activity trackers

aleesha9109

Which activity trackers are you using? How accurate do you find them to be?

ClimbingZack

I could be wrong on this, but at least when they first started hitting the market, accuracy varies from model to model. I love my Fitbit Charge HR, but I don't count it as gospel truth in regards to caloric expenditure, distance, etc. In my opinion, what it's good for is to keep general tabs on nutritional/health trends in your life more than a 99% accurate solution to calorie counting. For that result, a HR monitor with chest strap and proper age, weight, height, etc calibrations is about as good as you can get on the consumer market.

victorsparade

GuitarJerry wrote: »

They are a waste of time and money. Don't buy one.

Instead, learn where your TDEE is.

I don't think they're a waste, per se, but like anything in life, it's what you put into it. I find it easier to do things on my iPhone and log my exercise manually to MFP, while my coworker uses a FitBit to do the same thing. He's a runner, so it makes more sense to him, whereas I mostly use elliptical/stair climber and weight circuit. So my FitBit registered less activity per workout and I felt like it was missing something. So I gave up on FitBit pretty fast. But it does work for some people!

victorsparade

See it may seem unnecessary to you, but to some people (especially beginners) it can be fulfilling and encouraging to track. I'm an achievement hunter who enjoys tracking because it feels like I've mastered something; the same reason I like playing bonus missions on video games.

It's a personal preference, but you're right, no one "has to" track every day.

20yearsyounger

I don't think they are a waste at all. It really depends on what you expect from it. My activities are not the same always. Some weeks I do nothing but travel, some weeks I stay at home. An activity tracker is helpful for me to match the wide variations in my calorie burn and eating habits. I also calorie cycle. Some days I may not need to do high intensity exercise because I may have walked 15000 steps without noticing. I've had mine for a year and I am not tired of it yet and don't think I will be. I don't really use an HR monitor much anymore. However, I like that I could just wake up in the morning and go for a run, sync, and my activity just shows up without me having to do much.

_benjammin

GuitarJerry wrote: »

They are a waste of time and money. Don't buy one.

Instead, learn where your TDEE is.

If your routine is consistent, I agree.
I got one because my routine is far from consistent. My Misfit helps me know about how much more I can/should eat, whether trying to gain, lose or maintain.
For example, one week I'll work 8-5 in an office, walk the dog, and workout 3 times (which I now know is an average 6-8K steps/day). I have a good logging history of this type of routine and know how many calories to eat. But another week I'll be out of town for work, still workout 3x but no walking the dog and daily steps vary widely (I now know), anywhere from 5K to 20+K.

I think you are overly dismissive of what may work for others.

_benjammin

Be wary of HR monitors, fitbit is getting sued.

"Heart Rate Trackers are effectively worthless as heart rate monitoring devices"
http://www.cnet.com/news/fitbit-hit-with-class-action-lawsuit-claiming-its-heart-rate-monitors-are-inaccurate/

rudy336

_benjammin wrote: »

Be wary of HR monitors, fitbit is getting sued.

"Heart Rate Trackers are effectively worthless as heart rate monitoring devices"
http://www.cnet.com/news/fitbit-hit-with-class-action-lawsuit-claiming-its-heart-rate-monitors-are-inaccurate/

i figured it would just be a matter of time before fitbit got sued. now the price will probably go up 100.00 plus dollars on each activity tracker they sell.
i use my polar ft4 with chest strap only when exercising and it works great for me. i would like to have a tracker just to see how many steps i take in a day.