FitBit or HRM?

We just got my wife a FitBit and were thinking she might need a HRM for specific, cycling, workouts. What I am curious about. Do you continue to wear the FitBit when you are wearing the HRM? Or do you take the FitBit off while you are doing the workouts?

Leave the FitBit on.

I pondered this same question for awhile and then just treated myself one day.

I have both and I'm a science nerd. I've had my F4 Polar HRM for years and my fitbit for about a month. They're two different animals... I use my F4 for tracking my burn from cardio exercises (which the fitbit doesn't do all that well cause it's a pedometer) and I use my fitbit to ensure I get at least 10,000 steps per day (F4 doesn't do this).

FOR ME - the fitbit is basically a digital pedometer that syncs with your computer (bells and whistles) when compared to a regular pedometer- that's cool!

Fitbit Ultra Pros:
* Its small and I like wearing it on my sports bra
* The clip grippers are awesome - so it's not necessary to have a leash
* I use it as a bonus piece of workout gear - I like to ensure I step 10,000 steps a day - so this is a fun way to do it.
* Cute design
* Great usability!
* Has sleep monitoring.

Fitbit Ultra Cons:
* It's alot smaller than what you imagine in your head it will look like - the photos on the website did not prepare me for how tiny this gadget is (but after using it - thats a cool thing too)
* The stride is statistically figured out by similar height people. So you can't set your stride length in there. How does one know if you longer legs/longer stride vs someone who has a longer torso/shorter legs/shorter stride. So miles may be overstated or understated. But again no workout exercise monitoring device is 100% accurate.
* It's small so if you do laundry and your fitbit is attached to your clothing item - it will get washed - this ALMOST happened on the very first night (mercifully I had already taken the fitbit off my clothing - btw that was a huge scene to stop a front loader, frantically pulling clothes, water splashing everywhere... good times!) Now I have a sign on the washer!
* I use MFP exclusively - so why bother with fitbit's website.
* THe flower that grows based on activity level (10 petals being the max) - is cute for the 1st week.
* The stairs - registers stairs only - not all that great for stepping exercise workouts
* Sleep monitoring - great for one or two nights for sleep thru the night people; I think would be useful for insomniacs or sleep apnea folks to start the ball rolling with your dr as far as solutions

FOR ME - I loved a low tech digiwalker pedometer that they no longer make.. I loved that thing.. wore it everyday for the past 3 years - small profile, could set your stride, ht and weight into it (so it was a bit more accurate that the fitbit). Wore it everyday...sadly it broke and so I did need a pedometer replacement.

Not sure the cost of the fitbit ultra warranted my splurge (sorry to say) - but now that I have it - I like it and use it.

If I could wave a magic wand - I'd probably buy the fitzip over the ultra - it's cheaper and I'd take the extra $40 and go buy a cute workout top (thats just me).

Being honest, Hope this helps.

I pondered this same question for awhile and then just treated myself one day.

I have both and I'm a science nerd. I've had my F4 Polar HRM for years and my fitbit for about a month. They're two different animals... I use my F4 for tracking my burn from cardio exercises (which the fitbit doesn't do all that well cause it's a pedometer) and I use my fitbit to ensure I get at least 10,000 steps per day (F4 doesn't do this).

FOR ME - the fitbit is basically a digital pedometer that syncs with your computer (bells and whistles) when compared to a regular pedometer- that's cool!

Fitbit Ultra Pros:
* Its small and I like wearing it on my sports bra
* The clip grippers are awesome - so it's not necessary to have a leash
* I use it as a bonus piece of workout gear - I like to ensure I step 10,000 steps a day - so this is a fun way to do it.
* Cute design
* Great usability!
* Has sleep monitoring.

Fitbit Ultra Cons:
* It's alot smaller than what you imagine in your head it will look like - the photos on the website did not prepare me for how tiny this gadget is (but after using it - thats a cool thing too)
* The stride is statistically figured out by similar height people. So you can't set your stride length in there. How does one know if you longer legs/longer stride vs someone who has a longer torso/shorter legs/shorter stride. So miles may be overstated or understated. But again no workout exercise monitoring device is 100% accurate.
* It's small so if you do laundry and your fitbit is attached to your clothing item - it will get washed - this ALMOST happened on the very first night (mercifully I had already taken the fitbit off my clothing - btw that was a huge scene to stop a front loader, frantically pulling clothes, water splashing everywhere... good times!) Now I have a sign on the washer!
* I use MFP exclusively - so why bother with fitbit's website.
* THe flower that grows based on activity level (10 petals being the max) - is cute for the 1st week.
* The stairs - registers stairs only - not all that great for stepping exercise workouts
* Sleep monitoring - great for one or two nights for sleep thru the night people; I think would be useful for insomniacs or sleep apnea folks to start the ball rolling with your dr as far as solutions

FOR ME - I loved a low tech digiwalker pedometer that they no longer make.. I loved that thing.. wore it everyday for the past 3 years - small profile, could set your stride, ht and weight into it (so it was a bit more accurate that the fitbit). Wore it everyday...sadly it broke and so I did need a pedometer replacement.

Not sure the cost of the fitbit ultra warranted my splurge (sorry to say) - but now that I have it - I like it and use it.

If I could wave a magic wand - I'd probably buy the fitzip over the ultra - it's cheaper and I'd take the extra $40 and go buy a cute workout top (thats just me).

Being honest, Hope this helps.

Nitpick: Fitbit allows you to set walking and running stride lengths.

I want the new fitbit flex

I have had both. And it kinda depends what you are after. I love my HRM because I do lots of different types of workouts (crossfit, yoga etc) the hrm allows me to see how hard my work out was . The fitbit was great for getting me to take more steps during a day.

Does the HRM track weight machines at the gym? I don't know if my hear rate goes up or not?

~*~*~*Amy ~*~*~

Save a Tree, Save our Planet, Recycle, Think Organic
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Definition...COMMUNICATION PROTOCOL...agree with wife

Depending on what is your activity type. Fitbit measures steps and calculates calories, which I found not to be exactly correct if compared with HRM for when I run. When I workout like cardio DVD, Crodd Fit Class Fit Bit is way off as far as calories go (converted from steps recorded). I wear FitBit through the day to get my 10 000 steps and wear HRM when excercise to get calories burned correct.
If you link FitBit account with MFP, you can enter time you start workout and calories burned, and it will adjust Fitbit calories automatically. Otherwise FitBit will give you additional calories to eat as you walk/run through the day.

I have both and use both. I love my Fitbit! It makes me move around more. The bf has one and we battle it out. I still use my HRM for certain work outs. When I'm doing something with a strong cardio then I put on my HRM because I know my Fitbit isn't even going to be close.

I have a FitBit Zip and would not recommend it. It has a lot of issues with syncing properly (at one point it went 3 weeks without syncing over wifi like it was supposed to be). I'm actually considering putting mine on eBay because I just don't find it all that useful.

Fitbits do not support Wifi in any capacity. It only syncs via the Bluetooth dongle or via the Fitbit app on iPhone 4S/5, iPad Retina, or Samsung Galaxy S3/Note 2.

I have a Garmin Forerunner 405CX, used it for awhile, then it got to be too complicated for what I wanted. Have been wearing my FitBit one since I got it about a month ago. It is very good to keep me active. I haven't decided if the sleep monitor is even accurate, it is a cool idea, and I have lots of problems with insomnia. As I get more fit and active, I may start using my Garmin again in addition to the FitBit. I clip the Fitbit to my bra with the actual device inside and the clip part on the outside; have not had any problems with losing it or it coming lose, or even close to putting it in the washing machine.