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How reliant have you become on fitness tech?
Replies
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I find that the technology I have has really helped me in getting active and sticking with the gym. I have a wearable (a garmin) and it's definitely helped me see how much I'm moving and be motivated to move more. But much more important (from my perspective) is the waterproof mp3 player I own. I have severe mental health difficulties and the noise/bustle of the gym or pool can be really overwhelming and frightening to me. Having my own music while I swim or work out helps to "isolate" me in my own little bubble, making it much more bearable. I know I'm an outlier there, but I really do owe my tech a lot.1
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I swim a lot. The number one excuse I hear from others for not trying push themselves in swimming is that they'd get bored.
When I swim, the only tech I have is my Garmin. No music player. Just the meditation of counting strokes.
They only time my phone isn't in a locker when I'm exercising is when I'm making my own spin class. I have a 60 minute spin playlist.
Get unplugged. Life is good. Think of the workout as a form of meditation, time to decompress from the constant stimulus of the day.0 -
When I'm in a long training build before races, I am extremely data driven. My garmin watch, HRM and power meter tracking everything from swim yards to bike power output to run mileage, pace, HR zone, etc. All of it is synced and uploaded to a tracking program for analysis.
In the off season, when I'm not in training mode, I don't track anything, including number of steps daily. I just love getting outside and enjoying the scenery while doing those same activities. No data needed.0 -
My Garmin Vivoactive 2 died today. Went out and bought a Vivo3 because I don’t want to lose my step streak. About a month away from meeting my 10,000 steps a day goal for two years! Wasn’t going to ruin my streak.
If my fitness tracker didn’t record it, it doesn’t count.
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Polar H7 fan here. I'm using it for any type workout, including swimming. I also own a Fitbit, because hubby thought I'd like one. It's been a battery sucker on my old phone, so I retired it after just 2 days. I don't track all day, only for training, anyway. I since upgraded the phone, but I'm sticking with my Polar.0
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I just do walking. And I'm not fit. If I wanted to get serious about getting fit, I would up the intensity and duration of the walking.
Then I'd graduate myself to calisthenics and yoga eventually, using body weight as resistance - hypothetically speaking.
I have a growing disdain for electronics and tech with each passing day.
Playing on MFP, using a Garmin for driving directions and whatever my work needs me to use a computer for are the limits to my relationship with tech/electronics.0 -
If it works for the individual - and by that I mean that it helps them succeed, they don't find themselves obsessing in an unhealthy way over what the tech is recording, and they don't spend more money than they can afford on it - then I think any amount of tech is not too much.
I don't have any tech but my phone to play music and my computer to be on this account. That's it, and that works for me. But I know folks who get a lot out of their tech, so that works for them, and is just as valid.0 -
I have a Polar Heart Rate Monitor and the battery in the watch just died. I only ever used it for actual cardio so I could plug in those calories burned and eat some of them back.
I HATE guessing my calories burned because because estimates can be so so off.
I'll never get one of those fitness watches though. I know so many people that have them and just have this weird delusion that just owning one is going to make them lose weight. I'm a waitress and some of the other girls will say. "Oh I got 3000 steps in today at work!"
Like, ok cool. But that's all within your normal routine that your body is used to. How much of a work out have you gotten outside of your normal routine? Oh btw there's like 500 calories in that ranch you just dumped on your salad . . .0 -
I have a Polar Heart Rate Monitor and the battery in the watch just died. I only ever used it for actual cardio so I could plug in those calories burned and eat some of them back.
I HATE guessing my calories burned because because estimates can be so so off.
I'll never get one of those fitness watches though. I know so many people that have them and just have this weird delusion that just owning one is going to make them lose weight. I'm a waitress and some of the other girls will say. "Oh I got 3000 steps in today at work!"
Like, ok cool. But that's all within your normal routine that your body is used to. How much of a work out have you gotten outside of your normal routine? Oh btw there's like 500 calories in that ranch you just dumped on your salad . . .
I went from a Polar HRM for exercise sessions only, to a Garmin Vivoactive 3, worn all day. I like it. It has some amusingly silly ideas, but I recognize them as that.
The change didn't make me any more (or less) illogical, neurotic, or deluded than I ever was. It's a tool, not a tecnological overlord.
Don't worry. If you get one, you'll be fine.
