So... what's the point of fitness bands?

[r0st4]

Serious question. I'm not trying to rant or anything. I'm just honestly curious. If you take the fitness band (and let's put away the actual smartwatch functions, just for the sake of an argument), all it does is counting steps, calories and monitoring heart rate. That's pretty much it. So? Should I be impressed? Should I be wanting it? Needing it?

For me it seems like completely useless information that doesnt help you with basically anything. Is it just for rubbing how many miles I ran in someone's face? I honestly don't know.

P.S.: Still, I find Microsoft Band to be very appealing device (design-wise)!

 

[rideboarder]

I had considered buying one just to keep track of my miles walked since I do a fair amount of hiking, but I also have a handheld GPS with proper mapping, so I can't justify it. Especially now that I have a sensorcore lumia, even my daily steps and workouts are counted with just having my phone with me.

 

[Kronus24]

Serious question. I'm not trying to rant or anything. I'm just honestly curious. If you take the fitness band (and let's put away the actual smartwatch functions, just for the sake of an argument), all it does is counting steps, calories and monitoring heart rate. That's pretty much it. So? Should I be impressed? Should I be wanting it? Needing it?


For me it seems like completely useless information that doesnt help you with basically anything. Is it just for rubbing how many miles I ran in someone's face? I honestly don't know.

P.S.: Still, I find Microsoft Band to be very appealing device (design-wise)!

"all it does is counting steps, calories and monitoring heart rate" it has 9 sensors, and all it does is those 3 things?

Also what is " actual smartwatch functions" that's need to clarified. Because would a watch that has alarm be a smart watch function, any watch that does more then just tell time, wouldn't that be considered a smart watch function?

Not trying to be funny just need to make sure we are on the same page, also what are function qualify as a fitness band? We are all different ideas of what a fitness band and smart watch.

 

[DroidUser42]

So... what's the point of fitness bands?

Just like everything else. To get your money. :wink:

But really it depends on how you use the information. In my case, it's making a daily log, automatically, of my activity level (number of steps). If I don't like what the log says, then I need to do something about it. In my case, it's finding a little time to make my daily step goal. Here it is 4+ months later, and unless feeling bad or pressed for time, I do try to make my step goal. So it's been successful where a prior manual pedometer failed.

That's how it's worked for me. If you don't see it inspiring you to up your game, then I guess it's not for you. But you might want to look a little deeper at the workouts it can guide you though.

You're not a little bit curious about how active your daily activity is? Or your sleep pattern?

 

[NBrookus]

For me it seems like completely useless information that doesnt help you with basically anything. Is it just for rubbing how many miles I ran in someone's face? I honestly don't know.

You can't improve what you can't measure. These devices are largely targeted at the average Joe and Jane who want to be more fit but either don't know how or don't know how to honestly measure their activity. Or both. Measuring your mileage if you run for 60 minutes is easy; measuring your mileage if incidental walking is your primary activity is really hard -- these devices make that possible.

By creating continuous feedback on their actual rate of activity and calorie burn, the user can make improvements and KNOW they have made improvements. Also, the social features in many of these devices gamify the activity and create competition among friends which further encourages increased activity.

 

[Likwidz]

Just like everything else. To get your money. :wink:

But really it depends on how you use the information. In my case, it's making a daily log, automatically, of my activity level (number of steps). If I don't like what the log says, then I need to do something about it. In my case, it's finding a little time to make my daily step goal. Here it is 4+ months later, and unless feeling bad or pressed for time, I do try to make my step goal. So it's been successful where a prior manual pedometer failed.

That's how it's worked for me. If you don't see it inspiring you to up your game, then I guess it's not for you. But you might want to look a little deeper at the workouts it can guide you though.

You're not a little bit curious about how active your daily activity is? Or your sleep pattern?

​I agree, like any product on the market, the primary goal is to get your money. But also, fitness bands can serve as an excellent tool for a number of fitness metrics. As DroidUser stated, great for logging activity and sleeping. If it has a heart rate monitor like the Band, it can provide data so that your workouts are more efficient when it comes to caloric expenditure among other functions that the heart rate can tell you. Also, with the software and web tools that accompany many fitness bands, one can keep track and log achievements and goals over time. I think it is relative what fitness tracker one should purchase, mainly based on how active a person is. A person mildly active might just a get a Fitbit Flex, a weekend warrior a Microsoft Band, and a competitive athlete might invest in something more along the lines of a high end Polar or Garmin tech. I'm a strength and conditioning coach and this is mainly the approach I use with my clients. Another important thing to remember and one of the common complaints people have when they have used different fitness trackers is the inaccuracy of one versus another. Each fitness tech may measure fitness differently via sensors, formulas & calculations, etc. The important thing is to understand and set a baseline with your fitness tracker and progress from that data. A lot of the product out there is not 100% accurate but knowing where you started from and where you are heading is when you get the most out of fitness trackers.

