Heart Rate, Calories and Gadgets

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Ariantha
Ariantha Posts: 15 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I have a Fitbit Flex on preorder (it hasn't been released yet in New Zealand) and I just realised tonight that with no altimeter it won't be able to really measure how many calories I'm burning on my treadmill because I always have it set at a 2% incline (not that I was expecting the calorie count to be accurate, I am just getting tired of the generic guess I can make here on MFP entering in my exercise). All this ultimately pointless pondering has lead me to one question.

I have Essential Tremors and I have to take Atenolol to reduce my shaking to a manageable level. It means my heart rate is limited and no matter how much weight I lose and how fit I get I'm unlikely to come off it unless I get cured (I'm not holding my breath). Does this mean most of the heart rate gadgets will always essentially be useless for me in gauging how hard I'm working? I'm very much a goal orientated person and it bothers me that I can't measure my exercise very well beyond estimations.

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  • jaz050465
    jaz050465 Posts: 3,508 Member
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    Have a look at the Bodymedia Fit too. I don't know anything about your condition but does this mean your BMR is above that of an average person your size? In which case, nothing will be accurate. Maybe talk to your doctor about it.
  • geerunz
    geerunz Posts: 163 Member
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    I have a Fitbit Flex on preorder (it hasn't been released yet in New Zealand) and I just realised tonight that with no altimeter it won't be able to really measure how many calories I'm burning on my treadmill because I always have it set at a 2% incline (not that I was expecting the calorie count to be accurate, I am just getting tired of the generic guess I can make here on MFP entering in my exercise). All this ultimately pointless pondering has lead me to one question.

    I have Essential Tremors and I have to take Atenolol to reduce my shaking to a manageable level. It means my heart rate is limited and no matter how much weight I lose and how fit I get I'm unlikely to come off it unless I get cured (I'm not holding my breath). Does this mean most of the heart rate gadgets will always essentially be useless for me in gauging how hard I'm working? I'm very much a goal orientated person and it bothers me that I can't measure my exercise very well beyond estimations.

    Fitbit is not a heart rate monitor. Once you put in your stats it clculates your aproximate energy expenditure. As far as the altimeter, it will not calculate your flights on the treadmill. You are not "actually" climbing higher.
  • AmberLee2012
    AmberLee2012 Posts: 540
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    I was reading some of the reviews on Amazon.com for the FItBit Flex and they weren't that great. One of them said that it won't calculate the steps you take if you are pushing a stroller or something else. It also apparently adds steps if you are resting against a keyboard and typing. I am so bummed because I was going to get this too!
  • trogalicious
    trogalicious Posts: 4,584 Member
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    I love my HRM.

    ... just sayin. Aside from a good pair of running shoes, it's been the best investment I've made.
  • Ariantha
    Ariantha Posts: 15 Member
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    I know the flex isn't a HRM, I was investigating HRM for that reason. I looked into the Bodymedia Fit but it's not available in NZ, I can't buy directly from Bodymedia because it's apparently deemed to be a medical device and can't be sold outside the US and other products with the same technology cost 4x the price Americans pay for it once I've taken into account the exchange rate :(

    Thanks for the clarification of an altimeter.

    All I know is that my heartrate is limited and my GP told me to avoid "too vigorous exercise". I tried once and I had to throw up within 3 minutes and I never did it again. I've had to build my fitness level up slowly and I'm never able to use the feature on exercise machines that alters your program based on your HR because mine is lower than it should be when I'm exercising. I don't think my BMR is affected by my HR because the calculators online don't ask for my HR.

    A lot of the reviews on Amazon are complaining about things like it being hard to put on (which gets better) and the person not understanding what they were ordering, there are also just as many happy reviews on Amazon. But then I guess that makes it even more confusing.
  • Keiras_Mom
    Keiras_Mom Posts: 844 Member
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    I take Atenolol and can still get an elevated heart rate with exercise. My resting HR with the Atenolol is in the 70's and I get up to 135 or so when I'm really working hard. I don't have tremors though, and I'm on a fairly low dose (without it, my resting HR is 110-120), so I'm not sure if we're talking apples to apples.
  • Ariantha
    Ariantha Posts: 15 Member
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    That's usually where my HR gets up to as well, all the websites that talk about HR training says to go higher than that, I might be wrong...I dunno

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