Fitbit or polar???

tiffypooh2u

Which is better to have. I have a desk job and need to get motivated to move a little more to burn a few calories at least! Not sure hitch one is better to have?? I am hoping to get back in the elliptical machine as well. With a very active 9 month old it's difficult! I like how you can kind of hide the fit bit and not have to worry about wearing a watch when I'm out somewhere but do they do the same thing??

Targonis

You need to be more specific about what products you are comparing. Polar just released their Polar Loop product to encourage people to be more active and such, but that is a very different product from the heart rate monitors that many use for exercise. Fitbit has a bunch of different products as well, so I'm not sure which products you are trying to compare. As far as the watch type solutions, keep in mind that while you are working out, it is very easy to just look down at your wrist compared to looking at your phone to see what your heart rate is.

karibj2010

I have a Fitbit Flex, and I LOVE it...I am trying everyday to reach my goals...the new Fitbit Force looks awesome and I am thinking of upgrading my Flex and handing it over to my husband. It definitely has motivated me to be a lot more active. But all in all, it's about personal choice.

seamatt

I would personally avoid fitbit at all costs. Their customer support is rubbish, and I found the product to be inaccurate and if anything it stalled my weight loss by making me believe I was burning more than I actually was, and started to eat more again.

TracyJo93

I love my Polar!

karen2628

Good topic!! I'm looking at the Fitbit One (that's what I believe it's called). I also sit at a desk all day and I'd like to be able to accurately track how my activity has been throughout the day. I'm not looking for a heart rate monitor per say I'm looking for a device that will sync to MFP and to my I-Phone so I can really track my activity. I looked at reviews (PC Magazine) for the Nike fuel band and a few other trackers but the reviews said that the Fitbit One was the most user friendly although it wasn't great for accurately tracking biking...but I have a bike monitor so that's covered


Is anyone using a tracker and if so what type and what do you think the pro's and con's are?

spoiledpuppies

Bodymedia is supposed to be coming out with with the Core 2 soon. It's supposed to be the most accurate, and you can buy a heart rate strap to sync to it as well. If I get anything, it will be that. It is a bit more expensive, and in the past, it's required a monthly subscription. But Jawbone bought them this year, so changes are expected.

I had been planning to get it as a treat to myself for being consistent on MFP. But now that its release has been delayed so long, and I feel pretty well on track without it, I might scrap the plan altogether.

salsera_barbie

I love my polar. I've had three in the last 12 years. But they are a bit different. FitBit you wear all the time, whereas the Polar you wear while working out.

jonnythan

Totally different products. Fitbit is meant to quantify the activity you do all day long. I love my Fitbit and it has really made it infinitely easier to track calorie expenditure.

Heart rate monitors are only useful during steady-state cardio workouts.

jlahorn

Fitbit is a great starter tool. It's easy to use, cool, and pretty motivating. DH and I have been using ours for about a year, and I've actually had two shockingly good experiences with their customer service, FWIW.

I will note that the stair tracker and the sleep tracker are both completely inaccurate, but the step counter and TDEE calculator both seemed very good for both of us. For that reason, I recommend the Zip rather than the One or the new wrist one, whatever it's called.

I'm starting to feel like I need to graduate past the Fitbit, since I am now doing more and more activities that it doesn't track well, and I really want to know how many calories I am actually burning instead of relying on some web site's best guess.

jonnythan

I find the stair tracker exceptionally accurate, even on mountain biking and hiking trips.

It's important to understand it doesn't count actual flights of stairs. It's a representation of elevation change. 1 "floor" on the Fitbit is I think like 8 vertical feet. If the stairwells you're climbing are 10 feet per flight then it won't correspond to actual "floors."

It is for the reason of elevation tracking that I strongly recommend the One over the Zip. I further recommend the One over the Flex or Force because the wrist is a rather bad place to measure body movement.

Also, you'll never "know" how many calories you burn unless you're wearing a mask measuring your oxygen consumption or if you've had your VO2max tested recently, have programmed it into an HRM, and are using the HRM for steady-state cardio. A "best guess" is as close as you're really ever going to get.

ShannonMpls

Based on what you want - something to motivate you to get up more - a Fitbit would be a better tool for you.

I would personally avoid fitbit at all costs. Their customer support is rubbish, and I found the product to be inaccurate and if anything it stalled my weight loss by making me believe I was burning more than I actually was, and started to eat more again.

Eh, I've had three *excellent* Fitbit customer service experiences. I washed my Fitbit after having it for a week and Fitbit replaced it - for free. 11 months into my warranty, my device was coming apart (this was the Ultra - not an issue on new models) and Fitbit replaced it with a Fitbit One - again, for free.

