I’ve been meaning to write this post for several months, but I’m actually glad I didn’t get around to it right when I first started using my Fitbit Flex because my feelings towards the activity tracker have changed a little. For those who don’t feel like reading this whole, long post, I’m going to start with my three-sentence summary:

Bottom line: It’s a fun gadget if you want motivation to move more during the day, and I’d recommend it if that’s your primary goal; but if you’re looking for any sort of data about your workouts, it’s not what you’re looking for. This is a step tracker, not really a fitness tracker, and I’ve ultimately found that I like my Fitbit best when I take it off during workouts so that it’s only used for what it’s really built for: tracking everyday movement. It’s essentially a pedometer with some additional cool features.

Still reading? Haven’t clicked over to a BuzzFeed list of Ryan Gosling memes? Shwiiing! Allow me to elaborate on my feelings about the Fitbit Flex…

My Initial Experience with the Fitbit Flex

I got my Fitbit as a gift from LUNA Bars on the Stitch Fix trip I went on this past June. When I first started using it, I was obsessed. I wore it consistently for about a month, as proven by its appearance in every embarrassing selfie on my phone during that time:

I loved the challenge of meeting the 10,000 daily steps goal, and it made me more aware of daily patterns—when I’m super active, what everyday activities require the most movement, what days of the week I’m on the inactive side, etc., etc. It has the ability to track sleep (you use the app to let it know you’re going to bed and it will tell you how many times you were restless during the night, record your hours of sleep, etc.), but I only played around with that feature a few times. I’m very lucky in that I’ve always been a good, sound sleeper and have no problem getting 7-8 hours a night, so I wasn’t too concerned with tracking sleep stats.

Here are some takeaways I got from that first month of consistent Fitbit use:

• Even if you set aside time each day for a workout, your overall daily activity level can still be really low. Even if I started the day out by taking a 45-minute Btone class and then doing a 20-minute HIIT workout in my living room, I wouldn’t even come close to meeting my 10,000 steps if I then spent the remainder of the day working at my computer. This, of course, is dependant on the type of workout given that Fitbit equates activity with steps—if I had gone for a run instead of doing Pilates, I could probably still meet the 10,000 steps goal. But still, it’s an awesome reminder that we should work on being more active all throughout the day, not just during the hour we set aside to workout.
• I move way more than I thought while teaching at Btone. On Thursday mornings when I teach 6, 7 & 8AM classes, I blow passed those 10,000 steps before the last class is finished. Because I’m not actually doing the workout with the class (just demonstrating moves and then walking around the room to correct form/prevent people from cheating), I think I previously underestimated the energy required to teach.
• Living in a walkable city is awesome. I found that the bulk of my daily steps came from walking around Boston—running errands, going to and from Btone to teach, grabbing lunch at Whole Foods, etc. Living in a walkable city where you don’t really need a car helps promote a more active lifestyle. Another reason I love Boston!

If I had written this post during that first month with my Fitbit Flex, it would have been a glowing, rave review. But I found myself wanting more from it as time went on, and I eventually started wearing it less and less. On days I teach or do a workout involving running, I’ll easily hit 10,000 steps, so I started to feel it was pointless wearing it then. I also wanted something that would give me better feedback about my workouts, and it become increasingly clear that a heart rate monitor would be better suited for my personal needs.

Because the Fitbit Flex equates steps with activity, many tough workouts and fitness classes don’t track towards your daily active minutes. The following before-and-after reading during a Barry’s Bootcamp class is a perfect example. If you aren’t familiar with the workout, you spend half the 50-minute class on treadmills and the other half on the floor doing various strength-training exercises. As you can see, only the time spent on the treadmill counted as “being active,” even though the strength work is hard as sh*t, too. Because of that, calorie expenditure isn’t totally accurate. When I wear a heart rate monitor during Barry’s, it tells me I consistently burn 550-700 calories a class. In the example below, Fitbit clocks calorie burn at just 349.

Now, this reading is not necessarily a bad thing, I’m just reiterating that the Fitbit Flex isn’t meant to accurately record workouts. Before buying one, just ask yourself what you want out of a wearable tracker.

What I Like about the Fitbit Flex (Pros)

I mentioned most of these above, but let’s break down Fitbit Flex’s strengths.

• It helps you make those little, everyday choices that add up to an overall more active lifestyle (taking the stairs instead of the elevator, walking to the bank instead of driving, etc.).
• It helps you identify activity level patterns (and sleep patterns).
• The silent alarm is awesome. It wakes you up by vibrating on your wrist—such a soothing way to end a night’s sleep.
• It’s fun—and if you have friends with Fitbits, it’s even more fun (competition!).
• It’s easy to set up and use. The app and website make tracking your progress and identifying trends a streamlined process.
• It’s comfortable and adjustable—it even fits my baby-sized wrist.

Where the Fitbit Flex Falls Short for Me

Again, some of these aren’t necessarily “cons” if you aren’t looking for a device that tracks and gives feedback about your workouts.

