Pedometer nerds (1 Viewer)

[bigbottom]

21,000+ steps yesterday and should be as or more active today. Unfortunately I'm out of town and forgot the charger for my Flex which is almost out of battery life. Dammit!

 

[Otis]

21,000+ steps yesterday and should be as or more active today. Unfortunately I'm out of town and forgot the charger for my Flex which is almost out of battery life. Dammit!

Woah. Congrats. Now I'm tempted to go for a full day hike to see how many steps are possible...

 

[-jb-]

This thread finally got me ready to buy a FB Force. Now I need to wait. Any ideas when the re-release?

 

[beer 302]

Our company adopted the Virgin Pulse Health plan about a year ago and issues us pedometers that keep track of steps, just need to upload once or twice or week. Pretty simple and we get either 20% off our monthly health care bill and/or $50 back depending on the plateaus you hit. They also allow the Fitbit but it doesn't translate real well.

 

[Keerock]

My Flex under counts my steps by about 25%. I walk 100 steps and it registers between 70-80.

Not a huge deal, really... I just reset my goal by -25%, but the OCD in me makes it a bigger deal.

 

[bigbottom]

So I went six days on a single charge for my Flex. Went out of town and forgot my charger, and when the battery low signal came on with nearly two days left in my trip, I figured I was screwed. But what the Flex does is shut down its ability to transmit a signal to your phone to preserve battery life. So although it was no longer broadcasting, it was still collecting data. As soon as I got home and plugged it in to the charger, it delivered all the data to my FitBit app. That's a good battery preservation feature.

 

[Otis]

So I went six days on a single charge for my Flex. Went out of town and forgot my charger, and when the battery low signal came on with nearly two days left in my trip, I figured I was screwed. But what the Flex does is shut down its ability to transmit a signal to your phone to preserve battery life. So although it was no longer broadcasting, it was still collecting data. As soon as I got home and plugged it in to the charger, it delivered all the data to my FitBit app. That's a good battery preservation feature.

Nice. Really good to know.

 

[James Daulton]

Wearing the bodybugg right now as I face a good amount of shoveling today.

 

[Otis]

How does the Flex determine very active minutes? I got 27 today without working out, and I got a lift to the train station in the morning where I would normally walk. I during my commutes I walk super fast. I suppose that suffices. Sweet.

 

[bentley]

How does the Flex determine very active minutes? I got 27 today without working out, and I got a lift to the train station in the morning where I would normally walk. I during my commutes I walk super fast. I suppose that suffices. Sweet.

Brisk walking will do it. I usually get 2 minutes every morning climbing the stairs from the garage to our floor.

 

[Otis]

How does the Flex determine very active minutes? I got 27 today without working out, and I got a lift to the train station in the morning where I would normally walk. I during my commutes I walk super fast. I suppose that suffices. Sweet.

Brisk walking will do it. I usually get 2 minutes every morning climbing the stairs from the garage to our floor.

In a normal day then I'll easily crack 30.

 

[bigbottom]

How does the Flex determine very active minutes? I got 27 today without working out, and I got a lift to the train station in the morning where I would normally walk. I during my commutes I walk super fast. I suppose that suffices. Sweet.

Brisk walking will do it. I usually get 2 minutes every morning climbing the stairs from the garage to our floor.

In a normal day then I'll easily crack 30.

I'm guessing you're a really fast walker. I'll typically only get about 3-4 minutes a day from normal walking. That's why I've been jogging every single day since I got my Flex.

 

[Otis]

How does the Flex determine very active minutes? I got 27 today without working out, and I got a lift to the train station in the morning where I would normally walk. I during my commutes I walk super fast. I suppose that suffices. Sweet.

Brisk walking will do it. I usually get 2 minutes every morning climbing the stairs from the garage to our floor.

In a normal day then I'll easily crack 30.

I'm guessing you're a really fast walker. I'll typically only get about 3-4 minutes a day from normal walking. That's why I've been jogging every single day since I got my Flex.

