Do you use a fitness tracker?

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  • dlw13
    dlw13 Posts: 119 Member
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    I have a jawbone that I received as a gift Christmas 2013. I use it, but I'm not sure how much faith I have in it. I'm on my third one as the first two died after 4 months of use. I was wearing it while I was doing my boxing/kick boxing class, and I don't think it was built to take the concussion. I've been putting it in my pocket and so far so good. I do like the sleep monitoring function, I never realized how little sleep I was getting.
  • esjones12
    esjones12 Posts: 1,363 Member
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    melissaka7 wrote: »
    esjones12 wrote: »

    I just received a Polar FT7 for Christmas and absolutely love it. It is still an estimate of calories burned, but it tells me the duration of my workout, my average HR and max HR. I glance at it to see if I should be working harder (for a higher HR). It will be a game for me to burn more calories each workout, etc.

    I've been leaning towards a Polar. Does it do anything when you're not working out? Like if I wore it to work without the chest strap would it tell time or steps taken? Or would it really be something I could only get use of of when working out?

    The Polar FT7 does not count steps. If you wear it without the strap all it will tell you is the time of day and you can access your workout summaries.

    I know a lot of people recommend Polar because they seem to last forever.
  • Hungry_Annie
    Hungry_Annie Posts: 807 Member
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    I dont think any devices are necessary, but they can be motivating. I had a Fitbit Flex for about 7 months, i had to trade it in twice due to charging issues. I liked it though. Kept me motivated.Now i have a Jawbone UP24 and so far its good. I also have a Polar FT7 HRM, which i wear for non-step based exercise.
  • Kfrase83
    Kfrase83 Posts: 42 Member
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    I love my Polar FT7. The batteries have lasted a long time, and while it doesn't sync with MFP, I add my workouts in afterwards.
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
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    melissaka7 wrote: »
    or just during my work outs. .

    Given the training that you describe, none of the toys you mention will give you a meaningful calorie expenditure.
  • Revonue
    Revonue Posts: 135 Member
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    I received a Garmin Vivofit for Christmas, I really like it!

    For fitness, devices aren't necessary, but they are useful and fun to have. The main reason I asked for a Vivofit for Christmas is the ability to use a HRM during workouts. It does work with MFP, though you need to manually sync it throughout the day.
  • cmbauer99
    cmbauer99 Posts: 184 Member
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    I would recommend the Polar m400 its an all in one device. Does steps, GPS, activity, sleeping etc etc. It pairs with a bluetooth H7 strap to give you an accurate heartrate. Stay away from the HRM that are on your wrist they have been proven time and time again to be very in accurate.

    I have used all of the above items and I settled on this one.

    I use it to watch my HR while I do video workouts, I track calories burn for HIIT an Crossfit and 5x5 weight lifting. Then when I run outside I can customize the information I see as far as pace, speed, travel etc. Ont he treadmill it will show me my HR and calories and time etc.

    Check it out! Best money I have spent.
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
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    cmbauer99 wrote: »
    I track calories burn for HIIT an Crossfit and 5x5 weight lifting.

    The figure that you get from any device is meaningless as far as these are concerned.
  • Jennifer_Lynn_1982
    Jennifer_Lynn_1982 Posts: 567 Member
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    cmbauer99 wrote: »
    I would recommend the Polar m400 its an all in one device. Does steps, GPS, activity, sleeping etc etc. It pairs with a bluetooth H7 strap to give you an accurate heartrate. Stay away from the HRM that are on your wrist they have been proven time and time again to be very in accurate.

    I have used all of the above items and I settled on this one.

    I use it to watch my HR while I do video workouts, I track calories burn for HIIT an Crossfit and 5x5 weight lifting. Then when I run outside I can customize the information I see as far as pace, speed, travel etc. Ont he treadmill it will show me my HR and calories and time etc.

    Check it out! Best money I have spent.

    Great info! Thank you. I was thinking about getting the Polar Heart Rate monitor to use on my phone and then getting a watch down the road (I was looking at the FT4, FT7 or the Loop) but the M400 looks pretty impressive, albeit at a higher price.

    I mostly do at home workouts (Insanity, etc.) and/or circuit training at the gym so my main focus is to track heart rate and a better estimate of calories burned.

    Is the M400 too bulky for women do you think?
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
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    Jennifer_Lynn_1982 wrote: »
    I mostly do at home workouts (Insanity, etc.) and/or circuit training at the gym so my main focus is to track heart rate and a better estimate of calories burned.

