What to buy: HRM, Body Bugg, Fit Bit?

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staceyb2003
staceyb2003 Posts: 203 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm just so overwhelmed by all the choices.
I want something monitor my heart rate for calories burned.
I like to run too, so I didn't know if there is anything that will keep track of my miles?
I was wondering about the Body Bugg, but to use it do you have to have a membership to the website?
Does the fit bit track your heart rate or just sleep?
I thought of just a heart rate monitor but there are so many of those too.
What do you recommend?
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Replies

  • jycn
    jycn Posts: 1 Member
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    I have the body bugg and loved it till I started running more, now I want one that does not need my phone to display my stats.

    Bugg is great , keeps track of restful sleep and relax time, you''l be surpized how much of a work out you get just cleaning the house or chaseing the day around
  • ALH1981
    ALH1981 Posts: 538 Member
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    is it linked to iPhone? I am only on BB?
  • Stefanie7125
    Stefanie7125 Posts: 462 Member
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    bump
  • mhankosk
    mhankosk Posts: 535 Member
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    I got a bodybugg for xmas this year and I am LOVING it. It's a little pricey but it calculates you total calories burned through out the day. It's pretty awesome!
  • tolygal
    tolygal Posts: 602 Member
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    I have a BodyBugg (the older one), and it really helped me. In fact, I'm considering putting it on again for a while. It does not measure heart rate and you need a subscription for it (used to be 9.99 a month - which I felt was well worth it). Unlike a HRM (which is only useful during an active cardio session), you wear a bodybugg (or Body Media Fit - same basic thing except it measures your sleep also) all day and you get to know what you burned all day long! You'd be amazed at what a difference your general movement during the day does for your burn....amazed.... It was one of the best tools I've ever used.

    edited to add that I bought the arm band with mine (my older version doesn't sync to a phone - I don't have a smart phone anyway) which lets me see my information throughout the day - before I sync back to my computer. It's useful for me - but the new version can sync to your phone as I understand it... Someone with a new one could probably give you more info.

    I have a question for those of you with a new bodybugg. My old one (the grey version) uses a AAA battery. Does the new one use a battery or do you have to take it off and plug it in to charge it? Also, I bought a "wireless communicator" with mine, so I don't have to take it off and plug it in to sync it - does the black one have that?
  • yeabby
    yeabby Posts: 643 Member
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    If you're looking for something to wear all day look at body bugg or fitbit. If you want to wear it just while exercising look at a heart rate moniter with gps. They are a bit more expensive but, work great. I have a Garmin (get one numbered above 400 if you want it to count calories) and love it.
  • MissFit0101
    MissFit0101 Posts: 2,382
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    I have a very basic but great HRM, it's the Polar FT4. But then I have to use an app on my android phone (Runkeeper) to track my mileage and such for running. If you want something that can do both, I believe Garmin has some good options.. but you are going to pay more and I'm not sure how much you are willing to spend. If I could afford it right now, I would def get myself a Garmin, or other HRM that works for my running as well.
  • bcampbell54
    bcampbell54 Posts: 932 Member
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    I have an iPhone, but rarely sync my BodyBugg to it. I always use the website, for which I pay about $10.00 per month. This works with the iphones and with Android OS 2.0 or greater. Both me and my wife would probably recommend getting the one with the wristband display (version 3). You can check that in real time. Apexfitness.com is the website, I believe.
  • VelvetKey
    VelvetKey Posts: 193 Member
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    :happy: I just got a FitBit for Christmas, and I've been pleasantly surprised by all the things it can do. It tracks my steps, my miles, my calories burned, and rates my activity level. In addition, it can also monitor your sleep cycles and your activity levels. It does NOT monitor HR (which is fine with me since my activity is all sporadic anyway).