 

[someone2639]

Fitness. Duh.

 

[kenjancef]

For me, I guess I would say accountability... taking responsibility for my health on a daily basis. My father-in-law died of a massive heart attack on Christmas Eve 2005, so unfortunately that event made me look twice about my own health. After struggling for a while with my weight and fitness, I finally decided to take a stand, if not for me, for my wife and son. So it started with MyFitnessPal, and I can say that I have been continuously logging my food there for about 1070 days straight, and that, along with regular exercise, helped me keep 35 pounds off for almost 3 years.

I track all of my exercise religiously, as well as my general daily activity, and the Band helps me with that. It's the first "real" fitness band I've ever owned, but I also did about 3-4 months of research to see which band was right for me, and if I really wanted one at all.

It's all about the person, and what they want to achieve. I don't care if you have a Band, a Surge, Jawbone, whatever... but if you're asking what the point of fitness bands are, then you probably don't need one. And being that the fitness band market has been on fire for the past year, I think you'd know what they are for...

 

[gadgetrants]

I enthusiastically agree with the comments so far and want to extend the argument a bit.

First, I'd suggest that the Band is not the right device for someone who works out at a (really) competitive level. There are lots of anecdotes here to support that, including the fact that long bike rides and runs (over a few hours) are difficult or impossible to track with GPS due to the Band running out of power mid-workout. If (really) reliable HR tracking is important, again, chest-strap methods may be a better solution.

Second, I'd suggest the Band is an excellent device for someone who is just beginning an exercise routine, and can benefit from seeing improvements on a daily basis. In many ways it functions like a workout buddy who helps keep you motivated.

Finally, I personally fall in the middle between those two extremes. The kinds of things I deal with on a weekly basis are issues like:

- making sure I don't skip too many workouts due to work/life stuff
- maintaining reasonable workout goals
- measuring whether in fact I'm making progress toward those goals
- keeping my workouts fun, varied, and interesting

For me, the Band is the right tool for helping me stay on track. For example, because I have a device (pretty much 24/7) estimating my calorie burn, I now have a great reason to keep a food diary and actually compare calories eaten vs. burned. From that I've had several major insights about how and when I eat (er, um...OK, I mean SNACK), how much I eat, and WHY I eat. I've dropped almost five pounds just from the psychological effect of being more mindful about eating.

So for those of us who fall in the middle part of the health/exercise spectrum, I think the bottom line is that the Band's influence is very subtle. Because it's always there, it's easy for the Band to shift your thinking and habits in a positive direction.

​-Matt

 

[kenjancef]

Boy Matt, I should have just let you answer that question... lol... very well put...

I am about in the middle too, but as soon as the weather up here in RI breaks (are you listening Mother Nature???), I'll usually run about 12-15 miles a week, not to mention keeping up with my VERY active 7 year old son.

 

[gadgetrants]

Boy Matt, I should have just let you answer that question... lol... very well put...

I am about in the middle too, but as soon as the weather up here in RI breaks (are you listening Mother Nature???), I'll usually run about 12-15 miles a week, not to mention keeping up with my VERY active 7 year old son.

Yeah but you were more CONCISE! LOL

That's too funny that 7-year-olds are a calorie-burning method. :wink:

-Matt

 

[DroidUser42]

And being that the fitness band market has been on fire for the past year,

I think you'd be hard pressed to find anyone (short of an athlete) who doesn't want to up their fitness. They may not want to run marathons, but they want to be better than they are now. And part of that is knowing where you are now.

 

[Yonic Boom]

I'm probably the poster boy for how well this technology can help someone. Like people have said it's increased my accountability, given me data that's helped me figure out when I'm not working hard enough or when I'm working too hard and puts pressure on me to keep streaks going. For instance the other day I was tempted to skip the gym, but I have a streak of over 50 days straight going so I thought screw it, I want to get that thing up to triple digits so I'm going to.

The result is I've lost 133lbs in just under 7 months (90.6lbs since I switched from Fitbit to the Band).