Insanely fast. It's one of the things I'm proudest about. I outwalk pretty much everyone on the NYC streets, take the steps two at a time, zip up those hills. Otis is aggressive out there on the sidewalks.

 

[bigbottom]

How does the Flex determine very active minutes? I got 27 today without working out, and I got a lift to the train station in the morning where I would normally walk. I during my commutes I walk super fast. I suppose that suffices. Sweet.

Brisk walking will do it. I usually get 2 minutes every morning climbing the stairs from the garage to our floor.

In a normal day then I'll easily crack 30.

I'm guessing you're a really fast walker. I'll typically only get about 3-4 minutes a day from normal walking. That's why I've been jogging every single day since I got my Flex.

Insanely fast. It's one of the things I'm proudest about. I outwalk pretty much everyone on the NYC streets, take the steps two at a time, zip up those hills. Otis is aggressive out there on the sidewalks.

You should be in the next Cadillac commercial.

 

[bentley]

27,000 is my highest day. Of course, I ran a half marathon that day. I bet the real number was over 30K because I usually only get about 80% credit for my steps when I run.

 

[Otis]

How does the Flex determine very active minutes? I got 27 today without working out, and I got a lift to the train station in the morning where I would normally walk. I during my commutes I walk super fast. I suppose that suffices. Sweet.

Brisk walking will do it. I usually get 2 minutes every morning climbing the stairs from the garage to our floor.

In a normal day then I'll easily crack 30.

I'm guessing you're a really fast walker. I'll typically only get about 3-4 minutes a day from normal walking. That's why I've been jogging every single day since I got my Flex.

Insanely fast. It's one of the things I'm proudest about. I outwalk pretty much everyone on the NYC streets, take the steps two at a time, zip up those hills. Otis is aggressive out there on the sidewalks.

You should be in the next Cadillac commercial.

I'd crush that guy. But man that's a great commercial.

 

[Otis]

Well on a normal work day during my commute I apparently get in between 34 and 37 "very active minutes" on Fitbit. Is that enough? My calories burned are always green as my VAMs; though my steps don't hit the goal (usually between 7k to 8500) Weekends end up coming in lower for all.

Anyway at least the VAM number makes me feel like it's alright for me to focus on resistance training when I actually do work out.

 

[Keerock]

Well on a normal work day during my commute I apparently get in between 34 and 37 "very active minutes" on Fitbit. Is that enough? My calories burned are always green as my VAMs; though my steps don't hit the goal (usually between 7k to 8500) Weekends end up coming in lower for all.

Anyway at least the VAM number makes me feel like it's alright for me to focus on resistance training when I actually do work out.

Make sure your fitbit is recording all your steps. Mine only comes in at ~60% when I wear it on my wrist. I put it in my front pocket yesterday and it was dead on. I did a test 300 step walk and the fitbit registered exactly 300

 

[culdeus]

Well on a normal work day during my commute I apparently get in between 34 and 37 "very active minutes" on Fitbit. Is that enough? My calories burned are always green as my VAMs; though my steps don't hit the goal (usually between 7k to 8500) Weekends end up coming in lower for all.

Anyway at least the VAM number makes me feel like it's alright for me to focus on resistance training when I actually do work out.

Make sure your fitbit is recording all your steps. Mine only comes in at ~60% when I wear it on my wrist. I put it in my front pocket yesterday and it was dead on. I did a test 300 step walk and the fitbit registered exactly 300

my fitbit one usually lines up perfectly within +/- 5% with my phone pedometer. The wrist band ones are going to have some degree of inaccuracy. They try to compensate for that, but don't do the best job.

 

[Ramsay Hunt Experience]

I'm finding that if I walk to and from work, I still need to find about 25 minutes of walking time to hit 10,000 steps. I have a treadmill at home, so right now I'm just doing that in the evening while I defrost dinner. Compared to the UP, I'm very happy with how unobtrusive the Flex is. I forget I'm wearing it.

