Fit Bit?...i know its probably been done to death..but im useless!!

mum23

I need some direction.
I want to buy a HR monitor.
I don't want to have to have a chest strap, I don't want to have a monitor and also have to wear a watch. I go to yoga, spin, body combat, boxercise and a fat blaster class. I also walk a fair amount. I dont run!
I want something that I can easily look at my heart rate. I dont carry my phone about the gym with me. But I also want to be able to check my progress after a session, to see which zone my heart rate is in etc...
can anyone give me some advice?

shadow2soul

Blaze gives you a workout summery on the watch face.
It's a little big, but that doesn't bother me. This is the small on my 5 1/2 " wrist.

rsclause

The Blaze does a good job on my heart rate and can sync with your phone later and will have a time based graph of your rate. Not sure if it will be a problem (hazard) during boxing or combat. The Blaze is somewhat large on my wrist so I am not sure if women will like the form factor, my wife gave it a thumbs down on appearance.

JinxedyJinx

The FitBit HR won't accurately measure your heart rate during your yoga, body combat, boxercise, etc. I have one and I only get a solid heart rate read out for walking, running and using my elliptical. It's useless during my exercise videos or any activity involving arm motion - it just gives me a reading of nothing for heart rate unless I actually stop the work out and stay still for about 60 seconds. I was disappointed with it, because one of the reasons I chose it was really wanting to know how much I was burning during my circuit training. Works great for the elliptical though - gives me the same HR read out as the HR sensor on my elliptical handles.

Nancy_hc

I have the FitBit HR and I love it! I haven't had the same issues other people report about getting inaccurate reads during workouts - but I've only tested it while running, not during yoga or weigh lifting since I dont have another HR device I can test it against. I run on the treadmill frequently and when I check my fitbit it reads the same that the hand sensors on the treadmill read (with no delayed response). For me, I like that it gives detailed sats after my workout. After the workout it lets you know how you did and what your heart rate was at different points in your work out (gives you average, peak, lowest, and where in your workout it happened). It also syncs with MFP so I don't worry about logging my exercises since it will adjust for me (I have negative adjustments allowed on my profile as well for those lazy days). I LOVE LOVE LOVE the workout summary the app provides. It seems completely accurate and aligns with the workout I did. I get over all steps, time, calorie burn, avg/peak heart rate. It's awesome to see that my resting heart rate has been slowly coming down because of my increased fitness levels. and my resting heart rate tracks with what the doctors office measures me at.

**I will say that I do wear my FitBit high on the wrist - which is what the instructions say to do. The picture above with the Blaze is worn over the wrist bone (not sure if the Blaze was made to better to allow for that). But with the HR if you're not wearing it high on the wrist you might not get the best reading. I wear it 2 finger spaces from the wrist bone (FitBit instructions recommend 2-3 finger spaces) and have had NO issues with inaccurate reads. Just do what it says to do, wear it how its suppose to be worn and you'll have no issues.

shadow2soul

Nancy_hc wrote: »

I have the FitBit HR and I love it! I haven't had the same issues other people report about getting inaccurate reads during workouts - but I've only tested it while running, not during yoga or weigh lifting since I dont have another HR device I can test it against. I run on the treadmill frequently and when I check my fitbit it reads the same that the hand sensors on the treadmill read (with no delayed response). For me, I like that it gives detailed sats after my workout. After the workout it lets you know how you did and what your heart rate was at different points in your work out (gives you average, peak, lowest, and where in your workout it happened). It also syncs with MFP so I don't worry about logging my exercises since it will adjust for me (I have negative adjustments allowed on my profile as well for those lazy days). I LOVE LOVE LOVE the workout summary the app provides. It seems completely accurate and aligns with the workout I did. I get over all steps, time, calorie burn, avg/peak heart rate. It's awesome to see that my resting heart rate has been slowly coming down because of my increased fitness levels. and my resting heart rate tracks with what the doctors office measures me at.

**I will say that I do wear my FitBit high on the wrist - which is what the instructions say to do. The picture above with the Blaze is worn over the wrist bone (not sure if the Blaze was made to better to allow for that). But with the HR if you're not wearing it high on the wrist you might not get the best reading. I wear it 2 finger spaces from the wrist bone (FitBit instructions recommend 2-3 finger spaces) and have had NO issues with inaccurate reads. Just do what it says to do, wear it how its suppose to be worn and you'll have no issues.

