What’s the best fitness tracker for heart rate and calories burned?

jasminez4u2 wrote: »

I know someone told me to be more specific about my question, that’s all. She said I’ll get more recommendations so I wrote a new question. I thought I would be able to delete the first question.

OK, I went back and read your other thread. I think that your current post wasn't the kind of clarification that was being sought (but I can see how you might not know what to add if you're new to looking at fitness trackers).

Here are some things that would help:

* Are you wanting to track mostly all-day calorie burn from daily life, or intentional exercise? If so, is walking or stair-climbing a big deal in your daily life?

* Do you prefer particular kinds of exercise that you especially want to be able to track? People might make different recommendations if you prefer outdoor exercises where distance important (outdoor running, cycling, rowing, for example), because you probably would then want one with a GPS. If you swim, you might want one with the best water-resistance. And so forth. If you say what exercises are important to you, that will help people make recommendations. If you're not sure yet, that's fine, but if you have preferences, knowing them helps.

* Are you training seriously for some sport that has complicated workouts (such as intervals where you need your tracker to signal time/distance intervals and rest periods between intervals)?

* Do you want it to link with your phone for notifications? Do you want it to play music without a phone?

* What kind of uses do you make of heart rate during/after exercise? Do you just want to know what your heart rate is when you glance at the tracker? Do you need it to keep track of how much time you spend in different heart rate zones? Do you want it to prompt you if your heart rate goes above/below certain values? Etc.

* Do you want sleep tracking? (Warning: Not very accurate, according to research.)

* Do you have any strong feelings about how you want the device to look, especially if you plan to wear it 24/7? (Like do you want it to be petite/sleek/fashionable, don't mind if it looks like a chunky sports watch, don't want to wear it on your wrist, need interchangeable bands to match outfits, etc.)?

Etc.

The more and fancier features you want, the more they tend to cost. If cost is a factor, you might want to indicate the price range you're willing to consider.

If your interest is mostly in exercise (vs. daily life) tracking, you might get better advice in the Fitness part of the forum. (If you want, you can use the "flag" option on your own post to ask the moderators to move it there. You can also have your other post deleted by using the right "flag" option.)

Most good-quality (major manufacturer) heart rate monitors are pretty accurate for heart rate these days, even some of the wrist-only ones, though some wrist ones are more inclined to temporarily lose contact and lose track for brief periods. Chest belts still are the best, in most cases, for accurate exercise heart rate under the widest variety of cases (though you need a special one for swimming or other in-water exercise). Some sports challenge even the best wrist-based heart rate monitors because of the type of arm movement involved (mine, rowing, is one).

As others have said, the calorie estimates are still all estimates. They're a bit more personalized in some ways than something like the MFP database estimates, but they may or may not be more accurate. A device that knows what exercise activity you're doing (because you tell it) has the potential to be a little more accurate than one that doesn't, but whether it actually achieves that potential depends on the programmers who work for the manufacturer, and on the research they used to inform their work. It's still all just estimates, unfortunately. The link above to Azdak's blog will help you understand why.

As someone else said, consistency is really the important thing: You log your calorie intake, you estimate your exercise in a consistent way (even recognizing that it may be inaccurate!), you run your routing for 4-6 weeks, then compare your weight results to your goals, and adjust your intake to keep things on the proper, sensible path toward your goals. That consistency is what gives you a valid basis for the adjustment.

I'm no expert on fitness trackers; I have one, a Garmin Vivoactive 3, but I really only researched the features I personally care about.

If you're looking at more technical-type (sports-oriented) trackers, DC Rainmaker is a very helpful site to learn more. ( https://www.dcrainmaker.com/ )

If you want more of a non-athlete daily activity sort of thing, I don't have a resource to suggest (that wasn't what I personally was looking for).

Best wishes!