 

[-jb-]

Well on a normal work day during my commute I apparently get in between 34 and 37 "very active minutes" on Fitbit. Is that enough? My calories burned are always green as my VAMs; though my steps don't hit the goal (usually between 7k to 8500) Weekends end up coming in lower for all.

Anyway at least the VAM number makes me feel like it's alright for me to focus on resistance training when I actually do work out.

Make sure your fitbit is recording all your steps. Mine only comes in at ~60% when I wear it on my wrist. I put it in my front pocket yesterday and it was dead on. I did a test 300 step walk and the fitbit registered exactly 300

my fitbit one usually lines up perfectly within +/- 5% with my phone pedometer. The wrist band ones are going to have some degree of inaccuracy. They try to compensate for that, but don't do the best job.

How do you like the One? I was ready to buy the Force but now that it's recalled that ain't happening. Is the fact that it's not on your wrist a good or bad thing? My two concerns is loss and the potential to forget it at home.

 

[-jb-]

I'm finding that if I walk to and from work, I still need to find about 25 minutes of walking time to hit 10,000 steps. I have a treadmill at home, so right now I'm just doing that in the evening while I defrost dinner. Compared to the UP, I'm very happy with how unobtrusive the Flex is. I forget I'm wearing it.

Outside of wearability, how did you find the UP?

 

[Ramsay Hunt Experience]

I'm finding that if I walk to and from work, I still need to find about 25 minutes of walking time to hit 10,000 steps. I have a treadmill at home, so right now I'm just doing that in the evening while I defrost dinner. Compared to the UP, I'm very happy with how unobtrusive the Flex is. I forget I'm wearing it.

Outside of wearability, how did you find the UP?

I had the old version that synced by plugging into the headphone jack. That kind of sucked (I think it's bluetooth now).

And the thing stopped working on my after 2 months or so. Otherwise, I liked the app, which seemed roughly equivalent to fitbit's app.

 

[Ramsay Hunt Experience]

So I've got the Fitbit synched to MyFitnessPal, but I also just started using FitStar.

I take it I should take off the Flex for the FitStar workouts and just have the Flex adjust for steps?

 

[Ignoramus]

A couple questions on the FitBit Flex...

1) How thick is it (how high will it sit on my wrist)? Some pictures on their website make it look like a LiveStrong, then others look like it's an inch thick.

2) How often does it need to be charged, and how long does it take to charge it?

1) At its thickest point, it is 1cm thick. It tapers so most of it is about as thick as a LiveStrong but the part where the "brains" go is thicker. Here are a couple of shot of it on my wrist -- I wear beefy watches but this should give you some reference.http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/xranduio/fbg/B9FDAF88-BBC1-4381-8546-70496ABBA46F.jpg

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a325/xranduio/fbg/FC13D9BD-0707-442C-A5DA-F789EE84450B.jpg

2) I charge about once a week and it takes maybe 3-4 hours. I'll usually charge when I'm at the office sitting at my desk so I get credit for my more active times and don't do it overnight so I can track my sleep.

Nice roadie

Thanks. It's got a ton of desk diving swirls, but I love it. Super comfortable.

 

[Keerock]

Well on a normal work day during my commute I apparently get in between 34 and 37 "very active minutes" on Fitbit. Is that enough? My calories burned are always green as my VAMs; though my steps don't hit the goal (usually between 7k to 8500) Weekends end up coming in lower for all.

Anyway at least the VAM number makes me feel like it's alright for me to focus on resistance training when I actually do work out.

Make sure your fitbit is recording all your steps. Mine only comes in at ~60% when I wear it on my wrist. I put it in my front pocket yesterday and it was dead on. I did a test 300 step walk and the fitbit registered exactly 300

FWIW... I contacted FitBit support a week ago about my Flex only registering 60%ish when worn on my wrist but being dead-on accurate when in my pants pocket.

They sent me out a complimentary replacement today to see if a different one works better

Thank you for providing us with your information.

Your Fitbit Flex replacement is now being processed. Your confirmation number is XXXXXXXX. Keep this for your records.

