Heart Rate Monitors and Fitness Trackers...

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ladyace0007
ladyace0007 Posts: 47
in Fitness and Exercise
I have been looking at getting a Fitbit Flex to track my calorie expenditure, but it seems that it wouldn't be accurate for my workouts (I'm pretty diverse—running, lifting, circuits, etc.). So then I started looking at heart rate monitors like the UA Armour39, but I couldn't feasibly wear that all day, and I'm really interested in finding out how many calories I burn during day to day activities as well as during my workouts.

So is there some sort of middle ground? Something suitable for all-day wear that would also give me accurate data during workouts?

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  • amylg05
    amylg05 Posts: 89 Member
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    I have been thinking about getting a Fitbit flex or similar - don't they count calories burnt for running? Or say a fitness class? I thought they did :/ well may not be worth spending so much money on then! If anyone does own one - which is the best brand and what do they actually track?

    Sorry for tagging on to your thread op! Hope you don't mind :>
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
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    Fitbits are good for tracking step based activity throughout the day. HRMs are good for steady state cardio exercise such as running, cycling, jumping rope, etc but not all day wear. The Polar Loop does attempt to combine the two with an all day activity tracker that links to a bluetooth HRM during exercise.
  • cyount830
    cyount830 Posts: 13
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    I've got a jawbone for everyday wearing and then for workouts use the Armour39.

    Armour39 is a great item. From using it I learned that I double my calories burnt if I run 10 minute prior to lifting weights. Its all about getting the heart rate up and keeping it up. If you are competitive like me then you will try and out do yourself every workout.
  • brianpperkins
    brianpperkins Posts: 6,124 Member
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    I've got a jawbone for everyday wearing and then for workouts use the Armour39.

    Armour39 is a great item. From using it I learned that I double my calories burnt if I run 10 minute prior to lifting weights. Its all about getting the heart rate up and keeping it up. If you are competitive like me then you will try and out do yourself every workout.

    Heart rate during weight lifting is not an accurate factor in determining calories burned. It comes down to understanding what the algorithms used are good at calculating ... and what they mess up every time. They are great for running, cycling, rowing, jumping rope .. steady state cardio. They are pretty much useless for HIIT and normal weight lifting.

    If an elevated heart rate alone were all it took to burn calories then scary movies and roller coasters would be good weight loss tools.
  • ahamm002
    ahamm002 Posts: 1,690 Member
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    Heart rate during weight lifting is not an accurate factor in determining calories burned. It comes down to understanding what the algorithms used are good at calculating ... and what they mess up every time. They are great for running, cycling, rowing, jumping rope .. steady state cardio. They are pretty much useless for HIIT and normal weight lifting.

    If an elevated heart rate alone were all it took to burn calories then scary movies and roller coasters would be good weight loss tools.

    Unfortunately this is very true. Maybe someday in the future we'll have a better way of calculating the number of calories we burn. But currently we just have to estimate and track our progress.
  • amylg05
    amylg05 Posts: 89 Member
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    So they would be basically useless for doing something like Insanity or 30 Day Shred? Which is what most of my exercising is based around (not these specifically but similar stuff!).

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