What do Fitbits actually do....

R.O.S.S.I

R.O.S.S.I

R.O.S.S.I

Soldato
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Was in the gym this morning with the Mrs and she said she wanted a Fitbit. Fair enough I thought but I asked her what for and she said to track her exercises and HR and calories.

Now I don't really know much about these kind of devices but we only do a small amount of cardio in the gym where I'm led to believe a Fitbit could give us HR read outs and steps taken. The rest of our time in the gym is split between various racks, free weights, weight machines etc so i'm unsure what, if anything, the Fitbit will be able to report back to her that is going to be of use.

Take today for example (excuse my ignorance if some of the exercise names are incorrect or don't make sense!)

5 min incline run to warm up.
4 sets sumo deadlifts
4 sets curtsy lunges
4 sets single leg glute raise
4 sets high and wide leg press
4 sets low and close leg press
4 sets leg press calf raise
3 sets bodyweight glute bridge raise
4 sets single leg hamstring curl

Exercises vary between shoulders, arms, chest etc over the course of the week.

What beneficial information would a Fitbit give her that is going to help if we take the above workout as a example?

I'm not against getting one for her but if it is going to be a glorified HR and step counter then i'd rather not. I'm guessing the device doesn't know when you're doing squats, or using a leg press so unsure what its going to other than count false steps during these kind of exercises.
 
My wife bought me one for Christmas last year but I got her to take it back.. My body and I knows how hard i'm exercising or not so i don't need a device to tell me so..

I use MapMyRun when i go running just to keep track of distance, time and pace but not heart rate. I've never used anything in the gym either. Do you really need a heart monitor to measure when you are doing calf raises, for example?
 
Admiral Huddy said:
My wife bought me one for Christmas last year but I got her to take it back.. My body and I knows how hard i'm exercising or not so i don't need a device to tell me so..

I use MapMyRun when i go running just to keep track of distance, time and pace but not heart rate. I've never used anything in the gym either. Do you really need a heart monitor to measure when you are doing calf raises, for example?
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That's exactly my line of thinking on them.

She said one of the main reasons she wanted one was to know how many calories she was burning so she knew what her calorie deficit was. But am I right in thinking none of these kind of devices will give her that information (accurately)? Or is it more magical than I thought?
 
Its a glorified hr step counter mostly, with some gameification built into the app. Some of the more expensive ones have GPS for tracking runs/cycling but they are very much focused on cardio. The main benefit of them is in shaming the average Joe/Joanne to get up of the sofa and walk more.

Having a 24/7 hr is handy for the BMR calculations via the app or if you are trying to train in different HR zones, but likely overkill for 90% of people.
 
Love mine, wouldn't do without it.

Started with Charge HR now using Charge 2.

Phone app is one of the best I've used.

GPS/data is quite accurate comparing with my Garmin watch when using the Charge 2 for running.

Fun having challenges with friends via the app.

Medical instrument it is not, but a great incentive for you get off your lardy butt and do something.
 
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I've had a charge HR for 10 months now, about to receive my 6th replacement (maybe it's 7th). They break within 2 months max. Not cut out for everyday use and all they do is replace with another one that breaks shortly after receiving it. I would avoid them completely
 
I've got a MS band 2 which i believe is an optical sensor and have compared its heart rate read out with a chest strap i have on my water rower and the band over-read by about 10-2-bpm when working out at high intensity. However at rest/low intensity it was pretty close to the chest strap.
 
Repta said:
I've had a charge HR for 10 months now, about to receive my 6th replacement (maybe it's 7th). They break within 2 months max. Not cut out for everyday use and all they do is replace with another one that breaks shortly after receiving it. I would avoid them completely
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The MS band 2 has a terrible strap design too that breaks too easily. They didn't learn from the band 1 and now they've cancelled the band 3 i think that's the end of MS's foray into the fitness wearable world. :( (My two is off for repair after only 6 months...)
 
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