Once your order ships, you will receive a shipping confirmation from our order system. You can view the status of this order by clicking the View Order Status link in the confirmation email. This link also provides your tracking number. You can expect that your order will arrive within 5 - 7 business days from the date of shipment.

Once you receive your replacement, please go to the following help article for instructions on how to set up your replacement device:

https://help.fitbit.com/customer/portal/articles/1186076

Please recycle your defective unit through a local electronics recycling program after your replacement arrives.

Let us know if you have any additional questions.
Sincerely,

Juan Santos and the Fitbit Team

 

[Ignoramus]

Nice. That Juan Santos is a hell of a guy.

 

[Otis]

One of my gripes about Fitbit -- I wish it did the GPS tracking and stuff that the Nike thing apparently does (I only know this from Facebook feeds of running nerds). It's pretty neat that those things will map out your route after you run, track your time and statistics. You go for a run and this thing just gives you steps.

I guess it is what it is, but it seems to me these things will be a whole lot more powerful in 5 years or so once they include GPS and a heart rate monitor and the like. They're relatively dumb at this point.

 

[Ramsay Hunt Experience]

One of my gripes about Fitbit -- I wish it did the GPS tracking and stuff that the Nike thing apparently does (I only know this from Facebook feeds of running nerds). It's pretty neat that those things will map out your route after you run, track your time and statistics. You go for a run and this thing just gives you steps.

I guess it is what it is, but it seems to me these things will be a whole lot more powerful in 5 years or so once they include GPS and a heart rate monitor and the like. They're relatively dumb at this point.

I can get all those things with MapMyRun or RunKeeper on my phone (which I'm bringing for music anyway). Or with the Nike running app.

 

[Keerock]

Tempted to try this. My posture is teh suck.

 

[-jb-]

http://www.razerzone.com/nabu

Looks awesome

 

[Tackling Dummies]

10-13K, high around 17.

 

[glvsav37]

Groupon on the FitBit One and Flex. Not a huge deal, but something.

 

[Peak]

Anyone have experience using something other than Fitbit? Wife is looking at the Fuelband, and I read a review where UP24 is supposed to be the top of the class. Any thoughts?

 

[Mr. Ected]

Do any of you use the Fitbit to monitor sleep 'habits?' I have seizures, and when I was looking at them the other day and wondered if they would help keep me aware if I had one in my sleep.

 

[Ramsay Hunt Experience]

Do any of you use the Fitbit to monitor sleep 'habits?' I have seizures, and when I was looking at them the other day and wondered if they would help keep me aware if I had one in my sleep.

I doubt the Fitbit will help with that. Its sleep tracking seems kind of rudimentary to me. The Basis watch appears to have put more effort in their sleep tracking. And their are more dedicated sleep tracking devices.

 

[Chaka]

http://www.razerzone.com/nabu

Looks awesome

Looks like an Orwellian nightmare.

 

[Peak]

Do any of you use the Fitbit to monitor sleep 'habits?' I have seizures, and when I was looking at them the other day and wondered if they would help keep me aware if I had one in my sleep.

Here's what I found in an article today about the UP24...

The UP24 analyzes and breaks up sleep the best within the app and shows you how many times you woke up, how many hours of light sleep you got as opposed to heavy sleep, and more. Just hold the only button found on the UP24 down when you're ready to go to sleep to put it in sleep mode. You can even set an alarm within the app and the UP24 will wake you up within 20 minutes of it based on where you are in a sleep cycle. The UP24 will never disturb you during a REM cycle. When it comes to comfort, the UP24 is by far the most comfortable. And as mentioned before, I had issues with the others coming off during the night which is something to think about.

The UP24 not only analyzes sleep better than the rest, it's by far the most comfortable to wear all night long.

http://www.imore.com/ultimate-fitness-tracker-comparison-fitbit-flex-vs-jawbone-up24-vs-nike-fuelband-se-vs-garmin

 

[Binky The Doormat]

http://www.razerzone.com/nabu

Looks awesome

Looks like an Orwellian nightmare.

Yeah, that whole video was pretty creepy.