    Info from sleep cycles:
    - When you go to bed
    - How long it takes you to fall asleep
    - How many times you were awoken (even if you don't really remember it)
    - Your actual sleep time
    - Your sleep efficiency

    Info from activity levels:
    - Sedentary activity
    - Lightly active
    - Fairly active
    - Very active
    - The FitBit website displays a timeline graph as well as a pie chart so you can see what type of activity you did throughout the day and how much of each.

    Interestingly, it is listed on the FitBit website that a partnership (?) with MyFitnessPal.com is coming soon. For right now, you can log your foods there as well (which I haven't tried yet as I'm using MFP still). The interface doesn't seem to be as intuitive as MFP, but that could be because I'm just spoiled. :smile:

    FitBit.com is free to use. You can pay a subscription, I believe, if you upgrade to FitBit Ultra, which records stairs and a few other extras. In fact, it is free to start an account without even owning a FitBit, if you want to go check it out (I did before I put it on my Christmas wishlist). I recommend viewing the FitBit 101 slideshow for a more complete overview.

    The FitBit charges from its little USB dock; I have yet to have mine run out of power. I put it on the charger while I shower and that holds it over. I believe it has a minimum 3-day battery life, max 5-7 days. It also syncs wirelessly; every time I walk by my laptop (when the USB dock is plugged in) it downloads its information which I can then bring up on the website later.

    Personally, I think it will be a big tool in helping me to lose the last half of my goal weight. I like being able to view trends and see overall progress like this. Go to their website (www.fitbit.com) for more detail that what I could think of here. :ohwell:
  • ALH1981
    ALH1981 Posts: 538 Member
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    :happy: I just got a FitBit for Christmas, and I've been pleasantly surprised by all the things it can do. It tracks my steps, my miles, my calories burned, and rates my activity level. In addition, it can also monitor your sleep cycles and your activity levels. It does NOT monitor HR (which is fine with me since my activity is all sporadic anyway).

    Info from sleep cycles:
    - When you go to bed
    - How long it takes you to fall asleep
    - How many times you were awoken (even if you don't really remember it)
    - Your actual sleep time
    - Your sleep efficiency

    Info from activity levels:
    - Sedentary activity
    - Lightly active
    - Fairly active
    - Very active
    - The FitBit website displays a timeline graph as well as a pie chart so you can see what type of activity you did throughout the day and how much of each.

    Interestingly, it is listed on the FitBit website that a partnership (?) with MyFitnessPal.com is coming soon. For right now, you can log your foods there as well (which I haven't tried yet as I'm using MFP still). The interface doesn't seem to be as intuitive as MFP, but that could be because I'm just spoiled. :smile:

    FitBit.com is free to use. You can pay a subscription, I believe, if you upgrade to FitBit Ultra, which records stairs and a few other extras. In fact, it is free to start an account without even owning a FitBit, if you want to go check it out (I did before I put it on my Christmas wishlist). I recommend viewing the FitBit 101 slideshow for a more complete overview.

    The FitBit charges from its little USB dock; I have yet to have mine run out of power. I put it on the charger while I shower and that holds it over. I believe it has a minimum 3-day battery life, max 5-7 days. It also syncs wirelessly; every time I walk by my laptop (when the USB dock is plugged in) it downloads its information which I can then bring up on the website later.

    Personally, I think it will be a big tool in helping me to lose the last half of my goal weight. I like being able to view trends and see overall progress like this. Go to their website (www.fitbit.com) for more detail that what I could think of here. :ohwell:
    ?
    this sounds amazing - can you send a link to the product?
  • Hourglass25
    Hourglass25 Posts: 345 Member
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    I got a bodybugg for xmas this year and I am LOVING it. It's a little pricey but it calculates you total calories burned through out the day. It's pretty awesome!
    [/quote

    I agree I am also LOVING mine!
  • vijayn
    vijayn Posts: 2
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    I have a Polar FT60 and I love it. The nice thing is that it can sync automatically with most new gym equipment, so if you're working out in a gym, cardio machines will pick up your heart rate. Apart from tracking your heart rate and calories, it also tracks weight and fitness levels, and you can program weekly targets by zone.

