"Real athletes (lifters) don't use fitness trackers"

EmbeeKay

I posted this in here (not in the fitness forum) because I wanted to get advice from lifters and bodybuilders. I'm about to turn 30 and I'm really excited to see what my body can do as soon as I'm done with my last pregnancy in July. I plan to focus on heavy lifting and see how strong I can get.

But I want to get lean, too. I also love to eat. So I brought up getting a fitness tracker to my husband. He shrugged and said, "Those are for counting steps. Not for lifters. I don't think serious lifters use those things."

Of all the research I've done, the ones that track your heart rate sound pretty useless anyway for figuring out how much you burn during a weightlifting session. And since I do minimal cardio (a couple miles a day maybe of walking the dog), and the rest is just walking around the house chasing the kids, I guess what I'm asking is, is a fitness tracker for a lifter a worthwhile purchase or not? Because right now I could either buy a FitBit or add equipment to my home gym and I'm wondering what's a better purchase at this point.

deannalfisher

I think a fitness tracker is going for your LISS (low impact steady state, walking calories) - but yes, for lifting, it isn't going to give you much data - weight lifting calorie burn is minimal (I think mine is normally about 100cal for 45min of solid weights - if that)

inertiastrength

I do both. I lift 3x/week but I do that to maintain my lean mass and get the shape I want. I *require* a caloric deficit to either lose a few lbs of fat and therefor bf% OR eat more. I dont' see why you can't/shouldnt have one lol

ETA: I don't even count the burn from lifting because it's a pretty basic low volume program of the big compounds... I doubt I burn much more than a 20 minute walk.

Keladelphia

I don't use a fitness tracker at all for lifting for the exact reason you stated, it's pretty much useless for tracking calories burned during a weightlifting session. I do however keep a sweet paper journal haha. I use a tracker for running but if you're not planning to add significant metabolic conditioning to your routine I would 100% use that money to invest in your home gym.

inertiastrength

I'd argue real athletes use whatever they want to get to their goal

EmbeeKay

If I'm going to go on a walk or a run I use MapMyRun on my smart phone. A fitness tracker would just be catching extra work for things like gardening or re-organizing all the closets on a given day or something like that, where I could see, "Oh I burned another couple hundred calories so I can eat a little more tonight."

janejellyroll

mrsnattybulking wrote: »

I'd argue real athletes use whatever they want to get to their goal

This. I would worry less about "real lifters" are doing and consider whether or not it will help you meet your goals.

Do you think having a more accurate step count would help you meet your goals?

deannalfisher

mrsnattybulking wrote: »

I'd argue real athletes use whatever they want to get to their goal

I remember getting told that "real" swimmers don't use those waterproof ipods...my response was when you do 4000yd swims, then you can tell me what I can and can't do as a real swimmer

EmbeeKay

I don't want to make it sound like he's telling me I can't get one! Anything fitness related, I pretty much have an unlimited budget. I just personally hate wasting money on something that is not really going to help me meet my goals.

janejellyroll

deannalfisher wrote: »

mrsnattybulking wrote: »

I'd argue real athletes use whatever they want to get to their goal

I remember getting told that "real" swimmers don't use those waterproof ipods...my response was when you do 4000yd swims, then you can tell me what I can and can't do as a real swimmer

I've had people tell me that "real runners" don't listen to music while running. I mean, okay. I'm fine being a fake runner listening to music during 20 mile fake runs, no skin off my nose.

EmbeeKay

Well I don't know if it's going to help me meet my goals... I guess that's why am asking you guys what you think. It would help me gauge better how much I can eat to avoid gaining weight, I guess… But is that a reason to get one?

AliceDark

It sounds like you and I are similar -- my primary exercise is lifting, and I use Runtastic when I run. I thought about getting a FitBit, but I've found that my iPhone does a passable job as a step tracker so I just use that. There's no reason you shouldn't get a FitBit, but I'm not sure it's going to give you a ton of important data that you can't get in other ways.