But if you don't want one, you can still buy a basic HRM (or just new battery?), or wear a tracker only during exercise.
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I have a Polar Heart Rate Monitor and the battery in the watch just died. I only ever used it for actual cardio so I could plug in those calories burned and eat some of them back.
I HATE guessing my calories burned because because estimates can be so so off.
I'll never get one of those fitness watches though. I know so many people that have them and just have this weird delusion that just owning one is going to make them lose weight. I'm a waitress and some of the other girls will say. "Oh I got 3000 steps in today at work!"
Like, ok cool. But that's all within your normal routine that your body is used to. How much of a work out have you gotten outside of your normal routine? Oh btw there's like 500 calories in that ranch you just dumped on your salad . . .
Wearing a fitness tracker and being mindful of your activity is actually showing interest in staying active - how is that a bad thing? Steps-based fitness isn't the perfect option, but it is far better than doing nothing.1 -
I've had all kinds of different relationships with fitness tech during the last 25 years. There was a time during which I recorded everything I did, and wore a tracker and a heart monitor all the time. Eventually, I got so strung out that I didn't sleep for 4 days and started counting my breaths! I'm serious! I can really become obsessive, and I realize that allowing myself to track things too much leads to a bad outcome. I have only just recently started tracking my food again after about 10 years of recovery from being an obsessive health nut. I feel like when I engage tech, I end up somewhere dark.
Jenn2 -
I turned all of my exercise apps off or deleted them about 2 years ago. It was liberating.
The only apps I use now is my dumb CASIO watch - that does have a stopwatch - and my music. It might take a little longer to finish the route, but it sure is more enjoyable now that I can stop, take a call, visit with a friend, etc.
The only tracking apps I use now are MFP and Happy Scale.2 -
Bry_Fitness70 wrote: »I have a Polar Heart Rate Monitor and the battery in the watch just died. I only ever used it for actual cardio so I could plug in those calories burned and eat some of them back.
I HATE guessing my calories burned because because estimates can be so so off.
I'll never get one of those fitness watches though. I know so many people that have them and just have this weird delusion that just owning one is going to make them lose weight. I'm a waitress and some of the other girls will say. "Oh I got 3000 steps in today at work!"
Like, ok cool. But that's all within your normal routine that your body is used to. How much of a work out have you gotten outside of your normal routine? Oh btw there's like 500 calories in that ranch you just dumped on your salad . . .
Wearing a fitness tracker and being mindful of your activity is actually showing interest in staying active - how is that a bad thing? Steps-based fitness isn't the perfect option, but it is far better than doing nothing.
I don't use any tech to monitor my steps or my exercises, but I have a keen interest in staying active and I am very aware and conscious of my daily and fitness activities. No need to have a gadget to be and stay healthy.1 -
Bry_Fitness70 wrote: »I have a Polar Heart Rate Monitor and the battery in the watch just died. I only ever used it for actual cardio so I could plug in those calories burned and eat some of them back.
I HATE guessing my calories burned because because estimates can be so so off.
I'll never get one of those fitness watches though. I know so many people that have them and just have this weird delusion that just owning one is going to make them lose weight. I'm a waitress and some of the other girls will say. "Oh I got 3000 steps in today at work!"
Like, ok cool. But that's all within your normal routine that your body is used to. How much of a work out have you gotten outside of your normal routine? Oh btw there's like 500 calories in that ranch you just dumped on your salad . . .
Wearing a fitness tracker and being mindful of your activity is actually showing interest in staying active - how is that a bad thing? Steps-based fitness isn't the perfect option, but it is far better than doing nothing.
I don't use any tech to monitor my steps or my exercises, but I have a keen interest in staying active and I am very aware and conscious of my daily and fitness activities. No need to have a gadget to be and stay healthy.
Right, lol, my interest in fitness predates fitness gadgets by decades, I understand that you can be fit without them. Now that I have one, though, it would be very difficult to go back to the old manual way of tracking exercise, fitness trackers make everything so much easier.3 -
Bry_Fitness70 wrote: »Bry_Fitness70 wrote: »I have a Polar Heart Rate Monitor and the battery in the watch just died. I only ever used it for actual cardio so I could plug in those calories burned and eat some of them back.
I HATE guessing my calories burned because because estimates can be so so off.