    The only downside for me is that it doesn't connect to my iPhone, but that's OK.
  • PMeola
    PMeola Posts: 3 Member
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    I just got a new heart rate/calorie counter for Christmas that sounds like exactly what you are looking for. I bought it at Costco, and it is made by New Balance. You can enter your own personal information like weight, height, age, etc. and it will calculate your heart rate at different percentage intervals. For instance, I do a lot of spinning as well as weight lifting. For the longest time I thought I was burning about 700 calories an hour for spinning. When I bought my new HR monitor and wore it, I was completely amazed to find out that I actually burned 1085 calories in that one hour of spinning. Of course, it will calculate how hard you are working. If you are only working at 60-70 percent of your recommended HR, then of course you will see much smaller results. When I spin, I usually am between 85 and 90 percent of my recommended HR, so that is why I burned so many calories.

    I feel if I am going to take the time to get on that bike and ride it for an hour, then I am not going to just keep the tension at an easy pace and pretend that I'm working hard. I am going to get on that bike, turn on some great music from my MP3, and I am going to ride that spinning bike with everything that I have in me. Just think about how much more you could eat if you burned 1085 calories a day by spinning for 1 hour.

    If spinning isn't your choice, then this works on the ellipticle and other machines as well. I get on the ellipticle machine and crank up the resistance levels so that my body is working. By watching my HR monitor, I know if I am working or if I'm being lazy and wasting my time on the machine. This monitor will calculate your percentage heart rate, total calories burned, body fat burned in grams, percentage that you were above and below your specific heart rate, etc. I think I paid less than $100 for this monitor. My older Polar HR monitor only monitored your heart rate and nothing else. I wanted something that calculated my calories burned. There are no dues to pay., and you don't have to sync it with a smartphone.

    Hope this helps!!
  • Todanaka
    Todanaka Posts: 11 Member
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    I recommend the Zephyr (just look in up on Amazon). It works with your smartphone via Bluetooth. Im using it with sportstracklive and have nothing to complain about!
  • Moriarty_697
    Moriarty_697 Posts: 226 Member
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    I have a Polar FT7 and have taken it with me everywhere. It's been great for providing feedback. That said, I've started running more and more, so I'm starting to build up justifications for buying a Garmin. Right now, I track my speed, time and hr through a stopwatch, hr monitor and mapmyrun.com. I tried using my android phone for gps tracking but I just got tired of lugging another thing along. My sister has a Garmin and it pretty much does it all. They aren't cheap, but I'm starting to see their value.

    That said, if you haven't used a monitor before, you can't go wrong with a Polar.
  • carolann_22
    carolann_22 Posts: 364 Member
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    I have a BodyMediaFit - 6.99 per month for the website, worth every penny :)
  • tchrnmommy
    tchrnmommy Posts: 342 Member
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    I just got a WAHOO fitness bluetooth HRM that uses an app on my iphone (or droid). I LOVE it. No monthly subscriptions. The device iteself was $100 and the app was $2.00 for a lifetime of use. Here's a link to mine

    http://www.amazon.com/Wahoo-Fitness-Run-Gym-Pack/dp/B00526NF7W/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1325524794&sr=8-2

    And I use the app Endomondo (my favorite) and Digifit
  • yummummum
    yummummum Posts: 257
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    saving this!
  • SamSlim2012
    SamSlim2012 Posts: 8
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    The Scosche myTrek heart rate monitor and myTrek app for iphone is great, it fits on your arm rather than around the chest, much more comphy! Look for it at the apple store or on line at http://www.scosche.com/mytrek. This is an awesome product.
  • kag1526
    kag1526 Posts: 210 Member
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    I just got a polar FT4. I didn't want to spend a lot on one of the ones you can wear all day yet since I'm just starting. However it is great to see how much I burn in strength training or playing with my kinect.

    To early to see if its having results on my weight loss since I only got it on Saturday though.

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