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Fitbit: so what's magic about 10,000 steps?


Laurie4b
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Thanks for that. I really like the silent alarm though, which the Garmin doesn't seem to have. Sigh. I have to sleep with ear plugs, and right now my alarm clock is Husband setting his then waking me, which is not ideal.... Maybe I'll get a Fitbit and wear it on my right wrist, and keep wearing a watch on my left.

 

Thanks again

 

L

The Garmin does have an inactivity sensor- instead of a buzz, it puts a big red bar on the screen. I like that better because you can shrug off a buzz but that bar stays put til you MOVE for a few minutes.

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How would a fitbit work with kettlebells?  You don't do too much stepping, but lots of squats, hip thrusts, and arm workout.  It's aerobics and weight lifting all in one.  Would a fitbit measure a workout like that?

 

Not really. It's a pedometer. It'll register the movement, but doesn't seem to be particularly accurate or useful for activities other than walking/running. This was why my husband stopped using his - he spent a few weeks upping his step goals and attempting to meet them at the expense of all else, and then never put it back on.

 

https://amiigo.com/ may be more what you're looking for - it includes a heart rate monitor and you can program it to recognize various activities. (No, I don't work for them. I don't even own one (yet!). I just find it incredibly intriguing.)

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Not really. It's a pedometer. It'll register the movement, but doesn't seem to be particularly accurate or useful for activities other than walking/running. This was why my husband stopped using his - he spent a few weeks upping his step goals and attempting to meet them at the expense of all else, and then never put it back on.

 

https://amiigo.com/ may be more what you're looking for - it includes a heart rate monitor and you can program it to recognize various activities. (No, I don't work for them. I don't even own one (yet!). I just find it incredibly intriguing.)

 

Thanks a bunch. I'll check out your suggestion.

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How would a fitbit work with kettlebells? You don't do too much stepping, but lots of squats, hip thrusts, and arm workout. It's aerobics and weight lifting all in one. Would a fitbit measure a workout like that?

I love my little Fitbit Zip, but sadly, it's worthless for that kind of exercise.

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I wish Fitbit and Ironman would merge.  I have been wearing an Ironman watch for over 10 years (several, actually - they last about 18months to 2 years for me).  I love to be able to set a timer and alarms - love that watch!  But now you've got me wanting a fitbit.   And I can't see myself wearing both at the same time...  

 

When I clicked on the fitbit with the watch face on the Fitbit website, a little pop-up came up and told me that that model is not being made right now, and then it asked for my email address and said they will let me know when a new fitbit comes out.  So maybe they are working on a new watch model?

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How would a fitbit work with kettlebells?  You don't do too much stepping, but lots of squats, hip thrusts, and arm workout.  It's aerobics and weight lifting all in one.  Would a fitbit measure a workout like that?

 

 

Fitbit does not measure the workout, but you would need to log the workout on the app or online as a completed activity.  Then, the calories burned from the workout would be counted towards your daily caloric totals, and maybe your total active minutes (not sure about this one).

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How do Fitbits cope with driving?  I had to give up using my old mechanical pedometer because it would register bumps in the road (I live in the countryside) as steps, and it was too irritating to keep subtracting the extras.

 

L

I've read that the fitbit can have the same problem. Though I haven't been on a road bumpy enough to affect mine yet. Unless it is a really long road and you are on it very often throughout the day, I can't imagine there would be enough false "steps" to worry about. 

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I've read that the fitbit can have the same problem. Though I haven't been on a road bumpy enough to affect mine yet. Unless it is a really long road and you are on it very often throughout the day, I can't imagine there would be enough false "steps" to worry about. 

 

The thing is that I commute 40 minutes in each direction every day.  That's a chunk of time and with my pedometer I was getting hundreds of extra steps.

 

I could probably just measure the number of bumps one day and add that on to my daily total to be achieved: 10,300, or whatever.  Irritating but not the end of the world.

 

Thanks

 

L

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Fitbit does not measure the workout, but you would need to log the workout on the app or online as a completed activity.  Then, the calories burned from the workout would be counted towards your daily caloric totals, and maybe your total active minutes (not sure about this one).

 

From what I have seen, I can log those activities, but they are not counted as "very active minutes." I would prefer that they were so I could see the little dial fill up :) but it doesn't really matter in the big picture. I am using fitbit primarily to capture the "background activity" of daily life because that is its own element of fitness as in "Sitting is the new smoking."

 

It's much easier to track my intentional workouts on my own. I know if I've done 45 minutes of water aerobics, strength training, Pilates, etc.  Fitbit is good at grabbing any walking/jogging I do, but I know it won't capture the other kinds of workouts.

 

 

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There have been some studies done where they look at various populations (such as the Amish, Kenyans, and others) and have determined that roughly 10,000 steps is a basic cut off for an active life, which they've said has a decrease in cancer.

 

Here's one:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21858689

 

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21798044

 

This looks at children and adults

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21798014

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