Body Media Fit vs. a Polar FT4 HRM

wolfchild59

After lots of reading I've realized that I really need to get something that gives me a way more accurate measure of what I'm burning when I work out rather than trusting the machines (even if I enter my age/weight).

But now I'm stuck between the two items in the subject. I have a $20 gift card for Amazon, so I could get the Polar FT4 HRM for around $60. This will let me know what I'm doing when I work out and I can see my heart rate on the readout as I go. But is only effective for working out.

The Body Media Fit will not only tell me what I burn in a workout, but will tell me what I burn all day long and give me a much fuller, more well rounded picture of my days. What my BMR really is, what my calorie deficit truly is and even how my sleep is. I have a $50 Costco gift card right now that means I could get one of these w/a year long subscription for around $100. (though, the tech geek in me would prefer to get the Bluetooth one that shows me real time results on my phone, but that's WAY more expensive).

So what I'm curious about are peoples opinions on HRMs vs. Body Media (or Body Bugg, since they're pretty much the same thing). If you've had both, how did they compare on accuracy? Which has been more useful to you? If you've only owned one, what made you choose it? How happy are you with it?

I've done searches here and on google and can't really find anyone that compares a Body Media against and HRM, they all just talk about one or the other. Ultimately, I don't have a lot of money to spend and want to make sure that if I shell out the extra for a Body Media if it will truly be worth the money.

Thanks in advance!

Shawnalee0703

I have worn my FT4 all day. I only wear it for my workouts but I have used it for 24 hrs to see where i stood.

I like my ft4 but get what suites you best :-D

But yes Body bug is WAY accurate for YOU and your whole day .... just depends what u are looking for and want to spend.

wolfchild59

Any other opinions on this? Has anyone out there had an HRM and a Body Media/Body Bugg that can offer comparisons? Doesn't have to have been the Polar FT4 HRM, that's just the particular one I've chosen to purchase if I go the HRM route.

I've read a few reviews on the Body Media that say it falsely records some info because of the accelerometer feature. (like driving in a car gets tagged as vigorous because of the movement of the car or stationary bike workouts getting tagged as moderate cuz you're barely moving). Has anyone here had that experience as well or are they more accurate than that?

WinterBlue

This is a late thread, but I thought I would add my experience. I own both the body bugg and and the polar FT4.

The comparison: I purchased the body bugg because I was looking for something I can wear the entire day to get an idea of how many calories I burned, body bugg does this somewhat well...I'm not sure how accurate it is and you really need it to wear it for like a week to get an idea of 1) how many calories you burn when completely sedentary and then set a few other descriptors (i.e.) calories burned with 20 minute intentional workout for the day vs 45 minutes vs 2 hours ( you get the point) then you can use these number to estimate future activity levels without actually wearing the body bugg; thus you can sell your body bugg after you get the numbers you need. The body bugg is really suppose to be "accurate" for certain activities. According to Apex fitness, body bugg can "accurately" calculate walks, runs, jogs, activities were you are being propelled forward. If you use it on a bike it will not provide you with accurate results. and now I am wondering if it will only provide accurate results when you are walking or running on a stable surface and not on a treadmill. As an experiment I wore my body bugg and my polar FT4 HRM today on the treadmill walking incline (13-15%) and flat surface occasionally for 1 hour 55 minutes. according to my HRM I was in the zone (hr of 125 or higher) for 1 hour 40 minutes. Maximum HR was 157 and average was 138. Body bugg clocked 565 or something like that...and the polar clocked 823calories over that period. so basically I have decided to get rid of my body bugg because now that I know what my sedentary burn rate is I can find a website where my sedentary rate is comparable and then add my calories burned from my polar FT4 to get a closer calculation. I was surprise by this outcome because usually the body bugg does okay on treadmills. I have also used both while road biking for 2 hours and got some pretty ridiculous numbers from the body (like 400s) and HRM (1000s). It's basic science, if you're exerting so much energy that your HR is in the 65-80% that you would burn a lot more. lastly, if you decide to buy a body bugg check ebay first because you may be able to find one that is in great condition has a month or so left on the subscription (which is plenty of time to either reach your goal weight OR figure out your activity pattern).

kmbrooks15

I had a heart rate monitor and felt it gave me incomplete information, so I bought a BodyMedia Fit. I love it because it tells me so much information. I got the display unit with it, too, because it has a trip meter that I can zero when I start a workout. That way I know how much I burned just during my exercise (I have to wait a minute or two after I'm done to get a full picture--the armband sends data to the display every 60 seconds). If I only had 20-25 pounds to lose, I wouldn't have gone to the expense of the BodyMedia Fit, but because I have 70-75 pounds to lose, I felt like it would help me in the long run. When I reach goal weight, I'll use it to maintain for a few months, then probably sell it to someone else who could use it. If you have a lot to lose, the Fit will tell you a LOT about your burn for the entire day. I got the 6 month subscription (12 months is cheapest, but I may not need it that long). The food diary on their site is not as good as MFP's, so I track my food here and at the end of the day I put my total calories into the BodyMedia Activity Manager as a Daily Estimate. Then I can see my total deficit based on what I burned for the entire day. Very helpful information.

Good luck with your decision! If you get a Body Media Fit and have any questions, feel free to message me.

kmbrooks15

Any other opinions on this? Has anyone out there had an HRM and a Body Media/Body Bugg that can offer comparisons? Doesn't have to have been the Polar FT4 HRM, that's just the particular one I've chosen to purchase if I go the HRM route.

I've read a few reviews on the Body Media that say it falsely records some info because of the accelerometer feature. (like driving in a car gets tagged as vigorous because of the movement of the car or stationary bike workouts getting tagged as moderate cuz you're barely moving). Has anyone here had that experience as well or are they more accurate than that?

I didn't see this until I'd already posted my other post, but I have not found that it reports me as vigorous activity in the car. I drive a good 50 minutes to an hour daily taking kids to school, going to work and the gym, picking kids up at daycare, errands, etc. It doesn't report that time at all. The activity calculation is not based solely on the accelerometer. Besides, I think it would be the movement of your arms that the accelerometer measures, since that is where you wear it.

wolfchild59

Lol - I saw this in My Topics and wondered what I'd added to the conversation. Then I saw I'd started it and got really confused. This is definitely a thread from the dead. I've had a Polar F4 since early Feb and a BMF since late Feb.

kmbrooks15

Oh, that's hilarious. I didn't even notice the dates on the original post!