I'll never get one of those fitness watches though. I know so many people that have them and just have this weird delusion that just owning one is going to make them lose weight. I'm a waitress and some of the other girls will say. "Oh I got 3000 steps in today at work!"
Like, ok cool. But that's all within your normal routine that your body is used to. How much of a work out have you gotten outside of your normal routine? Oh btw there's like 500 calories in that ranch you just dumped on your salad . . .
Wearing a fitness tracker and being mindful of your activity is actually showing interest in staying active - how is that a bad thing? Steps-based fitness isn't the perfect option, but it is far better than doing nothing.
I don't use any tech to monitor my steps or my exercises, but I have a keen interest in staying active and I am very aware and conscious of my daily and fitness activities. No need to have a gadget to be and stay healthy.
Right, lol, my interest in fitness predates fitness gadgets by decades, I understand that you can be fit without them. Now that I have one, though, it would be very difficult to go back to the old manual way of tracking exercise, fitness trackers make everything so much easier.
Yes. And the integration over the last few years of what used to be separate measurements - pace/speed, heart rate, elevation, location, etc., can be insight provoking.
For example, with an integrated device, it's lots less laborious to see the effect of stroke rating (spm) on shell speed, and even see what tradeoffs "cost" in heart rate (thus probably endurability in race scenarios) compared to using a separate HRM, stroke coach device, and pace/distance GPS without any commercial integration tools. It becomes practical to run and compare alternative strategies within the same practice session, sometimes, even, vs. doing more laborious analysis offline to a practice, then going back on the water for another data collection.
And before the separate devices, it was pretty much coach observation, and stopwatch, in boats without cox/cox-box. (People better than me could probably watch a speedcoach while rowing, and that's been around for a while. But I couldn't focus that well and still row hard/accurately.)3 -
I have a Polar Heart Rate Monitor and the battery in the watch just died. I only ever used it for actual cardio so I could plug in those calories burned and eat some of them back.
I HATE guessing my calories burned because because estimates can be so so off.
I'll never get one of those fitness watches though. I know so many people that have them and just have this weird delusion that just owning one is going to make them lose weight. I'm a waitress and some of the other girls will say. "Oh I got 3000 steps in today at work!"
Like, ok cool. But that's all within your normal routine that your body is used to. How much of a work out have you gotten outside of your normal routine? Oh btw there's like 500 calories in that ranch you just dumped on your salad . . .
I've got one of those Polars as well. The batteries are easy to replace. Different size than the HRM, though. I buy them on ebay or Walmart, also oline. Cheaper that way than the watch counter at the jewelry store.0 -
Bry_Fitness70 wrote: »
Wearing a fitness tracker and being mindful of your activity is actually showing interest in staying active - how is that a bad thing? Steps-based fitness isn't the perfect option, but it is far better than doing nothing.
That specifically isn't a bad thing.
What I'm seeing with these people is that they get these devices and change absolutely nothing in their lifestyle. They assume that they are getting the work out they need (especially my fellow waitresses) because they are hitting whatever goal is on their watch doing the normal activities they normally do. And a bunch of them don't even bother trying to eat healthier or they try some fad diet, or pills or whatever other weight loss snake oil they can find.
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Bry_Fitness70 wrote: »Bry_Fitness70 wrote: »I have a Polar Heart Rate Monitor and the battery in the watch just died. I only ever used it for actual cardio so I could plug in those calories burned and eat some of them back.
I HATE guessing my calories burned because because estimates can be so so off.
I'll never get one of those fitness watches though. I know so many people that have them and just have this weird delusion that just owning one is going to make them lose weight. I'm a waitress and some of the other girls will say. "Oh I got 3000 steps in today at work!"
Like, ok cool. But that's all within your normal routine that your body is used to. How much of a work out have you gotten outside of your normal routine? Oh btw there's like 500 calories in that ranch you just dumped on your salad . . .
Wearing a fitness tracker and being mindful of your activity is actually showing interest in staying active - how is that a bad thing? Steps-based fitness isn't the perfect option, but it is far better than doing nothing.
I don't use any tech to monitor my steps or my exercises, but I have a keen interest in staying active and I am very aware and conscious of my daily and fitness activities. No need to have a gadget to be and stay healthy.
