workout watches

socially_awkward_and_hungry
socially_awkward_and_hungry Posts: 42 Member
edited November 2024 in Fitness and Exercise
So I've tried a Fitbit charge hr and sent it back... It's just so inaccurate and not good for lifting... Can anyone recommend a monitor that actually works? I found driving gave me steps I didn't take with charge hr and it didn't pick up on training or got confused and said I was doing some other sport... I would like something specifically for lifting but the market is such a con, I don't want to bother if nothing REALLY works! Cheers

Replies

  • stanmann571
    stanmann571 Posts: 5,727 Member
    There's no way a watch(or any gyro/accelerometer based device) can tell the difference between a bench press, Dead lift, squat, or strict military press.

    IOW, while desirable, it's technologically unfeasible for a device to do what you want/need. Personnally, I use a Garmin vivoactive with a wahoo HR band.

    Also, even if your watch could tell the difference between exercises, you'd still need to log your weights either before or after.
  • Doctorsookiestrikesback
    Doctorsookiestrikesback Posts: 53 Member
    jamandlettuce1 wrote: »
    So I've tried a Fitbit charge hr and sent it back... It's just so inaccurate and not good for lifting... Can anyone recommend a monitor that actually works? I found driving gave me steps I didn't take with charge hr and it didn't pick up on training or got confused and said I was doing some other sport... I would like something specifically for lifting but the market is such a con, I don't want to bother if nothing REALLY works! Cheers

    I love my Polar A300. I got it for my birthday. I have been using it since November and so far so good. I ordered mine from the Dick's Sporting Goods website because that one came with the Heart monitor and strap. The ones in the store are just the activity tracking watch and you have to buy the HRM separate. Check it out and if you get it; look me up on Polar Flow.
  • scorpio516
    scorpio516 Posts: 955 Member
    What do you want to measure?

    Nothing is good for measuring calories lifting, because it's not related to HR. Almost no activity's Calorie burn is related to HR, that's not what HR is for.
  • Naruya
    Naruya Posts: 81 Member
    edited January 2017
    If you're lifting you can't use a watch with a HR monitor, it will not work. Wrist based watches/activity monitors with a HR sensor use photoplethysmography, a fancy word for analyzing the blood flow by tracking how much green light is absorbed. Without getting too technical: lifting weight with your arms constricts the veins on the wrist and will affect the ability to read HR. This means that your watch will show a very low HR while you're lifting weight and for a while after you put them down.

    I recently saw an add for a tracker called "Beast" that is supposed to be for tracking lifting weight. I know nothing about it, but it might be worth checking out at least: https://www.thisisbeast.com/
  • trigden1991
    trigden1991 Posts: 4,658 Member
    jamandlettuce1 wrote: »
    So I've tried a Fitbit charge hr and sent it back... It's just so inaccurate and not good for lifting... Can anyone recommend a monitor that actually works? I found driving gave me steps I didn't take with charge hr and it didn't pick up on training or got confused and said I was doing some other sport... I would like something specifically for lifting but the market is such a con, I don't want to bother if nothing REALLY works! Cheers

    Any fitness tracker works using accelerometers and/or GPS. No tracker is going to only count steps as other movements can cause steps to be counted. I too have a Charge HR and have found that the distances I walk are very accurate, the step count is accurate (compared to distance/stride length) and the TDEE readings are within 10% of my long term calculated TDEE.

    It all depends what you actually want to measure/track?
  • socially_awkward_and_hungry
    socially_awkward_and_hungry Posts: 42 Member
    Thanks everyone... I think I will just stick to my good old training log book! Technology over complicates things for me lol
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    I used to wear a chest strap while I lifted, but I could never find any way to benefit from knowing what my heart rates were, so I stopped wearing it to lift.
  • rks581
    rks581 Posts: 99 Member
    I have a Garmin Vivoactive HR and a Polar H7 belt. I use them when lifting but I don't find my heart rate to be very important information. However, I did create a "Strength" activity on the watch. Mostly, it's useful as a timer to make sure I'm not going too fast and also to measure time between sets. The Charge HR can be used as a timer as well if you place it in exercise mode (pressing the button for the stopwatch icon when you start and the checkered flag when you're done).
  • niblue
    niblue Posts: 339 Member
    The Vivoactive HR is excellent (maybe the best general fitness/activity tracking watch at the moment) however I'm not sure anything is great for lifting. The Microsoft Band has an interesting workout app that can be programmed for lifting though.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    rks581 wrote: »
    I have a Garmin Vivoactive HR and a Polar H7 belt. I use them when lifting but I don't find my heart rate to be very important information. However, I did create a "Strength" activity on the watch. Mostly, it's useful as a timer to make sure I'm not going too fast and also to measure time between sets. The Charge HR can be used as a timer as well if you place it in exercise mode (pressing the button for the stopwatch icon when you start and the checkered flag when you're done).

    Yeah, me too. Its job is to put the (done) workout on my calendar.
  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
    Nothing really works great for lifting.
This discussion has been closed.

Categories