Fitbit? Pedometer? Runkeeper? Nike+? HELP

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  • lmarshel
    lmarshel Posts: 674 Member
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    I use a Polar Bluetooth HRM. It's just a chest strap with transmitter that you use with an app on your phone. Did some research on the apps and found that Sportstracker Live is one that uses your actual heart rate to measure calorie burn. Some of the others will track your heart rate but only use weight, speed and distance to show calorie burn. The Sportstracker Live app will also track your distance, pace, speed and a variety of other factors during your workout. It will also give you a cool little Google map of where you traveled on your workout.

    I LOVE my HRM. And turns out my calorie burn is higher than MFP calculations. :)

    This sounds great! unfortunately i don't have a smart phone i have an iTouch but where I run/hike there's no signal (even for my phone). Is this the device you use?
    http://www.amazon.com/Polar-Wearlink-Transmitter-With-Bluetooth/dp/B004HM0H14/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1329339971&sr=8-2

    If so, how do I make it link without a signal or am I bluetooth "special?" Do I need the internet for it to work on my iTouch basically (After I download Sportstracker)?

    I feel really dumb asking that question. Technology and i don't get along.

    Yes, that's the HRM that I use. I am not sure if the app will work with the iTouch. I would read the info on their webiste to see if that's an option. I know that the app needs the bluetooth feature and GPS to work properly with full functionality. It will work without a cell signal, but it needs the GPS for speed/distance/ pace tracking. There is a HR only feature, but the results with that are minimal. It only tracks average heart rate and calories.
  • princeza9
    princeza9 Posts: 337 Member
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    Right now I just use Runkeeper and Nike+. I like them both for measuring distance, time and pace. And they both give me an approx calories burned number. Runkeeper is free in the iPhone app store, while Nike+ is $1.99. I do prefer Nike+ though. I'd like to get the Nike Fuelband, just can't afford it right now.
  • CallmeSbo
    CallmeSbo Posts: 611 Member
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  • Cal28
    Cal28 Posts: 514 Member
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    I've got the polar FT60 hrm and its fantastic! X

    Seconded! Its great. A lot of people have the cheaper FT4 too and seem to like it if the FT60 is out of reach. Definitely get one with a chest strap as its the most accurate way of tracking. x
  • mrsweigl
    mrsweigl Posts: 198 Member
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    I use a bodybugg (also a bodymedia) that I can wear 24/7 minus water time (ie shower). This has proven to be very accurate since I get the full picture of what I am burning in a 24 hour period. It uses two metal plates that are touching your tricep to sense the tempature, wetness, and a few other chemicals to tell just how hard you are working out. I suggest you look into it :wink:

    According to the website Bodybugg.com "The armband has been shown to be over 90% accurate when determining calorie burn through the entire day. More specifically, a recent independent study tested the armband in real-life situations. Participants engaged in "free living" activities, including brisk walking, running, bicycling, sedentary activities, home activities, home repair, occupational activities, strength training, and ball games. The study compared the armband to a $40,000 "portable oxygen analyzer", the gold standard for measuring calories. Results showed:

    Total Calories for free living activities: mean error <10%.
    Total Minutes of exercise: mean error <5%.

    Source: British Journal of Sports Medicine. July 2010. Berntsen et al."

    ditto! I love my bodybugg!
  • mrsweigl
    mrsweigl Posts: 198 Member
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    I use a bodybugg (also a bodymedia) that I can wear 24/7 minus water time (ie shower). This has proven to be very accurate since I get the full picture of what I am burning in a 24 hour period. It uses two metal plates that are touching your tricep to sense the tempature, wetness, and a few other chemicals to tell just how hard you are working out. I suggest you look into it :wink:

    According to the website Bodybugg.com "The armband has been shown to be over 90% accurate when determining calorie burn through the entire day. More specifically, a recent independent study tested the armband in real-life situations. Participants engaged in "free living" activities, including brisk walking, running, bicycling, sedentary activities, home activities, home repair, occupational activities, strength training, and ball games. The study compared the armband to a $40,000 "portable oxygen analyzer", the gold standard for measuring calories. Results showed:

    Total Calories for free living activities: mean error <10%.
    Total Minutes of exercise: mean error <5%.

    Source: British Journal of Sports Medicine. July 2010. Berntsen et al."

    I have been looking at the body bug vs the slim coach and then today I found out that Jillian Micheal's has the Body Media on her site. I want to find something that will track my all day calorie burn vs just a workout burn. One question since you have one...Can you see just what you burned during workout, and then see what you burned the whole day, or is it a whole day only thing?


    YESSSS!!! Good question! Is there any way to isolate a workout calories burned or is it all or nothing?

