Advice and recomendations for fitness bands / trackers
Advice and recomendations for fitness bands / trackers
Author
Discussion

warp9

Original Poster:

1,632 posts

226 months

Friday 20th February 2015
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Hi. I'd like to lose some weight and get a bit fitter and know some people that have had good results using fitness bands to help motivate them (specifically Jawbone and Fitbit). However, they generally run, whereas I cycle and swim. I've done some research into which band to use and given the massive selection I am now a bit baffled on what to get. So my main question -

1) Do I need a band that is waterproof and is designed with swimming and cycling in mind? If not, how would it know I've just been for a swim and could it track a cycle?

In my ideal world I would need the following features:
Heart rate, waterproof, sleep tracker, calorie counter, inactivity reminders. Budget is less of an issue.

Any suggestions or comments?
Cheers

LordGrover

34,156 posts

241 months

Friday 20th February 2015
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There was a review/comparison of the major players recently which showed that they're all fairly inaccurate when it comes to things like counting steps or calories burnt, but so long as they're used for comparison purposes and not absolute values they're all pretty similar. I.e. comparing the amount of exercise done this week compared with previous week(s), etc.
Can't find the review now but will revisit if I find it.

LordGrover

34,156 posts

241 months

Friday 20th February 2015
quotequote all
Found similar but not the one I was thinking of: BBC.

warp9

Original Poster:

1,632 posts

226 months

Friday 20th February 2015
quotequote all
LordGrover said:
Found similar but not the one I was thinking of: BBC.
Thanks for finding the link. I appreciate they may not be 100% exact, for me it's more of a way to gauge general weight loss, sports improvement and motivation.

Digger

16,804 posts

220 months

Friday 20th February 2015
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Sorry but a waste of time imvho! smile

You'd be better off with a half decent heart rate monitor with built in calorie counter. Personally had good results with a Polar FT80 and logging of diet and exercise in to My Fitness Pal.

Not to say one of these faddy fitness bands might work for you/some. wink

amare32

2,420 posts

252 months

Saturday 21st February 2015
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Disagree. You don't need any gimmick.

If you don't have self motivation, then it doesn't matter what fitness band, app or watch you use. keep it simple, eat well, train hard and rest well. That's all you need.