Heart Rate, Skin temperature, etc

tbduarte1

I am looking for a new fitness tracker and I want to ensure it is the best for me. I am looking for one that will track my calories burned throughout the day especially when working out. I am starting to lift today and I do not know if there is one like the old armband ones that will track accurately for activities like that. I think they used skin temperature which I would think would work as I am 377 pounds now and think I would burn more lifting than someone smaller.

Any ideas as to what I should look for? What tracker? what features?

Thanks

sijomial

Basic trackers or heart rate monitors that use HR for strength/weight training are hopelessly inaccurate as it's not an aerobic steady state activity.
Higher end ones with more sophisticated modes and software (such as Firstbeat s/w) may be better but I don't have any experience of them.

The estimate on the database here (cardio part of diary - search for "strength training") works on METS which means your bodyweight is taken into account. That has the potential to be a bit of an issue as really the calorie burn is in relation to the volume of weight lifted - if your strength is in relation to your size it's not such an issue.
Obviously doing exercises like squats where you are lifting your own bodyweight as well as the weight on the bar it becomes more reasonable to assume a bigger burn for a bigger person.

Being an outlier in terms of weight would put a doubt in my mind put using heartrate at all (even for cardio activity) for calorie estimates.

yirara

What sijomial said. Plus, skin temperature has little correlation with calories burned. You don't burn more calories because it's warm. But such a device would record extra burns on warm days. Or when your temperature is a bit higher. Or lower if you like me and suffer from cold hands. If you're bigger then the devise would sit more snugly on your skin, and then it's possibly warmer underneath as well.