App for daily activities tracking with an heart rate monitor

anniebeausoleil
anniebeausoleil Posts: 3
in Fitness and Exercise
At first, I wanted to buy the Nike Fuelband, but reading the reviews, I see that it won't be very accurate for me, as it doesn't work when pushing the stroller, for example... But I really like the idea of all this and as I already have a H7 Polar HRM, I'm looking for an Iphone App that would track my daily activities via my heart rate monitor. Something that would do like the Nike fuelband app seams to be doing: set goals and give me the motivation to reach them. Any suggestion?

Replies

  • gfroniewski
    gfroniewski Posts: 168
    Hmm it seems like you have conflicting goals. Most activity trackers don't have HRMs, but most HRMs aren't especially designed for 24 hour use. Since you already have an HRM are you just craving the activity tracking features for your day to day stuff?? If so, I would suggest looking at the Fuelband's other wrist worn competitors like the Jawbone UP or Fitbit Flex. There are also other devices in the Fitbit line if you don't fancy a bracelet. The Fitbit One is what I am referring to, and it is fantastic as well!

    I am not sure what you are referring to with the stroller statement. Any worthwhile activity will still work even if your wrist isn't moving. I have a Fitbit Flex myself and love it. It syncs seamlessly with MFP for activity and food, taking my input into account and feeding it to Fitbit.

    The social aspect of having one of these trackers is also very motivating as well. I added about 25 people from MFP on there as well as a couple of my friends, and it is really fun to try and best their 7 day step totals. I often find myself taking late night walks to get those extra few thousand steps.

    If you have any questions about Fitbit or other activity trackers feel free to ask. There are many other users that are always very informative in these threads!
  • gfroniewski
    gfroniewski Posts: 168
    I realize I didn't answer your question hahaha. Run Keeper is AMAZING for running and walking. Very motivating and goal oriented with robust features like elevation, GPS, route planning. A must for runners IMO. I used to use Nike+, but Run Keeper is leaps and bounds ahead.

    Every Move is another good motivator. It awards you points for completed activities that translate into real world rewards. I am working towards a 25% off coupon to a yoga website, for instance.
  • anniebeausoleil
    anniebeausoleil Posts: 3
    Thanks for your answer. I think you're right, I may have conflicting goals.... :-) In fact, in many of the reviews i've read, they were sawing that, to count your activity with the fuelband, you had to move your wrist, what doesn't happen when walking or running with a stroller, as your hand is stable.... Is this the same with the fitbit flex? Knowing that a HRM is more accurate for tracking calories burnt, I was telling me that it could be great to have an app working with the HRM to track daily activities, but now I've read that HRM are not designed for daily activities.... I'm confused! :-)
  • gfroniewski
    gfroniewski Posts: 168
    I use my HRM to track non step based workouts. Even sometimes when I run to get a more accurate picture of my burn. The Flex does track steps whether the wrist is moving or not. It has 3 separate accelerometers to account for each axis of movement. Fitbit also has stride length and non-dominant vs. dominant hand settings to make it more accurate. Some of the other competitors don't. The immobile wrist dilemma could possibly be unique to the Fuelband.

    You can always put the data from your HRM into MFP. That's what I do.
  • anniebeausoleil
    anniebeausoleil Posts: 3
    Ok, so Fitbit Flex would be a good choice! Didn't read about it, just about fitbit one! So thanks :-) And as you're saying, I'll use HRM to track no step based activities! So you're using MFP to track your Fitbit Flex data?
  • jaredgrinstead
    jaredgrinstead Posts: 4
    I've been looking for the same thing. basically an activity tracker that uses HRM to better calculate calorie burn for something like weightlifting. most activity trackers i have found only work well for walking and running, but then i found this...

    http://www.self.com/blogs/flash/2013/03/fitness-amiigo-tracker-records-activity-your-heart-rate.html

    the Amiigo isn't out yet but you can register to pre-order

    http://amiigo.co/
  • ze_hombre
    ze_hombre Posts: 377 Member
    Neither the Nike or the Fitbit measure anything other than steps taken. They are just fancy pedometers and they calculate calorie burn off estimates for your height, age, and gender. I love my Flex, but if I am doing anything other than going for a walk I use a chest strap HRM. I have used many apps with my HRM and found that which one you use is really a personal choice. They are all basically the same with just minor differences in functionality.
  • ze_hombre
    ze_hombre Posts: 377 Member
    I've been looking for the same thing. basically an activity tracker that uses HRM to better calculate calorie burn for something like weightlifting. most activity trackers i have found only work well for walking and running, but then i found this...

    http://www.self.com/blogs/flash/2013/03/fitness-amiigo-tracker-records-activity-your-heart-rate.html

    the Amiigo isn't out yet but you can register to pre-order

    http://amiigo.co/

    This looks promising. It is definitely a more holistic approach when compared to Fitbit and Flex bands. I have to keep an eye out for this.

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