Fintness band

[kayinperth]

Hi,

I'm thinking of buying a fitness band for my BF birthday.

 

He does gym exercise more than running on streets. Checked Fitbit etc but they more record steps and walking distance.

However, my friend suggested that some pulse recording ones can be used for gym exercise and calculate burn calories.

 

Anyone use these gadget? Also a review site said that gym people don't like something on their wrist whilst they are exercising. My BF doesn't wear any wrist bands (but gloves), do you get annoyed if you wear a band? (well, it depends on person I guess...)

[Quoll]

The Fitbit Charge HR and Surge both do HR monitoring - I'm thinking of the Surge because I like gadgets but, that said, I like my Flex and will probably wait until it bites the dust. The surge also has GPS tracking which is appealing but it drains the battery as it does on all devices. I wear my Flex 24/7 and I forget I'm wearing it most of the time - unlike the Up it doesn't catch on things. I love mine TBH but I'm not a gym junkie type - my DH, who is a fitness fan, wouldn't wear one although he has been known to wear a Polar HRM from time to time.

[vickyplum]

does he have an iPhone? You can get a thing a like Fit Bit / Jawbone [i think it's by Nike] and it will then hook up to the app on the phone. I think it's iPhone only, so not Android etc.

 

Fit Bit also do a device that hooks onto clothing, instead of the wristband version.

[dmjg]

I have have a lifetrak 410 for nearly a year now.

 

Its a full watch which does all the tracking stuff too including workout and has a pulse button that doesn't require a chestband.

 

The battery lasts for nearly a year too.

 

I hated charging the fitbit flex every three days. (I do about 17000 steps per day and it chewed through the battery)

 

http://www.cnet.com/au/products/lifetrak-zone-c410/

[davlap]

The wristbands are mostly glorified pedometers, but not as accurate!

Good if you like all the flashy online and social stuff.

 

Because they are wrist wear, they are not much good for activities such as gym, cycling, treadmills as your hand movements do not tell the whole story. How does it know if you are lifting 1kg or 50 ?

 

A jawbone only works by arm movements, fitbit flex is supposed to be a more clever, but doesn't really work (I have both)

 

I do not have one, but HR monitors with a chest strap are probably most effective. Wrist bands with HR may not keep contact, or not detect HR when sweaty. Also last thing he would want to do in the middle of a set of reps is press a button and wait for HR (which some require, rather than continuous measuring)

 

For a (semi) serious gym junkie, intensity is what matters, measured by HR. You need to 'get in the zone' for effective work outs. You need to be at something like 80+% of your max HR for high intensity (not necessarily just for the gym).

You can calculate this online eg

http://www.active.com/fitness/calculators/heartrate#

 

Also, if you BF is a macho man, I doubt he would appreciate a dinky band. Some of the polar watches might be more appropriate

[Paul1Perth]

I think they are just way over priced gadgets and if your boyfriend uses the gym a lot he'll have a good idea of when he's had a good workout without having a gadget tell him how many calories he's burnt or how his heart rate has responded.

 

Have you thought about buying him a nice watch instead? They look a lot better than a band.:wink:

[kayinperth]

Thanks everyone!

 

I researched a bit more, but if you are a gym exercise fan, most workout at gym you kinda have to put the info by yourself. To know how much calories you burn everyday life, the gadget looks working very well. But if you are keen to exercise to build your muscle, control your weight ... hmm.

 

I quite liked Paul's idea ... buying a nice watch

He loves automatic watch... price would be .... $$$$ (Speedmaster or moonwatch ...)