OT - FitBit

[DaddyChoc]

does anyone of you use these, are they helpful... debating if they are worth the money

 

[AdamOwe]

I can't speak to Fitbit but if you're also asking about exercise tools, I think I can generalize: an HRM is an important addition to a fitness regimen. Can't emphasize that enough. IMO, you don't have to interval train but you can't do it wo an hrm. I use an old, discontinued chest strap based model model but it has data upload to pc so it's modern in that respect, just less automatic. My understanding is that FB does this wrist based and as such is less accurate.

Accuracy is relative. If you're not using anything now and you're into exercise, the cost doesn't look prohibitive, certainly less than something like a dedicated garmin. Then again, probably a waste of cash if you're not already in the right attitude. Attitude is much more important(and incredibly hard to maintain). Tool can't get you out there.

HAH

aka Health and Happiness

 

[Geew1992]

I have a fitbit. It's an older one, I love it. It keeps track of lots of things besides your steps. I think it's helpful.

 

[HuskyNan]

I have a fitbit. It's an older one, I love it. It keeps track of lots of things besides your steps. I think it's helpful.

Accounting is a sedentary job, so I started using an Up fitness band, made by Jawbone, years ago to trace my movement. I really liked it, as it tracked not only my steps but my sleep patterns and I could set it to vibrate every 45 minutes to remind me to get up and move (you can choose your own interval, if you use that feature). I also liked that I could set it to wake me up with a vibration so I could get up at 5 am to exercise and not wake up my husband. Alas, the Up band's battery only lasts about 3 months. Jawbone kept replacing the Up, but it was a pain. My husband got me a Fitbit that does everything the Up band does. I'm not fond of the band itself, the Up is much better looking and sturdier, but it's been 9 months and I've had no issues with the battery.

I check my step totals frequently and have set goals for myself - 3500 by noon, 5000 by dinner, 10,000 for the day (I take a walk after dinner to avoid having dessert). I do get a feeling of accomplishment for hitting the 10,000, no doubt about it.

 

[Husky25]

does anyone of you use these, are they helpful... debating if they are worth the money

I bought my wife a Fitbit Alta for Mothers' Day and she loves it, especially the sleep monitoring function, but also for the step counting and estimated calorie burn. THe Alta does not have realtime HRM functionality.

We recently bought Galaxy S 7's, which comes with S Health (Samsung bloatware, but this one is actually beneficial), that has a step counter that I am using until June 19. The problem with having a pedometer on your phone is that 1) it won't count steps if you are walking without it and 2) it seems to randomly "gather" steps if you are moving without walking/running (i.e. traveling in a car). S Health does offer real-time HRM functionality as well as a food diary, though I use a different app for that with 6 years of history, so I'm not about to change over.

 

[bags27]

Does this kind of stuff track exercise when you're cycling? in summer, that's my most frequent form of exercise.

 

[DaddyChoc]

I bought my wife a Fitbit Alta for Mothers' Day and she loves it, especially the sleep monitoring function, but also for the step counting and estimated calorie burn. THe Alta does not have realtime HRM functionality.

We recently bought Galaxy S 7's, which comes with S Health (Samsung bloatware, but this one is actually beneficial), that has a step counter that I am using until June 19. The problem with having a pedometer on your phone is that 1) it won't count steps if you are walking without it and 2) it seems to randomly "gather" steps if you are moving without walking/running (i.e. traveling in a car). S Health does offer real-time HRM functionality as well as a food diary, though I use a different app for that with 6 years of history, so I'm not about to change over.

hmm. I've seen that feature on my Galaxy S4, gotta check it out to see if it's as good as a band

 

[TDiNozzo]

I bought the Garmin Vivoactive Hr 2 weeks ago... I needed something waterproof since I've been wearing a waterproof watch soooo long, anything else would be sunk by now. It actually does much more than I need it to do, but I like knowing my heart rate at any moment, and how far I walk and run, and how well I sleep. But for everything it does the battery is amazing... I'm now on 11 days exactly since last charged, and still have 21% more charge. And that's with everything active except GPS...(it's suppose to get 8 days without the GPS.)

 

[DaddyChoc]

I just activated my "phone" version of it, I see the steps and I'll check out the sleep feature.shortly... walking around with a phone isn't as cool as having a band around my wrist

 

[Sargassoc]

Does this kind of stuff track exercise when you're cycling? in summer, that's my most frequent form of exercise.

Not really; but you can manually add the exercise on the app. (I have been known to put mine on my ankle when I was on the stationary bike. But that's weird.)

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

Have one but never used it.

I do, however, walk, for an hour a day between 3 and 5 days a week. The track is closed Sundays (and holidays, its city owned) so I probably could go more often than I do, 4 - 6 days, but I'm not there yet.

I walk about 3 1/3 miles in the hour, my max is 3 1/2. Track is 1/12 of a mile. If I don't walk for several days in a row, I feel it.

 

[bags27]

Not really; but you can manually add the exercise on the app. (I have been known to put mine on my ankle when I was on the stationary bike. But that's weird.)

Thanks.