Anybody have a fitbit

[$money$]

thinking about getting some for family members that obsess about excersizing and non sense any pros and cons? checked out the nike ones which are probably way more expensive. I know a few people that have the fit bit and like it.

What are your opinions thanks errrone!

[NETbilling]

The Fitbit is great but Apple Watch is even better but overkill for just excercise.

[CurrentlySober]

i have the flex. it needs 2 straps to get it round my wrist, but it works good. i have to do at least 100 steps a day, or else my carers tell me off. i just lie in bed and shake it though.

[bronco67]

I have the Charge HR. I loved using when I was trying to get my bodyfat level down, but I set it aside for a while I try to gain some muscle.

I think it overestimates calorie burn, so I set my weight at about 10 pounds lower than my actual weight so it would be more stingy with calorie burn. One of the worst things to do when trimming down is think you've burned more calories than you actually have.

[TheSquealer]

fitbits are not even remotely accurate. if you are interested in your heart rate during exercise and accuracy matters, you still need a strap. nothing that tries to take your heart rate from your wrist works. There is also no such thing as a pedometer that's accurate.

These fucking idiots launched a cool idea that people have been waiting for (no chest strap) and in spite of it not even being close to accurate at all, it took off and then everyone started making copycat products.

Nothing about the info it provides is accurate. Think i'm lying? Go to Best Buy and ask someone at the customer service counter how many of each type gets returned. Don't read reviews of idiots who love their new toy and understand nothing at all about the importance of the information being 100% accurate. I got the 250.00 (Charge?) one and returned it in 2 days. My GF runs 6 days a week and doesn't like the straps. She got the 250.00 one as well and returned it within a few days.

[bronco67]

Originally Posted by TheSquealer

fitbits are not even remotely accurate. if you are interested in your heart rate during exercise and accuracy matters, you still need a strap. nothing that tries to take your heart rate from your wrist works. These fucking idiots launched a cool idea that people have been waiting for (no chest strap) and in spite of it not even being close to accurate at all, it took ok. nothing about the info it provides is accurate. Think i'm lying? Go to Best Buy and ask someone at the customer service counter how many of each type gets returned.

It's accurate enough.

[TheSquealer]

Originally Posted by bronco67

It's accurate enough.

There is no such thing as "accurate enough" if you're using it for training and tracking exercise or concerned with weight loss. Either the data is right or its wrong. Either you can use it to plan your meals and workouts or you can't. Either you can rely on it for aerobic and anaerobic training or you can't. Precision matters. The info it gives isn't even close and in no universe could it be considered "accurate enough" for anyone that actually intends to use the info for an actual use.

[loreen]

Originally Posted by bronco67

It's accurate enough.

For me, it is.
It doesn't matter if the "12.000 steps" it gives me are in fact 10.000 or 14.000.

I can live with that error, as I use it more as a motivation tool

So far, so good.

[bronco67]

Originally Posted by TheSquealer

There is no such thing as "accurate enough" if you're using it for training and tracking exercise or concerned with weight loss. Either the data is right or its wrong. Either you can use it to plan your meals and workouts or you can't. Either you can rely on it for aerobic and anaerobic training or you can't. Precision matters. The info it gives isn't even close and in no universe could it be considered "accurate enough" for anyone that actually intends to use the info for an actual use.

Nothing short of medical equipment is going to give you "accurate" results. You can ballpark the figures because its not that far off. I got in pretty excellent shape by not totally trusting my Fitbit numbers, but by using it to give me a general idea of calorie expenditure. We're not splitting the atom here...

Do you even own one? Or are you even in shape? Or are you just yapping about a subject you know nothing about...as usual. You just yap a bunch of bullshit.

[TheSquealer]

Originally Posted by bronco67

Nothing short of medical equipment is going to give you "accurate" results. You can ballpark the figures because its not that far off. I got in pretty excellent shape by not totally trusting my Fitbit numbers, but by using it to give me a general idea of calorie expenditure. We're not splitting the atom here...

Do you even own one? Or are you even in shape? Or are you just yapping about a subject you know nothing about...as usual. You just yap a bunch of bullshit.

I run and train 6 days a week.

