Heart rate monitors

chunt87

Have any of you tried the wahoo tickr. I like the idea of setting something up and then looking at it later in my workout or being able to watch it while I am on the treadmill. I have just been getting really frustrated because I spend alot of time in the gym and have been having a calorie deficit with no poundage lost (theres health issues there too) and thought something like this could help me.

Are you using a food scale to measure your food? Are you consistently logging everything you eat/drink and doing it every day?

ETA: A fitbit will calculate the overall burn and such. Do you feel this is exaggerated or something?

I have been using a food scale religiously and measuring out everything I eat. I log everything too. I have Drs working with me on controlling my thyroid so I know its just extra hard but still possible to lose some of the weight I gained from this. I think that maybe the fitbit and the mfp calories burned from exercise may be a bit exaggerated since I have been doing these things and not losing

And bodymedia. May have to look into them

PikaKnight

Have any of you tried the wahoo tickr. I like the idea of setting something up and then looking at it later in my workout or being able to watch it while I am on the treadmill. I have just been getting really frustrated because I spend alot of time in the gym and have been having a calorie deficit with no poundage lost (theres health issues there too) and thought something like this could help me.

Are you using a food scale to measure your food? Are you consistently logging everything you eat/drink and doing it every day?

ETA: A fitbit will calculate the overall burn and such. Do you feel this is exaggerated or something?

I have been using a food scale religiously and measuring out everything I eat. I log everything too. I have Drs working with me on controlling my thyroid so I know its just extra hard but still possible to lose some of the weight I gained from this. I think that maybe the fitbit and the mfp calories burned from exercise may be a bit exaggerated since I have been doing these things and not losing

And bodymedia. May have to look into them

Do you double log your exercise? Have you considered just not logging exercise on MFP and going off of what the fitbit says?

I like Bodymedia, but using that, I don't log any exercises.

chunt87

I might try that and just log things like weight training on here.

PikaKnight

I might try that and just log things like weight training on here.

But don't you wear your fitbit when you are doing weight training? It should be accounting that with the calorie burn or no? Not sure how fitbit works in that regard. I know Bodymedia has 5 sensors versus the 2 for most devices and aside from motion, reads off skin temperature and response.

I thought maybe fitbit was a bit similar in regards to you just go by the burn they give and you don't log additional activities unless you weren't wearing it when you did them.

chunt87

the fitbit only measures step related activity. So things like weight training, and other non step activity like swimming arent counted. I have noticed with it too if I go for a run or something with a gps device I need to log it on their site afterwards because I have a long stride for a short person

paulperryman

I have had 2 Polar FT4's both crapped out on me within 4 months, since bought a FT70 and it's great. add it with a Fitibit Flex and they are perfect companion devices

paulperryman

the fitbit only measures step related activity. So things like weight training, and other non step activity like swimming arent counted. I have noticed with it too if I go for a run or something with a gps device I need to log it on their site afterwards because I have a long stride for a short person

Fitbit measures movement not steps if you wear the wrist one and stand still and just move your arm it will register steps and the faster you move the more it will register and if your hand/wrist is vibrating due to holding machinery or something it will register even more, which indicates it's not steps at all and if you have calorie estimate turned on it adds a guestimate of calories you would've burned in a normal TDEE when you aren't moving. It all seems to balance out tho as far as calories are concerned compared to say a polar heart rate monitor worn for the same 24hr period, it's the steps that aren't necessarily accurate which is ironic since it's marketed as a pedometer.

All the devices are to be used as a guide not gospel

just as an example i work primarily as a forklift driver yet somehow still manage to get in 13000 steps in a 9hr work day that consist of 7hrs of sitting on the forklift granted the arms and legs are constantly moving but i'm not walking and thus not stepping Driving a car registers a few hundred in a 30min drive, once again not walking anywhere so it's registering movement not steps perse.

LittleMissFit83

I was looking at the H7 as well. I like the idea of just something that connects to my phone and saves the data so I can use it later or view it at the time like if I am on the treadmill

I have the H7 and I absolutely love it! It's nice to not have to wear a HRM watch anymore!

chunt87

the fitbit only measures step related activity. So things like weight training, and other non step activity like swimming arent counted. I have noticed with it too if I go for a run or something with a gps device I need to log it on their site afterwards because I have a long stride for a short person

Fitbit measures movement not steps if you wear the wrist one and stand still and just move your arm it will register steps and the faster you move the more it will register and if your hand/wrist is vibrating due to holding machinery or something it will register even more, which indicates it's not steps at all and if you have calorie estimate turned on it adds a guestimate of calories you would've burned in a normal TDEE when you aren't moving. It all seems to balance out tho as far as calories are concerned compared to say a polar heart rate monitor worn for the same 24hr period, it's the steps that aren't necessarily accurate which is ironic since it's marketed as a pedometer.

All the devices are to be used as a guide not gospel

just as an example i work primarily as a forklift driver yet somehow still manage to get in 13000 steps in a 9hr work day that consist of 7hrs of sitting on the forklift granted the arms and legs are constantly moving but i'm not walking and thus not stepping Driving a car registers a few hundred in a 30min drive, once again not walking anywhere so it's registering movement not steps perse.