Right, lol, my interest in fitness predates fitness gadgets by decades, I understand that you can be fit without them. Now that I have one, though, it would be very difficult to go back to the old manual way of tracking exercise, fitness trackers make everything so much easier.
Yes. And the integration over the last few years of what used to be separate measurements - pace/speed, heart rate, elevation, location, etc., can be insight provoking.
For example, with an integrated device, it's lots less laborious to see the effect of stroke rating (spm) on shell speed, and even see what tradeoffs "cost" in heart rate (thus probably endurability in race scenarios) compared to using a separate HRM, stroke coach device, and pace/distance GPS without any commercial integration tools. It becomes practical to run and compare alternative strategies within the same practice session, sometimes, even, vs. doing more laborious analysis offline to a practice, then going back on the water for another data collection.
And before the separate devices, it was pretty much coach observation, and stopwatch, in boats without cox/cox-box. (People better than me could probably watch a speedcoach while rowing, and that's been around for a while. But I couldn't focus that well and still row hard/accurately.)
Yes! In the past, tracking exercise was laborious and completely manual. Now every type of exercise is digitally tracked - over the past week I have lifted weights, swam, cycled, and ran. By pushing a few buttons before and after the event, I captured the applicable measures including duration, speed, distance, calorie burn, cadence, heart rate, elevation, temperature, etc. For outdoor events, the data is dumped into Strava and my performance on routes is compared to past results.
To me it is comparable to navigating a trip in your vehicle - sure, you could use a paper map like you did 20 years ago and you can certainly get there with that method, but why you when you could just enter an address into a map application on your phone and get turn by turn directions, an accurate estimation of arrival time, rerouted directions to avoid traffic issues, construction warnings, speed trap warnings, etc?2 -
Bry_Fitness70 wrote: »What I'm seeing with these people is that they get these devices and change absolutely nothing in their lifestyle.
Why is that a problem? What you are saying is what i hate most. They just bought a tech thing. Why do you judge it? Just don't buy. You don't even know what it does, or what they do with it. They might as well like to record their sleep. Have notifications. Or just have a gadget.
You don't need to have everything the others have, you don't need to go all negative on it either.
There is a grey zone indeed.0 -
As for myself, i love tech, and i loooove math and statistics. I wish there could be more of it lol. I have only used fitbits so far but they feel like more of a toy than a tool. The visual part of the metrics i mean.
When i first bought it i became a bit obsessed. But it also helped me greatly see that i was actually moving only 1200 steps EVERY single day. And burning 1500 calories maximum maybe lol. I like challenges. And it helped me get it going. It helped me push myself and just do it.
It helped me realize that after 10hrs of a sitting job (and i was actually getting heart rates lower than my resting heart rate lol) i had to walk all afternoon to compensate for this lifestyle which was impossible. I started waking before work pulling off a workout etc etc.
I ve learnt how much i burn which is a great deal.
There are phases i actually use the fitness stuff and recordings, and bad phases that i don't at all, eat bad gain weight blah blah. Even then i use it to watch time/date. The notifications r amazing imo especially when being a girl and having to dig your phone out of the back (which is a backpack always in my case). I only dig for it if it's important.
I use the timer A LOT when cooking mostly.
The phase of obsession was over pretty fast for me and i did stop wearing it for a while when it broke, i was constantly getting pissed trying to check the time :P (i didnt use normal watches ever).
But i like gadgets and even tho i own a Versa now, i want to buy a garmin. BUT i made a pact with myself that i will only get into something more expensive only if i'm gonna be more serious about my fitness/workouts.
Oh forgot the most important.... NO more ALARMS!!!! No more having to get my phone with me at bed. This gentle vibration wake up is the best thing ever.
I also love seeing the drop in my RHR when i quit smoking and realize how bad it was. (This happens a lot)2 -
I just count calories and protein grams on a website. Nothing more is needed.3
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When I first got a FitBit years ago I was pretty obsessed. I tried to get 10,000 steps by 10 am, or 15,000 steps a day for a long streak. Then I joined challenges and enjoyed beating my friends until I realized everyone I knew was pretty sedentary, ate more than I did, and was still skinnier than I was. It honestly just ticked me off that I was the most active person I knew, so when my FitBit finally broke I wasn't that heartbroken and felt kind of relieved to not have to think about it.