    If you get the digital display it shows you everything (wear it like a watch) you have an extra setting where you can "time" just a workout, i love it!
  • puterchickfl
    puterchickfl Posts: 9 Member
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    I invested in a Wahoo heart rate monitor and footpod, and I use Digifit to track everything. It's compatible with so many other programs (such as runkeeper). Its pretty much dead on with reading the heart rate correctly, and the footpod reads the steps pretty consistently as well. It's been a great motivator.
    http://www.amazon.com/Wahoo-Fitness-Soft-Heart-iPhone/dp/B00526NF7W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329375207&sr=8-1

    Wahoo also just came out with a brand new heart rate monitor that transmits over bluetooth, so you wont need any ANT+ devices to plug in the phone or other bluetooth devices
    http://www.wahoofitness.com/Products/Wahoo-Fitness-Wahoo-Blue-HR-Heart-Rate-Strap-for-iPhone-4S.asp

    I was researching the fitbit for the sleep tracking, but the jury is still out on that.
  • getsveltEagain
    getsveltEagain Posts: 1,063 Member
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    I use a bodybugg (also a bodymedia) that I can wear 24/7 minus water time (ie shower). This has proven to be very accurate since I get the full picture of what I am burning in a 24 hour period. It uses two metal plates that are touching your tricep to sense the tempature, wetness, and a few other chemicals to tell just how hard you are working out. I suggest you look into it :wink:

    According to the website Bodybugg.com "The armband has been shown to be over 90% accurate when determining calorie burn through the entire day. More specifically, a recent independent study tested the armband in real-life situations. Participants engaged in "free living" activities, including brisk walking, running, bicycling, sedentary activities, home activities, home repair, occupational activities, strength training, and ball games. The study compared the armband to a $40,000 "portable oxygen analyzer", the gold standard for measuring calories. Results showed:

    Total Calories for free living activities: mean error <10%.
    Total Minutes of exercise: mean error <5%.

    Source: British Journal of Sports Medicine. July 2010. Berntsen et al."

    I have been looking at the body bug vs the slim coach and then today I found out that Jillian Micheal's has the Body Media on her site. I want to find something that will track my all day calorie burn vs just a workout burn. One question since you have one...Can you see just what you burned during workout, and then see what you burned the whole day, or is it a whole day only thing?


    YESSSS!!! Good question! Is there any way to isolate a workout calories burned or is it all or nothing?

    If you get the digital display it shows you everything (wear it like a watch) you have an extra setting where you can "time" just a workout, i love it!

    ^^^ This.... and if you don't get the display you can see the time spent and calories burned in a workout after the upload.
  • WingMan380
    WingMan380 Posts: 2,139 Member
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    I appreciate this info as well. I looked at the fitbit and have heard of the others mentioned here as did not know if any of these devices were worth the money or not.
  • SaraTN
    SaraTN Posts: 536 Member
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    FYI Body Media and Bodybugg are the same thing. I think the only "difference" is in the name and it has something to do with Jillian Michaels leaving Biggest Loser which had 24 Hour Fitness endorsements who also sells the Bodybugg.

    With respect to the monthly fee -- the first six months are free. You can then buy an annual fee to continue at a reduced rate than the monthly. I, of course, would like to see the fee disappear alltogether... :happy:
  • LeilaFace
    LeilaFace Posts: 412 Member
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    I've got the polar FT60 hrm and its fantastic! X

    Seconded! Its great. A lot of people have the cheaper FT4 too and seem to like it if the FT60 is out of reach. Definitely get one with a chest strap as its the most accurate way of tracking. x

    I think I'm leaning towards this I def. want the chest strap. But this one seems to be a watch? So do I buy the chest strap separately and it connects to the watch?

    http://www.amazon.com/Polar-Womens-Heart-Monitor-Purple/dp/B001F0PVNA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329451398&sr=8-1

    Sorry to ask so many questions I think I'm going to go with a Heart Rate Monitor or a Nikefuel. But now it's which heart rate monitor and do I really need an app on top of it?
  • kerry0521
    kerry0521 Posts: 46 Member
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    Heart Rate Monitors are great at what they do which is helping measure your heart rate for exercise. They are not at their best in counting calories, especially wearing them all day. That's more the area of other gadgets like BB, Fitbit, etc. HRMs overestimate calorie burn...I have most definitely found this to be true. I ride a bike hooked up to a computer that knows how many watts of energy I have put out. So it is easy to calculate calorie burn from that. My HRM will always give me more calories burned. I really don't use it all for estimating calories burned now, or when I do I subtract out about 60-100 per hour for the inaccuracy.
    Here's a short article from Livestong:

    http://www.livestrong.com/article/312294-a-heart-rate-monitor-vs-bodybugg/
  • LeilaFace
    LeilaFace Posts: 412 Member
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    Heart Rate Monitors are great at what they do which is helping measure your heart rate for exercise. They are not at their best in counting calories, especially wearing them all day. That's more the area of other gadgets like BB, Fitbit, etc. HRMs overestimate calorie burn...I have most definitely found this to be true. I ride a bike hooked up to a computer that knows how many watts of energy I have put out. So it is easy to calculate calorie burn from that. My HRM will always give me more calories burned. I really don't use it all for estimating calories burned now, or when I do I subtract out about 60-100 per hour for the inaccuracy.
    Here's a short article from Livestong:

    http://www.livestrong.com/article/312294-a-heart-rate-monitor-vs-bodybugg/

    I always thought HRM were the way to go... This is good to know maybe I'll just save up for the Nike fuel? I was leaning on that last link I posted, so ..... ideally should you have both? a calorie tracker like Fitbit or BodyBugg and a HRM? That seems mighty expensive. Like out of my price range expensive. Is there no one product that does it all? Track your HR and calories burned. I don't want bodybugg because anything with a monthly fee is out. I'm really leaning towards saving up for a Nikefuel if HRM are out.
  • Balice57
    Balice57 Posts: 125
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    My FitBit is on its way and I am excited to use it, especially as it tracks elevation now and I have some awesome hills to walk in my neighborhood. I'm not all that worried about accurately tracking calories burned, because I'm not going to eat back all of the calories burned anyway. I like that it will put me into competition with myself to get moving more often. For the price, I don't think it can be beat.

    I'd also like someone to answer the question about whether the phone-based systems need to be in contact with the internet to work, i.e., have WiFi available. How does it work if you're out hiking, for instance?

    17614804.png
    Created by MyFitnessPal.com - Free Calorie Counter
  • dr3am3r
    dr3am3r Posts: 59 Member
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    I have a Polar FT7 (purple/pink one) bought it off Amazon for $80. I absoultely love it!!!!! I highly recommend it!l and it comes with the chest strap!

    and by the way LeilaFace your BEAUTIFUL!!! just saying :smile:

    okay as far as tracking fitness go with a HRM this will tell you cals burned through your exercise. Fitbit./bodybug is great for its feature of sleep habits, but i wouldn't care too much about how much you burn throughout the day just through normal daily activity....we all burn like this...the more important burns to want to know are the exercise burns and for this you would want a HRM!

    are you wanting something to wear all day...or only through workouts?

    as far as counting calories thats what MFP is for...a HRM would be for your calorie burns...and it is the missing link as i see it!
    8122005.png
  • LeilaFace
    LeilaFace Posts: 412 Member
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    I have a Polar FT7 (purple/pink one) bought it off Amazon for $80. I absoultely love it!!!!! I highly recommend it!l and it comes with the chest strap!

    and by the way LeilaFace your BEAUTIFUL!!! just saying :smile:

    okay as far as tracking fitness go with a HRM this will tell you cals burned through your exercise. Fitbit./bodybug is great for its feature of sleep habits, but i wouldn't care too much about how much you burn throughout the day just through normal daily activity....we all burn like this...the more important burns to want to know are the exercise burns and for this you would want a HRM!

    are you wanting something to wear all day...or only through workouts?

    as far as counting calories thats what MFP is for...a HRM would be for your calorie burns...and it is the missing link as i see it!
    8122005.png

    Fantastical ... And thank you for the compliment. The picture is from my wedding day! I love the one of you and your baby ;) So Precious...

    Anywho I just want something to figure out calories burned during exercises.

    I don't care about sleeping habits or all day burned just what I burn during my workouts.
    I do a lot of hiking and dancing and strength training and yoga, which I can't track calories burn so I put the lowest amount I think it might be. I don't like guestimating. I want to take this whole losing weight thing seriously.

    But if a HRM isn't accurate with calories burned according to kmccrv, now I'm just back to being confused. This is the HRM I was going to get...

    http://www.amazon.com/Polar-Womens-Heart-Monitor-Purple/dp/B001F0PVNA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1329451398&sr=8-1

    I wanted this one because then I feel like I don't have to have a program on my phone or iTouch because I don't really like having either of those on me hahaha. This one just plugs into the computer and I can download all my info.

    I'm also training for a 5K so that's happening too.
  • MarilynGrube
    MarilynGrube Posts: 75 Member
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    I didn't read the previous pages so I don't know if it was mentioned, but I am waiting for the Nike FuelBand to come out.. I think it's worth waiting for....when ever it comes out! :ohwell:
  • chardawg80
    chardawg80 Posts: 31 Member
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    I'm a huge fan of Runkeeper. You can use your existing smartphone, download the app, log online to view your progress and history. I bike in spring and summer, so easy to activate runkeeper, slide it in the small pouch under my seat.....and activate my music player on my phone with the bluetooth headsets.

    Not only does it track your location with GPS, but it gives you your speed at specific points, the elevation at those points, and the time you hit at that point...


    Good luck!
  • pazzap
    pazzap Posts: 9
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    I'm a gadget junkie! I love my BodyMedia Fit (www.bodymediafit.com); I use a Garmin Forerunner for my long runs and I also have a Polar FT 7 HRM. Got to say that I love them all!
  • eryn415
    eryn415 Posts: 98 Member
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    I love Nike + for tracking my runs. I have a Timex HRM (not too pricey - $30 ish) with a chest strap for calorie counting. The problem is that most feedback I receive says I'm earning wayyyyy too many calories. So now if I run 40 minutes, I give myself 400 calories. Then I try not to eat them all.

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