Fitbit v Heart Rate Monitor

zippyjojo
zippyjojo Posts: 22 Member
edited November 15 in Fitness and Exercise
I usually exercise with a Polar heart rate monitor and strap. Mine's been playing up and even though I've changed the batter in the watch it's not working properly which I find really frustrating. I also sometimes find the chest strap quite uncomfortable if worn for long periods of time. Does anyone use a Fitbit with HR monitor in the wrist strap and how effective/reliable do you find them and could you possibly recommend which one I should get if I decide to change tack and get a Fitbit? Thanks for any comments :smile: I'm in the UK by the way.

Replies

  • MeanderingMammal
    MeanderingMammal Posts: 7,866 Member
    It would be useful to understand what sort of training you do and what you try to get from tracking your HR data.

    I use a Garmin with optical HR. Some ways I use it, I'm pretty happy. For some things a wrist device is never going to be more accurate than an electrical device, but equally tracking in those circumstances is a bit pointless.
  • 50extra
    50extra Posts: 751 Member
    Hey Zippy. I wear a Fitbit Blaze and the HR monitor on it is good up to a point. It really doesn't work well (or at all) at high heart rates and doesn't work to well once i get sweaty. Even though I have the fitbit (and love it) I wear my HRM for all cardio to keep an eye on my heart rate. I ride an assault bike and can quickly get my heart rate up to the 180 point and my fitbit wont even register a beat half of the time. When I am dealing with potentially dangerous high levels I need the reliability of the chest strap.

    If accurate heart rate monitoring is what you are after, bite the bullet and buy a new chest strap. If you just need some a general idea as to where your heart rate is at, the fitbit would work fine.
  • zippyjojo
    zippyjojo Posts: 22 Member
    Thanks 50extra - I definitely need to just get a new chest strap then as like you I get up into the 180s and want to track recovery etc and work in my training zone and can see I would get really fed up with a Fitbit not being accurate
  • GrahamUK72
    GrahamUK72 Posts: 255 Member
    zippy, I use both.

    I find the Fitbit is hit and miss from a HR perspective, and loses my HR altogether at times. Therefore, I use it strictly as a pedometer for walking or running. i.e. things it's easy for it to track.

    I use my Polar for circuit training or weights. The monitor is directly on my chest so in theory should give a more accurate result.

  • zippyjojo
    zippyjojo Posts: 22 Member
    Thank you
  • rubrink
    rubrink Posts: 43 Member
    Yeah, I've found the Fitbit to be fairly solid and consistent for tracking HR while running, but terrible at tracking it when doing anything else.
  • NorthCascades
    NorthCascades Posts: 10,968 Member
    zippyjojo wrote: »
    I usually exercise with a Polar heart rate monitor and strap. Mine's been playing up and even though I've changed the batter in the watch it's not working properly which I find really frustrating.

    Have you changed the battery in the strap? They need replacing after a while, too.
  • rks581
    rks581 Posts: 99 Member
    I've used a heart rate belt with a Fitbit and now with my Garmin Vivoactive HR. It's useful to have both because the watch will keep track of your heart rate all the time and the belt will send heart rate data to apps on a phone plus to cardio equipment.

    The battery in a heart rate monitor will go dead fairly quickly if you store the monitor with both snaps attached to the belt. I don't want to separate the monitor from the belt (that already resulted in losing a monitor) so I unsnap one of the snaps and turn the monitor to one side.
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