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

Rusty740

I lift with a tracker and it's true, it doesn't provide much additional benefit in terms of what you could get with your money vs a nice new Olympic barbell or a new squat rack or something (depending on the tracker $$)

For instance I purchased a fancy new Fenix 3HR, really nice GPS performance tracker that will probably make me breakfast if I asked. $500 CDN. It was my birthday so I got the gadget.

I'm currently really wanting a residential level power cage so I can safely heavier weights at home. I could get a cheap power cage and bench for that $500 and it would progress my lifting infinitely more than a tracker. Some days I wish I got the power cage, but the gadget sure is shiny.

Now when I go for a run, the tracker's the way to go.

If I were you and my goal was lifting, strength, power etc. Go for the lifting equipment. If I were you and my goal was "toning" (that vague word) and looking nice and fit, go for the tracker.

You'll need a new tracker in 2 years, you're lifting equipment will be good for a lifetime.

My two cents, depends on your goals.

ninerbuff

Ironically, I see a lot of lifters wearing those "magnetic" wrist bands. Fitness trackers, not so much.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

itsfuntobedevilinabluedress

I wear a fitbit to keep an eye on where my calorie burn is for the day. It's not perfect but I know what my TDEE is outside it from years of logging. It's a pretty close match. So if I am having a particularly hungry, I can look and see what it says I've burned. Some days I am a lot more active without realizing it or trying to me. I lift heavy things and do some cardio things - I don't really use it to calculate specific burns, but gauge where I am with background activity, if that makes any sense. Outside of all this, it's worth a 100 bucks just to track my sleep and HR.

not_a_runner

Not sure if I qualify as a "real" lifter/athlete (I squat 305 and won a PL meet last month, but, meh) and I use a fitbit. It's been insightful when cutting/maintaining to see what my step count averages. Not necessary, but I enjoy the data. I like to wear it during lifting to keep an eye on my rest periods as well.
A powerlifter at my gym has one mainly for the text notifications.
I've also seen many bikini/figure competitors and even a few powerlifters who wear them. I think it's personal preference. Some people enjoy it, others could care less.
I track via TDEE and adjust cals/supplement cardio for cutting as needed based on how my body responds, so I don't use mine for calories burned. In that sense I guess it's pretty pointless, but I still wear it anyway.

CSARdiver

Heart Rate Monitors are designed for long steady state cardio - running, biking, swimming. The algorithms are all based upon these models, so the more you stray from this, the less accurate your estimation.

I use a fitbit Flex 2 to track my daily steps, but switch over to a Polar H7 for my run/bike/swim. I don't use a tracker for lifting.

trigden1991

I know that if I walk 10k steps a day my TDEE is around 3500. I like to eat so I rely on my Fitbit to make sure I can be as gluttonous as possible.

kimny72

No I wouldn't think a tracker of any kind would help with your lifting. If you feel like you need to be more generally active during the day to achieve your goals, a tracker can help. (Getting a Fitbit helped me go from 4000 steps per day to 8000+ in a little over a year, yes I was a lazy *kitten*) If you are happy with how active you are, or are simply more focused on your lifting, then I think a tracker would probably be a waste.

RobBasss

Just FYI

Some of the newer Garmins, vivosmart 3 and fenix 5, can be used for lifting. I start a weight lifting activity and it tracks my reps and sets, you tell it when your done, it counts down a rest period, and you can edit the reps which are usually off, but not always. They try to guess what you did, for easy stuff like curling, etc. it guesses correct, for most other things not so much. Its neat, but needs A LOT of work. Says in 50mins- 1 hour of lifting I burn ~216 calories, heart rate was ~91, I am 5'7, 167, so its a bit off.

CSARdiver

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.

He has a very good point. Most athletes would not track/trend this data as their workouts would ensure success in their respective sport. On the other hand professionals rely on data. Professionals tend to track and trend everything to tweak out the maximum potential and get/maintain the competitive edge.

NorthCascades

EmbeeKay wrote: »

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.

I was actually replying to agree with him about the importance of step counting.

