice on whether or not they are "worth the money" in other's opinions.

Again, thanks for the advice!

AnvilHead

bremcgehee14 wrote: »

Awesome. Thanks for all the info! I need to look more into calories burned while weight training as it seems pretty hard to calculate...

Easy way - call it 150 calories. That'll be about as accurate as any guess a tracker will give you.

bremcgehee14 wrote: »

...I guess I just want it for tracking and logging, which this app already does all of that! So I was hoping to also get advice on whether or not they are "worth the money" in other's opinions.

If your main workouts are strength training and a bit of cardio afterward (and those are the main things you want to track), you honestly probably wouldn't find a tracker to be worth the money. It sounds like you already have a pretty good idea of your other daily activity levels.

louubelle16

Personally, I have a Fitbit charge HR and it isn't great for weight training, but it's better than anything else I've used before. The heart rate function is particularly helpful for HIIT and running, but as the others have said, nothing really calculates the burn during weight training. The HR function does seem to make it the best of a bad bunch for it though.

GillianSmith2

I was also thinking about getting a Fitbit charge. I mostly do kickboxing, would it be any good for tracking calories burnt for that?

ew_david

I had a Charge HR and it was okay, but not for lifting. I barely got any additional calories for it. I wore it for 3 months, it gave me the same info the Fitbit One gave me a year and a half prior, so I sold it.