It's been a great tool to keep me motivated and to help make my workouts fun, safe and effective. I'm pretty dang happy with it.

 

[r0st4]

Also what is " actual smartwatch functions" that's need to clarified.

For me, actual smartwatch functions are notifications, possibility to recieve or decline phone calls, reading mails, etc.

You're not a little bit curious about how active your daily activity is? Or your sleep pattern?

No, not really. Like I said, the amount of calories burned or steps taken are informations with no actual value. For monitoring my sleep pattern I already downloaded app to my phone which I find more convenient. I'm not sure I'd like sleeping with something on my wrist (but I guess that's very subjective).

You can't improve what you can't measure. These devices are largely targeted at the average Joe and Jane who want to be more fit but either don't know how or don't know how to honestly measure their activity. Or both. Measuring your mileage if you run for 60 minutes is easy; measuring your mileage if incidental walking is your primary activity is really hard -- these devices make that possible.

By creating continuous feedback on their actual rate of activity and calorie burn, the user can make improvements and KNOW they have made improvements. Also, the social features in many of these devices gamify the activity and create competition among friends which further encourages increased activity.

Yeah, I got that. I just find it funny. Either I wanna be active and then I do sports or whatever and don't need to be constantly reminded that "wow, you are active! you are so cool!", or I don't want to be active and then not even fitness band can't change that. But maybe I'm just not seeing the bigger picture.

Fitness. Duh.

Wow, so insightful! *THUMBS UP*

For me, I guess I would say accountability... taking responsibility for my health on a daily basis. My father-in-law died of a massive heart attack on Christmas Eve 2005, so unfortunately that event made me look twice about my own health. After struggling for a while with my weight and fitness, I finally decided to take a stand, if not for me, for my wife and son. So it started with MyFitnessPal, and I can say that I have been continuously logging my food there for about 1070 days straight, and that, along with regular exercise, helped me keep 35 pounds off for almost 3 years.

I track all of my exercise religiously, as well as my general daily activity, and the Band helps me with that. It's the first "real" fitness band I've ever owned, but I also did about 3-4 months of research to see which band was right for me, and if I really wanted one at all.

It's all about the person, and what they want to achieve. I don't care if you have a Band, a Surge, Jawbone, whatever... but if you're asking what the point of fitness bands are, then you probably don't need one. And being that the fitness band market has been on fire for the past year, I think you'd know what they are for...

That's awesome, man! Good for you! And I really mean it! I'm not trying to mock users of fitness bands! I'm just trying to understand why someone needs this "useless" device to be active and can't just BE active, you know?

First, I'd suggest that the Band is not the right device for someone who works out at a (really) competitive level.

Well, that's the thing, I guess. I run, do different sports... all just beacuse I want to be active. So I'm doing it because I like it, not because I need to achieve some goal set by my fitness band. So, the silver lining here is that I don't get why someone needs to have this kind of device to actual do something. But that's for different discussion, I guess

The result is I've lost 133lbs in just under 7 months (90.6lbs since I switched from Fitbit to the Band).

It's been a great tool to keep me motivated and to help make my workouts fun, safe and effective. I'm pretty dang happy with it.

First of all congratz, man! That is really awesome!! But I guess I have to ask... why couldn't you start working out without fitness band? It seems to me that you only have it to remind you that you should be working out.

 

[gadgetrants]

Well, that's the thing, I guess. I run, do different sports... all just beacuse I want to be active. So I'm doing it because I like it, not because I need to achieve some goal set by my fitness band. So, the silver lining here is that I don't get why someone needs to have this kind of device to actual do something. But that's for different discussion, I guess

Ah, great point. To be honest, my first impression when I saw your original post was "OH NO, what a troll!" but you're asking a very legitimate question: do I need the Band if I'm already pretty active and happy with my lifestyle? The answer to that is "probably not."

But let's pretend for the moment that you and I are near the same part of the spectrum, health-wise. What the Band's given me, over and above the benefits I already have from an active lifestyle, are answers to things I was curious about: do I get reasonably good sleep? Is my sleep quality related to my perceived stress level? Why is my weight hovering +/- 2 pounds within the same range, though I work out several times a week (duh, maybe because my calorie level matches what I burn?!?!)? How does running for 30 minutes compare to brisk walking for 60 minutes? You get the idea.

So maybe another answer to your original question is: you don't NEED the Band (or any activity tracker for that matter) if you're happy with the way things are. It's probably better suited to people who like to tinker with their routine, and want some data to help guide the decision-making.