The only workouts that accurately contribute to your daily activity goals are walking, hiking and running. You could do 18 consecutive hours of yoga and Fitbit Flex would probably tell you that you’d logged 0 active minutes and maybe a couple hundred steps tops. It’s frustrating when you finish a killer weight-lifting workout or Pilates class and find that it’s done absolutely nothing towards your daily activity and step goals. Check out the before & after reading of a 45-minute megaformer class I took at Btone:

Now, I know these step results are to be expected seeing as the workout is low-impact and done on a machine that slides—no stepping necessary for most exercises—but seeing ZERO active minutes earned for a class that (literally) kicked my ass is a bummer. That’s where heart rate monitoring capabilities would be awesome.

To add on to the previous point, it doesn’t track running mileage accurately. I wore my Fitbit on several runs (along with a GPS to accurately track my mileage) and the Fitbit miles were always short by .5 – 1.5 miles. That being said, you can link it with Run Keeper if you use that app, so while I haven’t tried it, I’d assume that could help with mileage accuracy.

It’s not very—err—stylish… The black wristband is definitely more inconspicuous than my red one, but it’s still not the prettiest thing going. For the majority of the time, who really cares? Not me—I wear yoga pants for a living. But it can be a deterrent to wearing it during dressier occasions. Tory Burch did design a metal hinged bracelet for Fitbit Flex that’s cute, but it’s almost $200—eek.

 My best attempt at Fitbit camouflage..

So … Should You Buy One?

Depends on what you’re looking for. If you want fitness technology to accompany your workouts, you want a heart rate monitor—not a Fitbit. If you want something to motivate you to be more active throughout the day (outside of your workouts), then I think you’ll love the Fitbit Flex. It’s fun trying to meet your daily step goals; you’ll become more aware of inactivity and poor sleep patterns (and therefore better able to correct them!); and if you have friends with a Fitbit, you can compete with them on step goals and other challenges.

Today, I only use my Fitbit occasionally. On rest days when I’m not planning to workout, it’s fun to wear it as motivation to stay active in other ways. I also will wear it to bed sometimes solely to utilize the silent vibrating alarm if I’m concerned about waking up my boyfriend (e.g. when I used to get up at 5AM on Mondays to teach). Other than that, I’ve found I’m more interested in the feedback a heart rate monitor provides as opposed to an activity tracker. I wear my HR monitor during workouts (I did a review of my Polar FT60 here—I love it).

Do you have a Fitbit or other activity tracker? What do you love about it? Where do you think it falls short? Leave a comment!

This post was sponsored by Panasonic. I was compensated and given the product free of charge, but all opinions—as always!—are my own.

Lately I’ve gotten the chance to try out a lot of fitness-related technology and gadgets, and I’ve been loving it. In fact, I’m actually heading to NYC a little later today to attend a health and fitness demo event (more on that to come!). Most recently, I was given the opportunity to check out Panasonic’s Open Ear Headphones as part of their #OpenYourEars challenge. These headphones actually transmit sound through the cheek bones, leaving your ears open to hear surrounding noise (car horns, people calling your name, etc.).

As shown in the above picture, the speaker part goes in front of your ear opening, and the headset then goes over your ears and connects behind your head. They’re comfortable, and I found they stayed put well during activity (I went for a run to test ‘em out). They’re sweat and water resistant, and have reflective strips for outdoor nighttime visibility/safety.

When Panasonic first reached out to me, I thought these were essentially mini speakers (i.e. everyone around you would also be able to hear your music). How else would you be able to hear the music if your ears aren’t covered, right? Wrong. Just like regular headphones or earbuds, only you can hear the music (unless of course you’re that annoying person on public transportation blasting your music at max volume). The sound vibrations go directly to the cochlea through the cheekbones, so you can hear the music without clogging your ear opening, and on songs with heavy bass, you can sorta feel the vibrations through your face—it’s pretty cool!

From a workout standpoint, I think these would be ideal for someone running/biking/etc. outdoors during quiet hours who is concerned about being able to hear surrounding noise for safety. I tested these out on a run around the city and along the Charles River and found that the noise from cars actually drowned out the music a bit, and even at max volume, the headphones couldn’t get my playlist quite as loud as I would have liked it (I do admittedly like loud music during workouts though).

I also think these are perfect for the work day—especially if you work in an office. I remember I always liked to listen to music through headphones in my cube, but then I could never hear when a coworker was trying to get my attention or ask me a question. These would have solved that! Listening to music without bothering anyone and still able to overhear workplace gossip: Win!

Since we’re talking about jammin’ out, I wanted to leave you with a playlist of mine. These aren’t necessarily workout songs (although, depending on what you like to listen to when you work out, you might find some in here), but these are the songs that are currently on repeat for me when I’m working at my computer, walking around running errands, getting ready in the morning, driving in the car, etc. Enjoy! 

What do you think–would try these headphones out? The Panasonic Open Ear Headphones retail at $79.99 and are available in multiple colors HERE. You can follow Panasonic at @PanaAdventure.

The following post is sponsored by FitFluential LLC on behalf of Polar.