It's actually really loose and slides back and forth. It doesn't seem to matter, for me personally, if it's above the bone or sitting on the bone for the HR readings. I don't have any issues during workout videos or any exercise I choose to do and I tested it against a chest strap HRM; the readings were the same for me.

capaul42

I also have no issues with my Charge HR. I routinely check my heartrate during all my workouts, and I do a variety and always have a reading.

Unknown

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lorrpb

You don't want a chest strap or a wrist strap. Not sure there are any other options to measure HR.

blues4miles

mum23 wrote: »

I need some direction.
I want to buy a HR monitor.
I don't want to have to have a chest strap, I don't want to have a monitor and also have to wear a watch. I go to yoga, spin, body combat, boxercise and a fat blaster class. I also walk a fair amount. I dont run!
I want something that I can easily look at my heart rate. I dont carry my phone about the gym with me. But I also want to be able to check my progress after a session, to see which zone my heart rate is in etc...
can anyone give me some advice?

Chest straps are really the only reliable way to track your heart rate. Most/all of the wrist based heart rate monitors will be inaccurate in one way or another, some worse than others.

Also using heart rate to estimate calories for non-steady state workouts (like yoga, or any of the other gym classes you mention) is notoriously inaccurate. They can give an okay idea of fitness, but are only good at steady state (walking, running, bike riding) even then they rely on estimations/calculations that may be inaccurate for you.

NorthCascades

capaul42 wrote: »

I also have no issues with my Charge HR. I routinely check my heartrate during all my workouts, and I do a variety and always have a reading.

Is that reading accurate, or could you throw dice and get the same result?

capaul42

NorthCascades wrote: »

capaul42 wrote: »

I also have no issues with my Charge HR. I routinely check my heartrate during all my workouts, and I do a variety and always have a reading.

Is that reading accurate, or could you throw dice and get the same result?

Considering I've checked it against a manual reading, yes.

NorthCascades

You didn't answer the question. What kind of manual reading? Not holding your finger on your wrist and counting your pulse while you look at the Fitbit, I hope?

My girlfriend returned her Fitbit Charge HR because the HRM was off wildly compared to: our home elliptical machine, my Garmin chest strap, and a borrowed Polar H7 chest strap connected to her phone. The Fitbit was fine when she'd sit on the couch watching a movie, and usually in the right ballpark walking around the neighborhood. But when she'd jog, hike up hill, or get on the elliptical, the Fitbit became unreliable. It just wasn't able to track vigorous workouts, the kind you'd want an HRM for.

Like you, she'd check it routinely and it would always have a reading. It just wasn't an accurate reading. That's why I asked.

capaul42

NorthCascades wrote: »

You didn't answer the question. What kind of manual reading? Not holding your finger on your wrist and counting your pulse while you look at the Fitbit, I hope?

My girlfriend returned her Fitbit Charge HR because the HRM was off wildly compared to: our home elliptical machine, my Garmin chest strap, and a borrowed Polar H7 chest strap connected to her phone. The Fitbit was fine when she'd sit on the couch watching a movie, and usually in the right ballpark walking around the neighborhood. But when she'd jog, hike up hill, or get on the elliptical, the Fitbit became unreliable. It just wasn't able to track vigorous workouts, the kind you'd want an HRM for.

Like you, she'd check it routinely and it would always have a reading. It just wasn't an accurate reading. That's why I asked.

I never check my pulse on my wrist. Throat is far more accurate for me. And I've been trained to take my own pulse. And since I've always got the same readings as the machines at the hospital, I'd say I'm right. Very rarely is my rate different than fitbit, when it is, it's off by less than 5bpm. I'd say that was accurate enough to go by.

My original post was meant in reply to the person who had no reading (--) when they worked out. But I do routinely check my heart rate manually since I have vasal vagal syncope (sp is probably wrong lol) and I can't be too careful. It's why I got the charge hr in the first place.

My bike on the other hand is never right. Which I think is a damaged wire some where.

sharonandwyatt

I have to say I have a Fitbit Charge HR and I have never had a problem checking my HR doing any types of exercise except swimming... Can't wear it swimming. I absolutely love it

singletrackmtbr

My vote is for the Garmin vivoactive HR. Check it out before buying a Fitbit. I have a Fenix 3 HR and love it but the vivoactive HR is more in the price range of a Fitbit.