Many of our members and instructors use various heart rate monitors and wearable fitness trackers. These devices can be great if you’re monitoring your calories, if a doctor has told you to monitor your heart rate or if you just want to know more about how your body behaves in a workout! Most of these toys now come with training guides, personal stat tracking software, and even ways to integrate your training with social media. There are many types of these devices, so before you buy you should figure out which kind is right for you!
Pedometer Watch/Device
Through motion sensors, these watches/devices track your steps to give you an estimate of calories burned (based on your weight) and distance traveled (based on your height/stride). Some also monitor heart rate for a more accurate read of level of exertion.
Pros: Relatively inexpensive, can use all day long to track activity
Cons: Not as accurate when recording distance. Not great at tracking activities such as biking or weight training.
Check out: Fit Bit (www.fitbit.com) very small and lightweight. Can also monitor your sleep levels with included wrist band. About $100.
GPS Watch
With GPS technology, these watches can tell you down to a hundredth of a mile how far you’ve traveled. They estimate calories based on distance and weight or from a heart rate monitor. Great for biking, walking and running.
Pros: Incredibly accurate, a must-have for distance runners and bikers
Cons: Can’t use indoors. Not intended for fitness classes.
Check out: Garmin Forerunner 310XT (www.garmin.com) this particular model is waterproof so you can take it in the pool and can easily be mounted on a bike. About $250
Wearable Calorie Management Systems
These nifty little devices are meant to be worn all day and night, usually on the upper arm, and monitor total caloric burn with extreme accuracy. They calculate calories based on Galvanic Skin Response (sweat), skin temperature and heat flux and motion/steps. With their online and smartphone guides you can log food intake as well to give you a thorough record of your progress.
Pros: Highly motivating, can track all kinds of activity including fitness classes, daily activities, even sleep.
Cons: The only way to access the data for these devices is to buy a subscription to their online tools, which is an extra monthly fee.
Check out: BodyMedia Fit System with LINK armband (www.bodymedia.com) this armband is Bluetooth enabled, getting all the data to your smartphone in real time. About $200 (plus $10/month subscription to smartphone app/online tools)
Do you use a fitness tracker? Have you tried one in the past? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!