-Matt

 

[k72]

That's awesome, man! Good for you! And I really mean it! I'm not trying to mock users of fitness bands! I'm just trying to understand why someone needs this "useless" device to be active and can't just BE active, you know?



Well, that's the thing, I guess. I run, do different sports... all just beacuse I want to be active. So I'm doing it because I like it, not because I need to achieve some goal set by my fitness band. So, the silver lining here is that I don't get why someone needs to have this kind of device to actual do something. But that's for different discussion, I guess

First of all congratz, man! That is really awesome!! But I guess I have to ask... why couldn't you start working out without fitness band? It seems to me that you only have it to remind you that you should be working out.

I agree with the poster who said you can't change what you can't measure. Just like with food, people tend to underestimate their activity. A fitness band (or in my case, the less expensive clip on fitbit) helps you gauge how much you are walking so on those days that you are really tired and are sure you must have walked all day, you see that maybe it wasn't actually so much, for example. It helps me add a few steps here and there that result in several miles. For those with physical issues who can't do a heavy workout, or those who may not have time in their day, it's nice to measure steps from parking further away or walking circles around the backyard. By seeing how you add steps in simple ways you're creating new habits that will improve your health.

Also, for me, having the little graphs makes all the difference. It may be silly, but I want to fill up the meters. One of the biggest problems with getting fit for health or weight loss is becoming discouraged at a lack of progress. With the apps that go with the devices, you see how well you've done and by inputting weight and measurements, etc, you can see that those 5 days in a row that you met your goal resulted in a loss, and that is very encouraging.

There is also a social aspect with challenges. I know you can discuss fitness without a device, but when everyone is using the same method to compete, it helps.

 

[Kronus24]

Different strokes for different folks. But I know you not trying to come off as a jerk, r0st4 . From your first post was already down playing a product you knew very little about "all it does is counting steps, calories and monitoring heart rate. That's pretty much it"

" So? Should I be impressed? Should I be wanting it? Needing it?" Those are answer ONLY you can know, but because you already said "For me it seems like completely useless information that doesnt help you with basically anything" you already knew it was for you. So asking these questions to the community was POINT LESS when you already came to your conclusion.

"So... what's the point of fitness bands?" What a stupid title.

"Is it just for rubbing how many miles I ran in someone's face? I honestly don't know." Not even going comment on this, but Damn.

From your title and post I knew you was just being a jerk in a roundabout way. With no REAL intentions just the undermine why people who choose to have fitness bands are stupid, have no motivations, or as you would say like to rub numbers in people face, lol.

 

[Blacklac]

Personally, I have a 2nd job that has me on my feet, walking all day. I would find the information, interesting, as I'm also heavily into fitness/bodybuilding. I do like knowing how many steps I take. Beyond that, I have to log my whereabouts' all day. Looking at a band is much easier and more appropriate than pulling out my phone 50 times a day.

I haven't made the leap, yet, but soon... I hate buying Gen 1 devices, though. Always a risk they'll "get it right" with a new model just after you bought one. But, it could also cost more, which I wouldn't want...

 

[kenjancef]

From your title and post I knew you was just being a jerk in a roundabout way. With no REAL intentions just the undermine why people who choose to have fitness bands are stupid, have no motivations, or as you would say like to rub numbers in people face, lol.

Yea... I was going to go there... but glad you did....

 

[Kronus24]

Personally, I have a 2nd job that has me on my feet, walking all day. I would find the information, interesting, as I'm also heavily into fitness/bodybuilding. I do like knowing how many steps I take. Beyond that, I have to log my whereabouts' all day. Looking at a band is much easier and more appropriate than pulling out my phone 50 times a day.

I haven't made the leap, yet, but soon... I hate buying Gen 1 devices, though. Always a risk they'll "get it right" with a new model just after you bought one. But, it could also cost more, which I wouldn't want...

I think you would really like the band even if just for the notifications and quickly responding back to save you from takin gout your phone 50times a day, lol. Also this Band is not like other products, meaning yes it not 100% water proof and its not as fashionable as a apple watch. But the Microsoft Health is just gogin to get better as more people use it and upload there data to give you a better insight on how to sleep better, reach your goals etc. The sensors are working very well so far, and even if a better one is 1% better that is not enough to impact the usefulness of a first gen. This is only going to get better as it ages to be honest, like fine wine