Other than that, you clearly didn't read anything i wrote and saying "i got in good shape" is not the same as saying "this device is accurate". I use heart rate monitors (Polar blue tooth) when i do cardio and sprints and often when I train. I base all my training and diet around it. I use it for both aerobic and aerobic training and its a great tool for managing aerobic capacity and aerobic threshold (distance runs, tempo runs, sprints etc).

The most expensive Fitbit is not accurate, much less, the lower models. It's not close. The very fucking purpose of a heart rate monitor is to give you an accurate heart rate. Fitbits are not even remotely close. Furthermore, when its using that inaccurate data to calculate calories burned through the day, it can't be accurate if it can't measure heart rate. Surely even someone as dense as you can grasp that simple concept. IF it can't give you an accurate number for a 30 minute jog, how in the fuck is it going to give you an accurate number (calories burned etc) for a 24hr span? It can't.

The fact that you put a thing on your arm, exercised, changed your diet etc has nothing to do with whether or not the information that thing on your arm is giving is accurate.

To the OP... go to Best Buy and just ask as I did, how many of each type get returned. You'll quickly see what the exercising public thinks about Fitbits.

[newB]

Originally Posted by TheSquealer

I run and train 6 days a week.

Other than that, you clearly didn't read anything i wrote and saying "i got in good shape" is not the same as saying "this device is accurate". I use heart rate monitors (Polar blue tooth) when i do cardio and sprints and often when I train. I base all my training and diet around it. I use it for both aerobic and aerobic training and its a great tool for managing aerobic capacity and aerobic threshold (distance runs, tempo runs, sprints etc).

The most expensive Fitbit is not accurate, much less, the lower models. It's not close. The very fucking purpose of a heart rate monitor is to give you an accurate heart rate. Fitbits are not even remotely close. Furthermore, when its using that inaccurate data to calculate calories burned through the day, it can't be accurate if it can't measure heart rate. Surely even someone as dense as you can grasp that simple concept. IF it can't give you an accurate number for a 30 minute jog, how in the fuck is it going to give you an accurate number (calories burned etc) for a 24hr span? It can't.

The fact that you put a thing on your arm, exercised, changed your diet etc has nothing to do with whether or not the information that thing on your arm is giving is accurate.

To the OP... go to Best Buy and just ask as I did, how many of each type get returned. You'll quickly see what the exercising public thinks about Fitbits.

I think you're over-estimating the commitment of the general public. Most people aren't going to keep a detailed spreadsheet of calories in/out or anything like that. What they want is a little validation, and perhaps a little incentive to take that extra lap around the track.

I'm thinking of getting a couple for my brother and his wife. She is very health conscious which has been very good for him - though I can count on him getting a burger when we go out and she isn't around.

[TheSquealer]

Originally Posted by newB

I think you're over-estimating the commitment of the general public. Most people aren't going to keep a detailed spreadsheet of calories in/out or anything like that. What they want is a little validation, and perhaps a little incentive to take that extra lap around the track.

I'm thinking of getting a couple for my brother and his wife. She is very health conscious which has been very good for him - though I can count on him getting a burger when we go out and she isn't around.

I get that. What i am saying really is

1) its not a heart rate monitor because its wildly inaccurate

2) its not a pedometer because all pedometers are wildly inaccurate and this one is worse because swinging your arms gets counted as steps - so if you're an animated talker sitting at your desk talking on the phone, it counts you as walking the entire time

3) it can't give you accurate numbers for calories burned because the heart rate monitor is not even close to accurate and thats what the calories burned is based on

Its just a "feel good", trendy bracelet. My real problem is not the fitbit its the fact that its massive popularity has caused everyone to shift away from chest straps so its increasingly harder to find something thats is actually accurate and gives you what is usable information. I had to buy 5 polar heart rate monitors the last time for fear that they'd be impossible to buy soon as any place id ever bought them before stopped stocking. Even stores for running.

[EddyTheDog]

I don't need tech to tell me I don't get enough exercise - I can just look at my gut...

[KillerK]

Inaccurate, though they may be, they are accurate to themselves, meaning, you can still chart your activity level accurately from day to day.