As for accuracy, I've been very pleased with my Fitbit. Most importantly, it inspires me to add more activity into my day to day life. I'm amazed how many more steps I get simply by walking to talk to people at work instead of emailing. My dog gets extra long walks to I can reach my goal. I really love my Fitbit.

That said, I also have a Polar HRM. I used to use it religiously during workouts, but not as much anymore. Still, I like it. But for what you are asking about, OP, I think a Fitbit would be a better choice.

jonnythan

I've had an excellent customer service experience with Fitbit too. My silicone holder started coming apart. They asked for a picture and mailed a new one out right away.

ShannonMpls

I'm starting to feel like I need to graduate past the Fitbit, since I am now doing more and more activities that it doesn't track well, and I really want to know how many calories I am actually burning instead of relying on some web site's best guess.

The heart rate monitor's calorie count, though, is nothing more than the Polar algorithm's best guess.

Polar bases it's calorie counts on a formula involving max HR, and that is based on average charts. Yours could, and likely IS, higher or lower than the average. That skews the calorie estimation.

You can make a HRM more accurate if you get a model that allows you to input your max HR and VO2 max, but most people do not know those numbers. I certainly don't.

a HRM like Polar also bases its formulas on oxygen intake during steady-state aerobic exercise to estimate calories. If you are doing HIIT and weight lifting, the Polar formula will be even more of an estimate.

I guess my point is: it's all just based on some web site/company's best guess. That said, I love my HRM while endurance training, as it helps me match my pace to my goals.

jlahorn

I find the stair tracker exceptionally accurate, even on mountain biking and hiking trips.

Well, here's my experience. My husband and I go hiking together all the time, When we both had Ones (I have a Zip now - the One kept falling off; another problem), we'd go on the exact same hikes together, and when we were done, our stair counters would show spectacularly different numbers, on the order of 93 floors vs 42, and it was never even consistent which one of us would have the higher number. I understood why our steps were very different -- our strides are very different -- but the altimeter should have been tracking the same. Also, I used to take a zumba class on the second floor of a building. Aside from climbing the stairs to and from, there was no altitude change. I'd register 50-60 floors climbed every class. I got SOOO many badges I didn't actually earn...

jonnythan

I guess my point is: it's all just based on some web site/company's best guess. That said, I love my HRM while endurance training, as it helps me match my pace to my goals.

That's where HRMs excel, and what they were initially used for. They're excellent tools for hardcore cardiovascular training because they measure heart rate.

I think it was a bad thing for users when they started integrating "calorie counts" into them. Great for marketing, but heart rate is really a pretty terrible way to estimate calorie expenditure in all but a few very narrow instances

Rigi8

I love my fitbit one. I've had this since August and it has really motivated me to get up and move. I also work in an office but so that I can reach my goals I now make a point of getting up and walking up and down the three floors several timnes a day. I agree with Karen2628 and Jonnythan that the flights might not match exactly but it is giving you a target to aim for.

I let the fitbit measure my physical activity including the spinning class - I wear the fitbit on my sock and it still registers a good step count. The fitbit one syncs well with mfp and gives you a calories adjustment depending on how active you have been.

The sleep monitor should only be used as a guide, but it does show just how restless your sleep pattern is which is quite interesting.

jonnythan

our stair counters would show spectacularly different numbers, on the order of 93 floors vs 42, and it was never even consistent which one of us would have the higher number. I understood why our steps were very different -- our strides are very different -- but the altimeter should have been tracking the same. Also, I used to take a zumba class on the second floor of a building. Aside from climbing the stairs to and from, there was no altitude change. I'd register 50-60 floors climbed every class. I got SOOO many badges I didn't actually earn...

Something is terribly broken then. Mine and my GFs show consistently similar numbers both between each other and between similar hikes/biking trips. Ground floor to 8th floor of my building is 10 every day. I'd suggest you contact Fitbit support and get your device exchanged.

dsjohndrow

Polar is generally a heart rate monitor. Fitbit is an activity monitor (counts steps). If you have a Smartphone, you can get Endomondo and sync it with either/or FItbit and an HRM. It's free and counts steps and you can also use it for walks and runs.

If you are looking for perfectly accurate calorie burns, there are none. Using apps and gadgets are all approximate burns based on formulas. I prefer the HRM because it takes into account the effort more than any other method. Just be sure to use the same method, and over time, the consistency can be your guide.

da_bears10089

I have both. I haven't used my HRM in a LONG time. I was getting ridiculously high burn numbers for my workouts because my heart rate gets up there more than the average person apparently. Does that mean i burn more than the average person, probably not. I have used my One almost every day since i got it and i feel naked without it. It gives me motivation to get my steps in.

