Was skeptical but now a believer

The kids got me a Fitbit Blaze for Christmas. I was always skeptical as to the accuracy of the Fitbit technology.  After  extensive testing  at various activity levels;  compared to a finger pulse oximeter, they both gave  me the same pulse readouts within one or two beats----very acceptible considering both are doing constant calculations.  After 10 years with a pace maker, it was very rewarding to see my bottom rate never under 60 bpm and the rate response nicely increase my rate as I would just get up and start walking or doing a brisk walk.  Since this is worn as a watch;  time,  current heart rate, steps, miles, calories burned etc. are seen at a glance.                                                                          The bonus is pairing it to an iphone with Bluetooth where every thing is displayed on a bigger screen with extensive charts and memory which can be analyzed  and can be reviewed for those  so inclined---very comprehensive.        To me, the niftiest feature is the sleep study which displays a minute to minute chart of sleep cycle, showing patterns, periods and durations  of light sleep, deep sleep, REM/dream cycle and periods of being awake (pee breaks) or restlessness.  Personally, I was amazed at how long I was actually awake during the night and how little REM I was getting.

For us anal retentive and obsessive compulsives in the crowd you can tap the screen at night and it lights up---that way you can see if your heart is beating.

I feel this is a quality tool for those who want to see how their pacer is performing under various conditions and even monitor sleep cycle in an attempt to understand what is going on.

Disclaimer---I don't own stock in the company!!

                           Happy New Year and happy pacing,                                                                                           Rodger

                           

 

 

2 Comments

Hallelujah

by IAN MC - 2018-01-03 15:33:50

Hi Rodger  .   Glad that you are happy to be a recent-convert to the Fitbit cult.

I am in a running club and several of my friends have also joined your religion.  Their findings seem to be that :-

 -  Fitbits are great when you are at rest,  and heartrate measurements are very close to those from known accurate devices such as ECG's ( EKG 's in the US )

-  Fitbits are not too bad for mild exercise up to "brisk walk" level  BUT

- when your activity increases above "brisk walk" levels the accuracy of the Fitbit falls off .

Apparently they can be up to 40 bpm out during vigorous exercise when a device with a chest-strap is far more accurate .

For the majority of people Fitbits are probably fine and anything that encourages you to get  off your derriere to exercise  is very worthwhile.   ( It is accepted in running circles that the toughest distance is from the sofa to the front door ) BUT Fitbits do have their limitations,

Cheers

Ian

Fitbit Ultra

by Grateful Heart - 2018-01-05 21:26:01

Mine is pretty old.  I don't think they even sell it anymore but it works for my needs.  The Ultra uses a chest strap.  I have it very accurate.  During an exercise class, it registered 217 as the high.  At the next interrogation, it alerted a 216 high HR on the same date and time as the exercise class.  I have an CRT-D and was advised to no longer take that class.  (SIGH)

I have a Boston Scientific device with rate response turned on and also can see my HR increase when walking or on an exercise bike.  When the time comes for a new device, I am definitely requesting another Boston Scientific/ Guidant device with a dual sensor of both accelerometer and minute ventilation. 

It may be time for me to try the Fitbit Blaze.

Grateful Heart     

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