I've had an Apple watch for a couple of months and I do enjoy keeping track of my movement now because it helps me figure out my caloric needs better and gives me a push on days when I'm not as active. I didn't think I was that reliant on it though until it wasn't working correctly the other day and I was angry that I didn't get credit for the time I spent working out. 1 -
I have a Polar Heart Rate Monitor and the battery in the watch just died. I only ever used it for actual cardio so I could plug in those calories burned and eat some of them back.
I HATE guessing my calories burned because because estimates can be so so off.
I'll never get one of those fitness watches though. I know so many people that have them and just have this weird delusion that just owning one is going to make them lose weight. I'm a waitress and some of the other girls will say. "Oh I got 3000 steps in today at work!"
Like, ok cool. But that's all within your normal routine that your body is used to. How much of a work out have you gotten outside of your normal routine? Oh btw there's like 500 calories in that ranch you just dumped on your salad . . .
I went from a Polar HRM for exercise sessions only, to a Garmin Vivoactive 3, worn all day. I like it. It has some amusingly silly ideas, but I recognize them as that.
The change didn't make me any more (or less) illogical, neurotic, or deluded than I ever was. It's a tool, not a tecnological overlord.
Don't worry. If you get one, you'll be fine.
But if you don't want one, you can still buy a basic HRM (or just new battery?), or wear a tracker only during exercise.
Just upgraded to my third Garmin (Vivoactive 3) and I love it. The “move” reminders are especially helpful since I have a desk job. Can’t believe how much time I spend sitting for long periods of time!
I always felt the steps calories were over calculated, however, they are lower on the 3 and in line with my manual calculations. Specific exercise burns always seemed accurate when looking at my weight and food log over time.0 -
I have a Polar Heart Rate Monitor and the battery in the watch just died. I only ever used it for actual cardio so I could plug in those calories burned and eat some of them back.
I HATE guessing my calories burned because because estimates can be so so off.
I'll never get one of those fitness watches though. I know so many people that have them and just have this weird delusion that just owning one is going to make them lose weight. I'm a waitress and some of the other girls will say. "Oh I got 3000 steps in today at work!"
Like, ok cool. But that's all within your normal routine that your body is used to. How much of a work out have you gotten outside of your normal routine? Oh btw there's like 500 calories in that ranch you just dumped on your salad . . .
I went from a Polar HRM for exercise sessions only, to a Garmin Vivoactive 3, worn all day. I like it. It has some amusingly silly ideas, but I recognize them as that.
The change didn't make me any more (or less) illogical, neurotic, or deluded than I ever was. It's a tool, not a tecnological overlord.
Don't worry. If you get one, you'll be fine.
But if you don't want one, you can still buy a basic HRM (or just new battery?), or wear a tracker only during exercise.
Just upgraded to my third Garmin (Vivoactive 3) and I love it. The “move” reminders are especially helpful since I have a desk job. Can’t believe how much time I spend sitting for long periods of time!
I always felt the steps calories were over calculated, however, they are lower on the 3 and in line with my manual calculations. Specific exercise burns always seemed accurate when looking at my weight and food log over time.
To be specific about "amusingly silly ideas" my VA3 has, alluded to in my PP:
* Underestimates my all-day calorie needs by 25%-30% (so does MFP, and some TDEE "calculators", as compared with nearly 4 years of careful logging & weight monitoring. (It's not them, it's me. I'm just weird.)
* It thinks I'm in REM sleep when I'm awake, texting or playing phone games - routinely, sometimes for well over an hour at a time.
* All my living areas are on the 2nd floor of my (truly odd) house - kitchen, living room, bath, bedroom - whole deal a full flight up. I'm up and down multiple times a day: Conservatively, 4-6 flights most days, always same number up as down. Most weeks, device says I average about 1.7 flights per day up, and 0.9 flights down. I have no idea why.
Heh.
It's close enough to be useful for exercise activity calories (based on experience, what Concept 2 says, and some RPE spitballing) and I love it for speed/pace, distance, heart rate tracking (with chest belt for rowing or it's crazy wrong), rough estimate of rowing SPM, phone notifications, and (because I'm old school) time of day.
I think the all-day calorie estimates will be close, for most people, even though they're wrong for me.1 -
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I cannot properly enjoy my rides without using Strava anymore.0
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