There were days that I had forgot it at home and I actually considered skipping on going for my walk because it wasn't there to count my steps for me anyways. Logic fail.

spg71

If the Polar Loop is waterproof & able to be linked to a a HRM which the website suggests and LINK to a APP/ PC program then its the one to buy.

changing4life

I like the FitBit one as a motivator and the step counter is very accurate. However, the floor counter is a bit of a joke. When I work late and drive home in a cab, it measures 10 floors because the elevation changes on the ride home. It also counts floors when I take the elevator to my office. I don't pay much attention to the stair counter at all for those reasons. That said, it is small and easy to conceal, which is why I prefer it over the Zip. Customer service has been very responsive to my questions. And I know of others who have washed theirs or had the clip break and they were issued a new one immediately. Mine was a gift -- not sure I would spend $100 on it, but it's a fun little toy which lets me compete with myself and makes it fun to reach my 10,000 daily steps.

realme56

My old one was more accurate than the new one. Today I got 2 flights by taking it off the charger and rolling over in bed to put it in the holder (the metal already pierced the soft plastic of the holder), with 14 steps......then I got another flight walking a very flat path.

Another day I had 6 flights and it shorted me two...these were real stairs. I am 4 weeks post op total knee and wish it was more reliable.

darkguardian419

they both have different purposes.

Polar is to measure workouts.

Fitbit is for everything outside of workouts.

If you want to track everything that much, then use both.

But remember, they're all only estimates

missfittin_missy

I had the polar Ft7 and sold it, it seemed accurate enough but the last thing I wanted to deal with when I was working out and sweating was feeling the chest strap moving around, it just wasn't comfortable (for me). I am going to ask for a fitbit for Christmas. I think it would be interesting to have just to see how much movement I do in a day (I'm a nurse but it's in an office so somedays it more than others). I would say research them both and figure out which one will be of most benefit to you in the long run. They both cost about the same price.

mart001

hi Karen, i have the fitbit one and love it. its very easy to use and very accurate. i clip it to my pants pocket and you dont even realize its there. i love the fact it syncs to your iphone. i walk around all day bringing up the app to see how many steps i walked. its very inspiring. as for the person above saying something about their customer service, all i can tell you is i had the best experience with them and if you google fitbit customer service, you will see they are top notch. a few months ago, i lost my fitbit one and couldnt find it anywhere. i called them mostly to see if there was any type tracking device or anything like that. there wasnt of course but they said what we will do is send you out a new one, no charge. i actually felt guilty being it wasnt their fault, i lost it. they didnt even charge shipping. thats my experience with customer service.
you will also love how it syncs with my fitness pal. as you walk, it updates my fitness pal automatically, so like a few minutes ago i walked around the block, fitbit tells my fitness how far i walked and my fitness upped my calories allowed for the day accordingly.its funny because sometimes when i want something bad, i see if its like say 150 calories, i will say ok, once i wak enough with my fitbit and walk enough to gain that 150 calories, i can eat it. its really inspiring and fun to me. i think you would love it,if you have any questions, feel free to ask me anytime. i am on her probably 10 times a day. good luck to you and have a great weekend...

Docpremie

I have a Fitbit One & am torn. I've found the stair count to be very accurate, and it has never counted flights of stairs when I ride the elevator. I've also seen folks complain that they get step counts when riding in the car. I tested that over a long drive & never had my Fitbit award me steps when I was driving.

My concern with with the calorie count. I think mine underestimates my calorie burn, because I can eat at the same calories as my Fitbit calorie burn & still lose weight. I ran into someone who was using both a Fitbit & a Body Media Fit. I asked her if there was a difference between the calorie reads & she conformed the her Fitbit read 300-400 calories LOWER than her Body Media Fit. We've both lost substantial amounts of weight, so I tend to believe the Fitbit is reading low. In fact, that 300-400 calorie shortfall is equal to my calorie deficit.

lunglady

Totally different products. Fitbit is meant to quantify the activity you do all day long. I love my Fitbit and it has really made it infinitely easier to track calorie expenditure.

Heart rate monitors are only useful during steady-state cardio workouts.

Exactly!

ISPEAKWHALE2

I love my fitbit! It encourages me to always hit my 10,000 steps and also links to MFP. The sleep monitor I could do without. I got the One and so did my sis and her daughter and my cuz. We all try to beat each other on steps! I am ahead. The only sad thing is I cant use it while I swim...lol I just add my swimming into it! Got mine off of Amazon!

rhondatime2chg

Totally different products. Fitbit is meant to quantify the activity you do all day long. I love my Fitbit and it has really made it infinitely easier to track calorie expenditure.

Heart rate monitors are only useful during steady-state cardio workouts.

Exactly!

Good to know.

Lennonluv2

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