Thats nuts. Not you, that your fitbit does that. I have noticed I have the force and one of the people I work with has the flex and his registers when he does arm movements. I work as an IT and go to multiple sites and walk around a ton at work, I log that I was driving so it takes those steps off because if I drive one of my work trucks it measures on me but if I just drive my car it does nada.

I took the plunge and bought the H7 after weighing all the options on here hopefully it works out for me. I downloaded all the apps and hopefully using this can help me get a more accurate measure for steady aerobics thanks for the tips everyone

ninerbuff

flying off me so disagree sorry , but i guess its a case of what works for you :-)

Actually it's science. Choice of how you workout doesn't trump it.

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

ninerbuff

get a bodymedia device. it will track your exercise cals AND your non exercise cals. even if you get the exercise cals perfect there's still 23 hours left in the day to get right.

.......orrrrrrr, closely monitor your food intake (weigh and log every bite) and if you're not progressing reduce your cals by 200. you don't need hyperaccurate calorie counts, you just need consistency

Great advice here. Most people really fail at weight loss because of inconsistency.

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

Swilla_Swole

I LOVE mine!!
http://www.polar.com/us-en/products/improve_fitness/fitness_crosstraining/FT80

KatyMiriam

Love my Polar FT7. Can highly recommend it.

Is it possible to sync the Polar with MyFitnessPal? Whats confusing me is that the Polar FT60 looks like a better bit of kit but the Wahoo tickr would definetly sync with MFP

KDar1988

I have had 2 Polar FT4's both crapped out on me within 4 months, since bought a FT70 and it's great. add it with a Fitibit Flex and they are perfect companion devices

Ughhh....just bought one, supposed to be delivered Wednesday. I hope it doesn't do that to me!

chunt87

I have had 2 Polar FT4's both crapped out on me within 4 months, since bought a FT70 and it's great. add it with a Fitibit Flex and they are perfect companion devices

Ughhh....just bought one, supposed to be delivered Wednesday. I hope it doesn't do that to me!

I bought the h7 as per someones recommendation on here, I love it so far. I am a data nerd. So the more data the better imho. Dont really think it will sync on here and it doesn't sync on the fitbit but I just enter everything manually and I am good with it. My guess that this site was generous in the calories was correct (not a bad thing because some people sparta work out) but stalled some progress for me I could have had. It also shows me if I am not trying hard enough and I really like that.

nrheasley

HRMs aren't designed for weight training - the energy expended in weight training isn't related to heart rate.

I don't sync my HRM (Polar FT7) so can't help with your question but have a look at http://www.polar.com/uk-en/products

Edit to add - online calculators for running and walking are likely to be at least as accurate as a HRM. For anything but steady state cardio then HRM accuracy isn't likely to be great.

^Agreed. HRMs are designed for steady rate cardio. It even says so on the product. It's not meant to be used to figure out strength training, HIIT, yoga, many dvd type workouts and such.

Some interesting reading/info on HRMs

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1044313-this-is-why-hrms-have-limited-use-for-tracking-calories

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Azdak/view/the-real-facts-about-hrms-and-calories-what-you-need-to-know-before-purchasing-an-hrm-or-using-one-21472

I used my HRM (Polar FT4) during a 45 minute interval run and 45 minutes of strength training exercises (several sets of lunges, squats, burpees, and mountain climbers) earlier today, and it told me I burned 641 calories. I thought that sounded a bit high and posted about it, and I was told the same thing--that HRM's aren't good for tracking these types of activities. So my question is, if my HRM isn't reliable, how am I supposed to be tracking calorie burn for these activities??

chunt87

HRMs aren't designed for weight training - the energy expended in weight training isn't related to heart rate.

I don't sync my HRM (Polar FT7) so can't help with your question but have a look at http://www.polar.com/uk-en/products

Edit to add - online calculators for running and walking are likely to be at least as accurate as a HRM. For anything but steady state cardio then HRM accuracy isn't likely to be great.

^Agreed. HRMs are designed for steady rate cardio. It even says so on the product. It's not meant to be used to figure out strength training, HIIT, yoga, many dvd type workouts and such.

Some interesting reading/info on HRMs

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/1044313-this-is-why-hrms-have-limited-use-for-tracking-calories

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Azdak/view/the-real-facts-about-hrms-and-calories-what-you-need-to-know-before-purchasing-an-hrm-or-using-one-21472

I used my HRM (Polar FT4) during a 45 minute interval run and 45 minutes of strength training exercises (several sets of lunges, squats, burpees, and mountain climbers) earlier today, and it told me I burned 641 calories. I thought that sounded a bit high and posted about it, and I was told the same thing--that HRM's aren't good for tracking these types of activities. So my question is, if my HRM isn't reliable, how am I supposed to be tracking calorie burn for these activities??

What you mentioned as strength training sounds like alot of cardio to me especially the part about burpees and mountain climbers. If I do weightlifting I don't count what the HRM says and fitbit usually tells me about 100-150 calories for about 40 minutes. In a 30 minute interval run (depending on the intervals and how far I go I usually burn between 250-350 (2-3 miles outdoor)

nanhalt

I have a Wahoo TICKR. It syncs to MFP seamlessly, and works in conjunction with the data that my Fitbit One syncs to MFP each day, too.

Love the TICKR so far!