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Thread: Real World Benefit of wearable fitness trackers?

  1. #11
    Several very out of shape people in my family wear one of these things and constantly brag about how many steps they take in a day.


    "How many pull ups can you do?" usually stop the discussion.


    seriously though I don't mean to seem rude... I'd just be more likely to trust my overall athletic ability, overall feeling of health and progress in body weight exercises as more true measure of improvement.

  2. #12
    Smoke Bomb / Ninja Vanish Chance's Avatar
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    Nov 2011
    Quote Originally Posted by Jay585 View Post
    I've got it so I wear it and use it now, but mostly I just balk at the numbers I'm given (I burned 6700 calories today? No friggin way!)
    I've had both a Charge and a Charge 2 and I've never seen anything approaching that far off base. I've had it go haywire with things like floor count, but it's only happened a handful of times over the course of several years, and a restart has always corrected misbehavior. If you got the Amazon electronics warranty, I'd return it and see if a new one acted up the same way.
    "Sapiens dicit: 'Ignoscere divinum est, sed noli pretium plenum pro pizza sero allata solvere.'" - Michelangelo

  3. #13
    Site Supporter Jay585's Avatar
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    Apr 2013
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    Quote Originally Posted by Chance View Post
    I've had both a Charge and a Charge 2 and I've never seen anything approaching that far off base. I've had it go haywire with things like floor count, but it's only happened a handful of times over the course of several years, and a restart has always corrected misbehavior. If you got the Amazon electronics warranty, I'd return it and see if a new one acted up the same way.
    I don't

    I haven't owned it a full month yet, so maybe I can still return/replace (4 weeks as of this Friday).

    Another solution might be to loan it to someone else for a week, see what it says. I might try that before I do a return.
    "Well you know, it's a toolbox. You put the tools in for the job." Sam

  4. #14
    Modding this sack of shit BehindBlueI's's Avatar
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    I like mine, which includes GPS and trails. I've found it to be motivational. Combined with the built in training software, I've dropped weight and increased my run times. I could have done the same thing without one, of course, but I've found it to be a handy gadget for keeping me on track.
    Sorta around sometimes for some of your shitty mod needs.

  5. #15
    I wear a smartwatch, minus this present week out-of-sector since I left it behind by accident; it's a bit more lifestyle oriented and less technical than many options, but I enjoy the interface. Other than that, I wear it the majority of time minus when performing calisthenics, using kettlebells, or while sparring.

    I like the continuous HR monitoring, which for particular reasons is important for me. I'm very aware of my baselines and HR trends during different activities, and have sufficient cross-referencing from different HR monitoring devices to recognize the offset in presented numbers.

    I like the GPS and map functionality, even with some inaccuracy being present from time to time.

    I very much enjoy the vibrating alarm function, for use both while in public and to wake up in the morning.

    I very much enjoy how it enables leaving the associated phone in the pocket more, as various notifications flow in, and makes checking them a very quick and minimally-distracting affair. For what it's worth, I have most notifications disabled except for messaging, phone calls, and voicemail alerts.

    I strongly prefer it over the Fitbit and similar products that require an active internet connection for full functionality, even if the hardware costs are subsidized by the contingent sale of your\my\our data; if it doesn't work offline, than it doesn't work for huge stretches of my pattern of living.

    On the busiest of days, it's convenient but not essential to be able to see taskings flow in while I'm going scrub-a-dub-dub in the shower before or after a block on the mats.

    The weather function is convenient but admittedly not used much.

    The altimeter is handy for some esoteric work-related reasons.

    It's cool but not essential to be able to use it to trigger the shutter on my phone's camera.

    I'm aware that it would be a security concern in certain workspaces, and would have to be left with my other personal electronics before entering certain sites.
    Jules
    Runcible Works

  6. #16
    Chasing the Horizon RJ's Avatar
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    Jan 2014
    I have had two (Fitbits) and found them completely and utterly useless.

    The data they collected (and processed / organized by the associated Smart Phone) was, after a short "well, that's cool" moment, to me anyway, of no value. I did not find the "hey you walked 10,000 steps!" feature helpful. I did not really find that I cared about how many steps I walked, nor was knowing how many steps people across the US walked useful, either.

    YMMV of course; if they work for you, more power to you.

  7. #17
    Wife had a fitbit and killed it while washing her hands, turns out they are not at all water resistant.
    We replaced it with a Garmin and now I have a garmin as well. Mine will track things like push ups, pull ups, deadlift, etc. I can also control music on my phone, see if a message its worth pulling my phone out of my pocket for or ignoring calls.

    I would say about the jamanetwork study, it said it was done from 2010-2012 and wearable tech has grown a lot in that time. Think about what phone you had in 2010 compared to today. But it really comes down to weather you stick with it long term or not, just like anything else.
    Last edited by Eugene; 05-06-2019 at 06:58 PM.

  8. #18
    They're good for fooling fat people into thinking they're getting more exercise than they actually are. Most aren't calibrated correctly for steps/activity and caloric intake. The reason I say that is I know someone who believes they walk 8 miles a day and live in a 500-800 calorie deficit every day yet they've lost all of about 6lbs in 18 months. What you're able to do physically and how many new holes you have to put in your belt are a much better indicator.

  9. #19
    For what it's worth, Fitbits generally get decent marks for the accuracy of their HR tracking relative to competitors. It's just very irksome that the system is locked in to support harvesting data. That and mine did not survive coexistence with an MP5 and working full auto. It was a gift and replaced under warranty, but I put the idea down for a year or so and didn't wear the replacement afterwards.

    Failure mode was registering an HR of >188bpm during circumstances where the baseline was ~45-55bpm, and nuking the multiday battery life in <30min.
    Jules
    Runcible Works

  10. #20
    I've found them somewhat helpful in my professional practice since having the heart rate data during some of the symptoms that I see people for is useful. None of them are awesomely accurate but better than nothing.
    I also found them useful as a negative feedback tool. If I had an alpha instead of charlie for every time my patient described their activity levels as great because "I am on my feet all day long", I would've been a national champ. In this place telling people that the goddamn yard work doesn't count for exercise is like a sacrilege.
    Doesn't read posts longer than two paragraphs.

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