NorthCascades

CSARdiver wrote: »

Heart Rate Monitors are designed for long steady state cardio - running, biking, swimming. The algorithms are all based upon these models, so the more you stray from this, the less accurate your estimation.

I use a fitbit Flex 2 to track my daily steps, but switch over to a Polar H7 for my run/bike/swim. I don't use a tracker for lifting.

Heart rate monitors are just sensors, they don't have algorithms. They're like thermometers.

avadahm

I like my Apple Watch for this.

Now, there isn't a "workout" for weight lifting but it helps me a ton to make sure I'm not working to hard (heartrate tracker) with each set. I can bring my heart rate down between sets and that helps me a lot.

Fitbit is a different thing for me, so I can't vouch for its usefulness. My BFF has one and it's mostly steps. But I know there are different ones to choose from.

subcounter

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.

I am not sure if what you mean by real athletes, like, professionals with a call away to their dietitians, massage therapists, strength coaches etc etc? Well turns out I don't have any of those on my fast dials.

So I need to pucker up and try to estimate my TDEE, workouts, rest days, while navigating through my "real" work. The trackers, HR monitors helped me so much so far, so I don't really care what the "real athletes" do to be honest, I do what works for me. If you have a chance, I would give them a try though, its one of those things, works for some, doesn't for others.

EmbeeKay

A lot of good input here... thank you everyone! I really appreciate it. I'm thinking of getting a China cheapie (they're like $22 on Amazon, with decent reviews) and seeing how useful I find it. I do think it would motivate me to move more outside my workouts.

Tropicoolblonde

I'd ask them what their marathon time is

ChelzFit

I have one and I just don't wear it during my workouts. I use it just for my daily calorie needs. I too realized I was undereating when I realized how much I was burning from walks and daily cleaning. It can also be a motivator for me to move more. I used to think that if I exercised for just an hour a day that was considered an active lifestyle...not when you sit on your butt for the rest of the day. As for weight lifting, they are useless.

cwolfman13

A fitness tracker/fitbit, etc is going to be pretty useless for anything besides step based activity...it's really just a fancy pedometer. A fitness tracker may encourage you to move more...it may not, but as far as tracking anything meaningful for lifting, it won't.

tattygun

I can see how they'd be useful but I can also see how they could easily lead to been overly obsessive over food, so for me personally I avoid them.

MsHarryWinston

I was really torn about this too. After reading a ton of reviews and watching a bunch of review YouTube videos, the only Fitbit that seemed to come close to being helpful for weightlifting was the Charge 2. (He used it in comparison to a chest heart rate monitor). Since I didn't want to waste money why undecided to do was download the Fitbit app on my phone and link it to Apple health. This way I could just use the pedometer on my phone for a while to see if I actually cared about any of the information. It was eye opening!

1) I don't move NEARLY as much as I thought I did. I always put lightly active but I'm basically sedentary, especially on weekends where I do work from home (separate from my day job). I did NOT like seeing that.

2) Since sometimes I put my phone down and walk around without it my numbers are less accurate. I realized just how much I want more accurate data. I suddenly really wanted a wearable to dial in those numbers.

3) I don't track my water intake on MFP, I just can't be bothered. But I love to track it on FitBit. I'm seeing that some days my water is stupid low.

4) Seeing how few steps I was taking really made me realize that I was ready to do more cardio. Get back to running. So I've started power walking with the Zombies, Run! app, and am working my way back to running 3km a night.

So maybe try using the Fitbit app on your phone for a while because it may help you discover what info is important to you before you take the plunge.

Oh at the start of this I was also torn between the Alta, Alta HR, and Charge 2. I ended up ordering the Charge 2 a few nights ago.

jgnatca

I vote for you to get a set of weights (pink if you can swing it), a resistance band, a foam core roller, a yoga mat, and a food scale.

The food scale will help you stay lean with maximum calories (with MFP's help).

JoRocka

If you are only lifting- then no- not really worth it.

But if you want a new toy to help you get more steps in- then have at it.

I personally can't be bothered. People have been doing this for years without fitness trackers- but if you think it'll make you happy and impact your life in a positive/meaningful way- then have at it.