EmbeeKay

janejellyroll wrote: »

deannalfisher wrote: »

mrsnattybulking wrote: »

I'd argue real athletes use whatever they want to get to their goal

I remember getting told that "real" swimmers don't use those waterproof ipods...my response was when you do 4000yd swims, then you can tell me what I can and can't do as a real swimmer

I've had people tell me that "real runners" don't listen to music while running. I mean, okay. I'm fine being a fake runner listening to music during 20 mile fake runs, no skin off my nose.

Ha, ha. You're such a fake runner with your music and your 20 mile runs.

Unknown

This content has been removed.

janejellyroll

EmbeeKay wrote: »

Well I don't know if it's going to help me meet my goals... I guess that's why am asking you guys what you think. It would help me gauge better how much I can eat to avoid gaining weight, I guess… But is that a reason to get one?

My personal experience: I found my Fitbit incredibly helpful in understanding how much I could eat. I was underestimating my activity before I got it, afterward I saw how much I was actually moving it was easier to plan my daily intake. I could have done the same thing through trial and error, but seeing the numbers made it much easier for me. That said, there are free apps on the phone that could do something similar (Google Fit is one that comes to mind, I am sure there are others), so keeping your phone on your body during an average day could get you a lot of the same information. I just prefer the convenience of having it on my wrist and tying in the heart rate measurements.

ritzvin

EmbeeKay wrote: »

I posted this in here (not in the fitness forum) because I wanted to get advice from lifters and bodybuilders. I'm about to turn 30 and I'm really excited to see what my body can do as soon as I'm done with my last pregnancy in July. I plan to focus on heavy lifting and see how strong I can get.

But I want to get lean, too. I also love to eat. So I brought up getting a fitness tracker to my husband. He shrugged and said, "Those are for counting steps. Not for lifters. I don't think serious lifters use those things."

Of all the research I've done, the ones that track your heart rate sound pretty useless anyway for figuring out how much you burn during a weightlifting session. And since I do minimal cardio (a couple miles a day maybe of walking the dog), and the rest is just walking around the house chasing the kids, I guess what I'm asking is, is a fitness tracker for a lifter a worthwhile purchase or not? Because right now I could either buy a FitBit or add equipment to my home gym and I'm wondering what's a better purchase at this point.

It's going to be pretty much useless for weight training - minimal movement and it's not cardio.
Go with the home gym as long as you'll use it, and maybe track the dog walks on your phone.
It would really only be useful in your case to get 'exercise calorie credit' for walking around the house - if you do that stuff everyday and see that your weight drops faster than you want, you can always adjust your goal calories.

inertiastrength

EmbeeKay wrote: »

Well I don't know if it's going to help me meet my goals... I guess that's why am asking you guys what you think. It would help me gauge better how much I can eat to avoid gaining weight, I guess… But is that a reason to get one?

On days I get 7500 steps vs days I get 13K I *feel* about the same, a couple good walks no big deal. There is a nice difference in the amount of calories I can eat. For me personally I found it not only helpful but motivating to be a little more active in terms of NEAT... I would recommend it to anyone wanting to lose a few lbs.

acampbe2umd

I lift and run and I had a fitbit and I hated it. I don't feel that it provided me any additional insights into my calorie burn than what I already knew. I don't eat my exercise calories back though, I go with a TDEE approach.

ritzvin

FYI- There is a generic weight lifting/strength training entry in the cardio database (note that the burn estimate is small since it is not cardio, and note that most of the time in your lifting session is most likely not active lifting).

Muscle_for_Fitness

I'm going to say they are pretty useless for weight training or much of anything other than steady state cardio. I tend to find out my maintenance calories and adjust from there depending on bulking or cutting time with the assumption that I will burn fairly consistent calories on a daily basis.

NorthCascades

For your needs, a Fitbit isn't especially useful, and probably not worth the money.

I think you're getting a lot of replies that don't address your goals because of the provocative title you used. For one thing it's a blanket statement, which almost always brings disagreement. And lifting heavy things isn't the only type of athleticism, so, naturally, tools that aren't useful for lifting are invaluable for other athletic pursuits, like GPS.

sllm1

You do weight training for how long? Let's say an hour out of the day. So, the fitness tracker would help you estimate your caloric expenditure for the other 23 hours in a day.

At least that's how I see it. I lift and I wear a FitBit (with heart rate monitor).