I remember as a kid, anytime a new piece of machinery or vehicle—tractor, dirt bike, ATV, snowmobile, truck, etc.—would appear in the driveway, my mom would shake her head and say, “Dad got himself a new toy.” And I couldn’t think of a better way to describe how I feel about getting new workout gear or fitness tech gadgets: it’s like I’m six years old again opening up a Barbie.

As you may recall from my post about the certification process, my first time using a heart rate monitor was just this May when going through the Spinning instructor program. Perfect timing because just as I realized how useful this little gadget was, FitFluential gave me the opportunity to try out one of Polar’s newer models: The FT60. It can do so much that I feel like I haven’t even begun to scratch the surface, but I’m already obsessed. I’ll give you the general breakdown of its functions and then share how I’m going to use it (both personally and for the blog!). 

The Polar FT60 Heart Rate Monitor

Smart Coaching

The FT60 has a ton of features to help interpret and quantify your training intensity, which they refer to as Smart Coaching. You can set goals and create training programs using the monitor and at polarpersonaltrainer.com, and if you’re a runner, the FT60 syncs with GPS sensors (you’d need to buy the accessory separately) so that you can integrate distance into your training plan.

When you look at your data from each workout, you’ll see that Polar uses three HR zones to help analyze your training session (Zone 1 being your lower HR rage; Zone 3 being your highest HR range). The zones are individualized based on your age, height, fitness level, etc. (Polar calls this personalization OwnZone). As you can see in the screen shot below, the FT60 tells you how your time was divided among the three HR Zones during your workout.

Using this same personal data and your heart rate throughout a session, the FT60 can also calculate the numbers of calories expended during a workout.

Another way the FT60 helps you track your progress is with the Fitness Test feature. I haven’t tried it yet, but the monitor walks you through a 5-minute fitness test, which you can take regularly to compare data and see how you’ve progressed. Pretty cool! 

Polarpersonaltrainer.Com

While you can access your workout data and/or training plan right from the watch, Polar also has an online portal that allows you to upload all your info using the Data Transfer Unit (sold separately from the heart rate monitor). You create an account at polarpersonaltrainer.com, and then all your info is synced from your monitor. I love this feature.

In your account, you can see your workouts and also go in and edit them. I like to change the name to what the workout was so that I can easily compare classes/routines. As you can see in the screenshot, now when I look at a training session, I know exactly what it was. Ah, so a Barry’s Bootcamp class burned x amount more calories than the HIIT workout I did at home. Or hmm that class keeps my heart rate up the entire time, while this one seems to allow for more recovery time.

The site also allows you to see clear charts of how much time you spent in each heart rate zone throughout a workout. I like this because if I see that for two days in a row my workout had my heart beating out of my chest the majority of the time, I’ll consciously aim for a workout that keeps my HR a little lower the next day. High intensity training is awesome and should be integrated into your workout routine, but not every day. You need to mix it up.

If that sounds overwhelming, Polar can make those decisions for you with its Training Load feature. On polarpersonaltrainer.com, you can see a graph of you cumulative training load, and based on the time spent in each HR zones, duration, etc., it will show you when you’ve recovered enough for another tough training session or recommend that you take it easier.

The Polarpersonaltrianer.com community also gives you the option to share your workouts via social media and connect with other Polar users, which I could see being fun if you had a training buddy who also had a Polar HRM. I don’t though, so I’ll probably refrain from bombarding my Twitter followers with my HR stats.

How I Personally Use the FT60

For me, creating a training program or setting goals using the watch isn’t particularly of interest right now since I want to workout every day, and don’t need any added motivation. As I’ve touched upon throughout this post, I’ve been using my heart rate monitor to:

• Find out the heart rate zones I was in during my workouts. Super high heart rate the whole time = maybe I’ll just stick to Pilates, yoga or a light jog for my workout the following day.
• Get a sense of calories burned. While I am the Anti-Calorie Counter (with both food and workouts), I actually find it fascinating to see what different workouts do for the body in terms of caloric burn. The knowledge just helps me be that much more informed as a fitness professional. And moving forward, I think it will be a fun addition to my workout posts on the blog to be able to include an estimation for how many calories it burns. While I don’t personally track these things, I know it’s extremely helpful for all those on a fitness or weight-loss program who are logging numbers.
• Become more in tune with my body. During the Spinning training program, our Master Instructor talked about how she wears her heart rate monitor so frequently and has become so in tune with where her numbers are during different workouts and activities that she can tell when she’s about to get sick before she even feels symptoms solely based on raised numbers. That stuck with me because such a large part of my definition of “health” is knowing your body, and being so completely tuned in to it and how it feels that you intuitively know what it wants and needs at any given time. 

Get 10% off a Polar FT60

If you’re in the market for a new heart rate monitor, you’re in luck: I get to offer P&I readers 10% off the FT60! It retails at $179.95 at Polar.com and you just need to use the discount code FitPolarFT60. The code is case-sensitive and expires 10/11/2014.

Do you regularly use a heart rate monitor during your workouts? What do you love most about it?