    You're not going to get a meaningful estimate of calories expended using an HRM for the kind of training that you describe.
  • 20yearsyounger
    20yearsyounger Posts: 1,643 Member
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    Before I swore by my heart rate monitors. I wanting to hit the gym equipment hard and get the biggest burn possible. Now, I'm at the stage where I just want to burn 300-400 calories a day. My fitness band has helped me to achieve this without trying to hit my gym schedule too hard. I don't have to worry too much about what exercise I will do for today. I don't have to wear my heart rate chest strap either. I can do normal activities (and of course add a few more steps to meet my daily goals) and it works great for me. I also sit at the computer a lot and this thing reminds me that I have to get up and keep moving. I have the Garmin Vivofit and no its not going back I don't care what MFP does (it is working right now BTW).

    This is not to say that I won't use heart rate monitors anymore. There are great for my intense burns. However, its time to start thinking about my true sustainable activities. I don't mind once again wearing a watch (fitness band).
  • melissaka7
    melissaka7 Posts: 277 Member
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    @meanderingmammal Instead of telling people what doesn't work for the types of activites we're mentioning you could say what does. And I'm pretty sure heart rate monitors that we're describing are exactly what you use for things like Insanity, etc.
  • melissaka7
    melissaka7 Posts: 277 Member
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    @20yearsyounger Thanks! That's great info.
  • jaygreen55
    jaygreen55 Posts: 315 Member
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    melissaka7 wrote: »
    Like fitbit, jawbone, polar hrm, garmin, etc? What do you like about it? What all does it do?

    I've researched these damn things to death and cannot decide if I need one. I work a sedentary job, but I do fitness vidoes like Insanity, T25, PiYo, and Insanity Max:30. I also weight train 2 days a week. My wants are something that tells me how many calories I've burned either through the whole day or just during my work outs. I'd also like to know how many steps I've taken. I just don't know if I really need something or not.

    You might find these articles from the NY times helpful in making your decision


    What Your Activity Tracker Sees and Doesn’t See
    http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/projects/2014/03/accelerometers.html


    The Well Guide to Activity Trackers
    By THE NEW YORK TIMES
    http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/projects/activity-trackers
  • deup
    deup Posts: 129 Member
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    i got the polar H7 for christmas.. so far i love it.. i wil be buying the polar loop to go with it.. and the loop is a activity tracker however i can link my polar H7 to it for a much better count.
  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
    edited December 2014
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    melissaka7 wrote: »
    @meanderingmammal Instead of telling people what doesn't work for the types of activites we're mentioning you could say what does. And I'm pretty sure heart rate monitors that we're describing are exactly what you use for things like Insanity, etc.

    Nothing does. Best bet is to make an assessment of time and effort then use an online calculator.

    Lots of people assume that a number from a gadget means accuracy, but if one isn't using said gadget as it's designed to be used then the number isn;t meaningful.

    For stuff like Insanity you'll get a significant over estimation. Same with HIIT and resistance training.
  • melissaka7
    melissaka7 Posts: 277 Member
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    @deup I'm leaning towards a polar for now. But I like the idea of the polar loop. Maybe I'll get the HRM now and the loop down the line since they link which I did not know. Great advice. Thanks!
  • missADS1981
    missADS1981 Posts: 364 Member
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    I use and highly recommend the Polar FT7 watch. I have also had the F4. if you are weight training its the only real way to calculate calories burned during a lifting session. It keeps me on track as i super set to make sure my HR stays high.v3h5za22cqla.png
  • Jennifer_Lynn_1982
    Jennifer_Lynn_1982 Posts: 567 Member
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    MeanderingMammal wrote: »
    Jennifer_Lynn_1982 wrote: »
    I mostly do at home workouts (Insanity, etc.) and/or circuit training at the gym so my main focus is to track heart rate and a better estimate of calories burned.

    You're not going to get a meaningful estimate of calories expended using an HRM for the kind of training that you describe.

    Will it be better than MFP's estimates though? I think that's all I'm looking for...well that and my heart rate throughout the workout.

  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
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    Jennifer_Lynn_1982 wrote: »
    Will it be better than MFP's estimates though? I think that's all I'm looking for...well that and my heart rate throughout the workout.

    There's no way to meaningfully tell, they both depend on a range of assumptions.

    With anything that takes the heart rate into the anaerobic range then the forecasting breaks down.

    With something like HIIT then it depends on what you're actually doing, the types of intervals, how much warm up you've done etc.

    I'd even say that knowing your HR at any point in the session doesn't mean much. On the other hand if you have a trace of HR and how that relates to other things then you can do something with the data. For example I can compare HR with a GPS trace of my run, so can see elevation, looking at the map I can understand the surface I was on at the time and what that meant in terms of my performance. Equally on the bike I can compare with elevation changes, cadence etc.

    Zone trainig isn't much value unless you've got a good understanding of your maximum heart rate, and that doesn't mean 220-age. It means going into a lab and paying a good amount of money for an assessment of MHR and lactate threshold. Then you can build zone training into your plan, although for the vast majority of people RPE is good enough. If I was able to do a 42 minute 10Km race then I'd think about spending the money to get that down to 37 or 38 inutes.

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