Are there commercially available phone apps or activity trackers that quantify time spent sitting?

minizebu

I know that there are accelerometers/inclinometers used in research that can identify the number of hours subjects spend sleeping vs. sitting vs. standing vs. moving.

Do any of the commercially available activity trackers (Fitbit, Vivofit, etc.) or phone apps give you a total count of how many hours you spend sitting? I've heard that they track sleeping, but I'm not sure if they quantify sitting.

Pedometers are great for counting total steps in a day, and I can keep track of how much purposeful exercise I get. However, even if I dutifully exercise 30-60 minutes a day, I could still spend too much time sitting.

I'd like to actually be able to quantify how much I sit now, so that I can track my improvement (sitting less) over time. Is anyone aware of a tracker that will do the trick?

SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage

Polar does: polar.com/ca-en/products/sport/A360#features

NorthCascades

My bike pedals break out how much time I spent seated vs standing on the pedals, but that's only while I'm riding. Doesn't really help you.

I use a Garmin Fenix 3 (watch) which includes an activity tracker. The watch itself can show me how many steps I've taken today, but when I look at the details on the web site, there's a chart dividing the day into 15-minute intervals and showing how many steps I took through each of them. It automatically highlights periods where I spent more than an hour being sedentary. This could give you the answer you need, but you would have to sift through the data to get it.

FYI, you're right to be concerned about this. I don't have a link on hand but research shows that even runners and cyclists can increase their risk of all kinds of health problems by being too sedentary. Maybe it's worse for us because after a ride, it's easy to feel like you've earned the right to take it easy...

rileysowner

I'm not. Usually the purpose of a tracker is to get people moving more, thus, sitting less. Some have notifications that a person has been inactive longer than a certain period of time when they are not sleeping encouraging them to get up and move around. I used to just set a timer that would go off every 30 or 40 minutes and I would get up and move, usually running up and down the stairs 5-10 times depending on how busy I was with work. My Moov Now doesn't give and inactivity warning, and does not categorize time sitting. It simply tracks how many active minutes I have in a day, getting active minutes is far more difficult than simply steps. I guess I should get back to my stairs and see if they qualify.

minizebu

SarcasmIsMyLoveLanguage wrote: »

Polar does: polar.com/ca-en/products/sport/A360#features

Thanks! That 24 hour breakdown is exactly what I was looking for. I'll have to put this on my wish list.

NorthCascades wrote: »

FYI, you're right to be concerned about this. I don't have a link on hand but research shows that even runners and cyclists can increase their risk of all kinds of health problems by being too sedentary.

Yes, my favorite Google search topic this week is "inactivity physiology". It is interesting and scary.

Here's a quote and graphic from one recent paper: "Our data show that there was no difference in sitting time between those who met or exceeded the 150 min/week recommendation (far more than the general American population [36]) and the most inactive women (Figure 2A). "

rileysowner wrote: »

I used to just set a timer that would go off every 30 or 40 minutes and I would get up and move, usually running up and down the stairs 5-10 times depending on how busy I was with work.

Yes, I've been setting my watch timer to go off every 30 minutes and I get up and walk or do some other light physical activity, or remain on my feet for X minutes. The watch timer is low tech and gets the job done, but it would be interesting to be able to quantify the total sitting, so the Polar link above is helpful. I'll stick with my low tech solution for the time being, but I do have a birthday every year. One of these days, maybe I'll treat myself!