TavistockToad

I'm still stuck on the fact that the only 'real athletes' are people who lift.... mind.... blown....

ritzvin

If you think it will motivate you to do more walking and/or running than you would do otherwise, than it might be a useful purchase..otherwise a waste of money.

EmbeeKay

TavistockToad wrote: »

I'm still stuck on the fact that the only 'real athletes' are people who lift.... mind.... blown....

Oh, that's not what he meant. He was saying, real, like, professional lifters don't focus on their step counts. Your mind does not need to be blown here.

EmbeeKay

NorthCascades wrote: »

For your needs, a Fitbit isn't especially useful, and probably not worth the money.

I think you're getting a lot of replies that don't address your goals because of the provocative title you used. For one thing it's a blanket statement, which almost always brings disagreement. And lifting heavy things isn't the only type of athleticism, so, naturally, tools that aren't useful for lifting are invaluable for other athletic pursuits, like GPS.

Well, that is true, though a blanket statement invites more input and lots of valuable advice! I'm sure it sounded more inflammatory than I intended but I'm happy to get a lot of different perspectives.

NorthCascades

EmbeeKay wrote: »

TavistockToad wrote: »

I'm still stuck on the fact that the only 'real athletes' are people who lift.... mind.... blown....

Oh, that's not what he meant. He was saying, real, like, professional lifters don't focus on their step counts. Your mind does not need to be blown here.

I consider myself an endurance athlete. I mean, a 50 mile bike ride through the mountains is my idea of most Saturdays. I don't focus on my step count.

EmbeeKay

NorthCascades wrote: »

EmbeeKay wrote: »

TavistockToad wrote: »

I'm still stuck on the fact that the only 'real athletes' are people who lift.... mind.... blown....

Oh, that's not what he meant. He was saying, real, like, professional lifters don't focus on their step counts. Your mind does not need to be blown here.

I consider myself an endurance athlete. I mean, a 50 mile bike ride through the mountains is my idea of most Saturdays. I don't focus on my step count.

I certainly wouldn't say only lifters are athletes, I really hope this thread doesn't take that direction. That's not what my husband thinks either. But he never runs or bikes, he just lift weights. That's his only perspective.

happysherri

I wore my fitness tracker for over a year and I do a combo of weight training with a little bit of cardio. It didn't show calories burned during weight training. Since I have an office job and don't truly care about getting a crazy amount of steps, I stopped wearing mine. It was pretty much useless to me. I'm sure it's helpful to others with their goals but like others have mentioned - I don't count my calories burned during most lifting sessions.

sardelsa

I used a FitBit for awhile.. but meh, I lost interest in it. Plus it made me move too much and not eat enough.. then I started bulking so I definitely had to ditch it. Geez, I don't even know where mine is anymore.. I should probably sell it.

I am very similar to you since I don't really do cardio, but it was kind of fun to see how many calories I burned just being a mom!

For some people it helps motivate them to move more, give them an estimate of cals burned (even lifters) but you have to decide if that is something that will motivate you and help you reach your goals.

Personally, I would get something for your gym, and maybe a cheap step counter to motivate you to get walking more if that is something you think would interest you.

TavistockToad

EmbeeKay wrote: »

I posted this in here (not in the fitness forum) because I wanted to get advice from lifters and bodybuilders. I'm about to turn 30 and I'm really excited to see what my body can do as soon as I'm done with my last pregnancy in July. I plan to focus on heavy lifting and see how strong I can get.

But I want to get lean, too. I also love to eat. So I brought up getting a fitness tracker to my husband. He shrugged and said, "Those are for counting steps. Not for lifters. I don't think serious lifters use those things."

Of all the research I've done, the ones that track your heart rate sound pretty useless anyway for figuring out how much you burn during a weightlifting session. And since I do minimal cardio (a couple miles a day maybe of walking the dog), and the rest is just walking around the house chasing the kids, I guess what I'm asking is, is a fitness tracker for a lifter a worthwhile purchase or not? Because right now I could either buy a FitBit or add equipment to my home gym and I'm wondering what's a better purchase at this point.

No, a fitness tracker is not worth it for lifting.

Would a fitness tracker encourage you to move more, get more steps and earn more calories/help you create a deficit....? Maybe, but only you can answer that.