Thoughts on Fitbit

Laura Becker

Hi All!

SO I have been seeing some friends around me really enjoying their Fitbit. It gives lots of info including HR, tracking sleep, steps ect.

What are your thoughts?? Does anyone have one and use it? Like it? Find the info helpful? 

My husband thought it might be good for me to track my HR and he wants me to track my sleep----he says I don't get enough  but I try! 

Any opinions, experiences, info would be greatly appreciated!!

Tom Glynn

DC Rainmaker did a review on these "wearables" a while ago and basically said, "buy what your friends have". The best motivation to do something with the data is really the social, peer pressure.

He reviews a bunch of them here: http://www.dcrainmaker.com/product-reviews/activity-monitors

I have had a couple fitness trackers but never really had any use for the data. So what if I walked 10K or 12K or 2K steps? What to do with the data.

I just upgraded my Garmin 910XT to a 920XT and it has all the activity tracker data. I don't think I looked at much of the data more than a couple of times. Steps walked, floors climbed, sleep and other such things are tracked but I don't really know what to make of it.

I'm a data junkie. I have TrainingPeaks data for at least the last 10 years. I have multiple power meters for biking and running, heart rate monitors (s/b/r), cadence sensors for running and biking and various other toys. I just don't get activity trackers for more serious athletes.

If you are basically sedentary, then the data may make sense. If you are a member of EN, you are probably past that stage of your life

rlh2000

I was curious how much walking I do. It was interesting that just by the nature of walking my dog, walking to buses/trains, and having a relatively active job, I was hitting 13,000 steps without even trying, and not counting any runs. As for what to do with that data, I just kinda am like "well that is interesting." I'm hoping that when I get into the meat of training, it will offer clues as to why I might be more fatigued than expected some days, and I do like the HR tracking. I also really wanted the sleep tracking. I'm really amazed by the accuracy of it. Only problem is I can't get use to sleeping with it on my wrist! I'm going to keep trying though because I think that can be some very good data and motivating to get to bed more!

Nemo Brauch

I also really wanted the sleep tracking. I'm really amazed by the accuracy of it. Only problem is I can't get use to sleeping with it on my wrist! I'm going to keep trying though because I think that can be some very good data and motivating to get to bed more!

I'm with Tom on this one for the most part. I see lots of folks using them, but since I already track nearly everything via my Garmin anyway- I don't really get the value for someone like me. However, it's the sleep & resting HR stuff that intrigues me most because that's one thing I don't track well today (primarily because it's a manual process I have to remember to do- not something that just auto-magically updates to a record keeping file in the cloud somewhere. So Rachel- if you have any added comments on that front- please share!

thekidduxc

I am very hesitant on the fitness sleep tracker portion of it. I can't speak in depth because I do not have one, but if the fitness tracker offers sleep cycles analysis, I would not trust the data. As for hours, I simply enter my hours slept per day in TP when I enter my weight. It's in the metrics screen.

Tom Glynn

I'm definitely intrigued by the sleep tracking and analysis. I used to have one of those Zeo sleep things that you strapped to your head before dozing off. The science behind that seemed pretty good. My family always laughed at me for wearing it and then the company went bankrupt. From what I've read, the new activity trackers are just not very accurate. The advice they offer is good though. If you are having a tough time with sleep then ditch late night alcohol, stay off your phone, sleep in a dark room, etc. All good advice that does not require a tracker. I've found the easiest metric for me is "Did I go to bed before 10:00pm?". If I'm training hard then it switches from 10 to 9:30.

rlh2000

Yeah, I definitely put this as a fun toy and not a need to have, but have found it interesting. In terms of the activity tracking side, yes, we are far more active than who this is marketed for, so we don't really need to worry about getting those 10,000 steps in. But I still think we could use or at least a quick "hm that is interesting" with some of that data. For instance, maybe you are extra tired from that long workout yesterday because while you thought you took it easy, you actually ended up walking 20,000 steps at work or something. I find general trends in my activity apart from workout out to be interesting. I actually don't wear mine while workout out to keep it as a separate thing (and don't want too many gadgets on).

I am a huge skeptic with stuff, but at least for me, the sleep stuff is pretty accurate as far as I can tell. No false positives (I can lie totally lifeless on the couch and it somehow knows i'm still awake). Shows if you are restless or not (I generally sleep like a rock). I could definitely track sleep and HR on my own, but for some reason having a device do it for me makes me want to sleep more. Definitely not a necessity, but a fun accessory! Also, I "compete" with more sedentary friends and PT students that I teach and it is fun to win. :-)

tim cronk

I do not have an activity tracker... I do think it would be somewhat useful to track resting HR/Sleep patterns , specially if it could be integrated with existing TP/MFP apps , automagically...

IMO, the best use for a device like this, for people like us, would be to estimate your daily caloric burn, when doing normal life stuff . Most apps like MFP, simply input height, weight, age , and then the big subjective one , your activity level ....Your daily activity level is what raises your BMR to your true daily caloric need..... In MFP there are 4 activity levels to choose from and they differ by a couple hundred calories per day (this would be 1 pound every 2 weeks) ... My understanding is an activity tracker using HR in addition to height, weight, and age, would be more accurate (assuming the app algorithms are correct). I would assume you would need wear this 24/7 except to remove the activity tracking device when doing real tri-training (specially with PM) so there is no double counting of any activity. Once you do know your BMR/activity level/daily caloric needs are indeed accurate you can fine tune them daily which is where I think it gets interesting for what we do. This would keep you honest on rest days , taper days , etc.... But it would also provide valuable data once at a particular race weight and following big days... IOW eating more on an active day and less on a rest day would be more data based .

Is anyone doing this? What device and apps are you using?

Robert Sabo

Which trackers are best for sleep tracking and do they download to TP?

thekidduxc

@ Tim - great post. I am very conscious of my caloric intake. I've been a calorie counter for almost two decades. On days I exercise - I take my BMR (no adjustments) and add calories burned via exercising to calculate my caloric needs. On days I don't workout I use my BMR x 1.1. I would love if an activity tracker could provide inputs with an enhanced accuracy AND merge with TP and my fitness pal

Julie hupp

I bought the Fitbit Charge HR for my Christmas present.  I ended up returning it 2 weeks later.  The reality was that it wasn't going to make me exercise more than I already was.  It may encourage you to eat more if you are not eating enough to keep up with your calorie burn however.

Also, bike calories do not record well anyway.

I wore a bodymedia for several years and can predict calorie burn fairly easily by adding base calories and exercise for the day. 

 

I am not sure it will motivate you if you are already active.  Plus even if it shows I am not sleeping well, not quite sure how you improve that anyway.

Julie

 

Pam Fields

I have a FitBit Surge. Our company had a big promotion which allowed me to get it really cheap, in hopes that they could get their employees healthier. Overall, it's a neat gadget to have, but in reality it's not really accurate for much more than your heart rate, IMHO. After all, you can just sit in the chair and move your arm up and down, and it will give you steps :-(

I have run with it along with my Garmin. As long as I have the GPS on, it's really close to my Garmin. That's nice on days that I don't have my Garmin charged for a run. The sleep tracker has been pretty accurate for me.

Best part for me ----- It is a motivational reminder to get up and move. My job has a lot of downtime, so I do use the step counter to help keep me on the go during the day.

Tom Glynn

@Robert, I don't know of any trackers that upload to TP. Fitbit is supposed to be up and running in 2016, but no eta per TP website. The data on Garmin Connect does not all transfer over, so sleep data doesn't go. It has something to do with the file format, so that exercise files go to TP but not many of the metrics. Currently my Withings scale goes to TP as does nutrition info from MyFitness Pal, but not much else. I'd love to get morning HR, sleep data and other things like steps walked, stairs climbed and other data that the 920 xt and other fitness trackers record.

rbogle

I use my Charge HR  for general fatigue monitoring and cross-checking daily calorie burn. Its seems to function quite well in both cases. Morning resting HR and length and quality of sleep that Fitbit records definitely give me some advance warning on my fatigue levels and lets me tailor my training / rest. The calorie output tracking helped me readjust my calorie needs, turns out  I was undereating by quite a bit, and not well fueled, because I had way underestimated my base daily needs. 

Laura Becker

All this information was SUPER helpful!!!! I am interested in tracking HR and calories- however- I am thinking instead of using my limited $$ for a FitBit- it might be more beneficial for me to save up to upgrade my 910XT to my 920XT.  It might track my sleep- but really I already know that I need more sleep. So I need to fix that and the FitBit won't do that for me! 

This thread has some AWESOME insight!! THANKS ALL!!! 

Tom Glynn

Here is my sleep data from my 920XT since Christmas. I just wear it to bed and don't push buttons when going to sleep or getting up. Seems pretty good except for a couple of days under 5 hours - they are not right If you look at a particular day it gives you sleep data by minute, activity level and weather you are light, moderate or deep sleeping.

Sleep Time
Hrs
25-Dec 8:28 hrs
26-Dec 9:22 hrs
27-Dec 7:39 hrs
28-Dec 5:45 hrs
29-Dec 9:17 hrs
30-Dec 8:10 hrs
31-Dec 7:17 hrs
1-Jan 9:29 hrs
2-Jan 10:12 hrs
3-Jan 8:47 hrs
4-Jan 8:11 hrs
5-Jan 6:06 hrs
6-Jan 5:12 hrs
7-Jan 6:21 hrs
8-Jan 7:08 hrs
9-Jan 7:08 hrs
10-Jan 7:58 hrs
11-Jan 5:54 hrs
12-Jan 9:59 hrs
13-Jan 7:22 hrs
14-Jan 3:47 hrs
15-Jan 5:56 hrs
16-Jan 5:41 hrs
17-Jan 5:23 hrs
18-Jan 7:01 hrs
19-Jan 5:55 hrs
20-Jan 6:43 hrs
21-Jan 3:19 hrs
22-Jan 7:09 hrs
23-Jan 4:29 hrs