Do you find technology helpful in staying fit?

[Marbles]

How many of you find that technology (like a Garmin watch) helps you stay fit?

After years of resisting I finally purchased a smart watch. After driving from Anchorage to North Arkansas, then having family feed me well, I tipped into the obese BMI range and figured that clearly what I have been doing is no longer working. I have been 10-20 pounds over weight for a few years too.

I purchased a Garmin Fenix and started counting calories using MyFitnessPal. Having the watch tell me how many calories I burn from activity has helped my keep my intake appropriate and motivated extra exercise because I want to be able to eat more. Having the watch track what I do has also helped me be more active in general, and made me realize how sedentary a normal day was. I justified the purchase because if I actually nock 20 pounds off my gut it turns out to be much cheaper than $50-100 an ounce for lighter gear (about $2.80 per ounce).

Curious if anyone else has had a similar experience? I laughed at the idea before getting the Fenix, but there comes a point when failure dictates one reassess what they think they know.

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Edit: My personal conclusion, also in post #32.

Well, I have had the Garmin for 16 months and it certainly helps me. I had some months in the winter where I slacked off, but less than years prior and I'm in the best physical condition I have been since 20 years old.

I think some of it depends on the person. I find the meaningless badges garm gives out motivational. It is objectively dumb, but I will take it as it helps me achieve my goals (which I guess makes it brilliant). It is also easier to see my progress over time.

I switched my units over to metric, this has broken the association I had with past performance. I had a mental block over running at slow paces, and was always shooting for a sub 8 minute mile. But, my brain is fine with 7-8 minute kilometers; which is slow as molasses at an 11 to amost 13 minute mile, but does not lead to the injuries that happened for years whenever my training volume picked up.

As for the weight on my gut, I was 210 lbs when I got the watch. I have been at 175 lbs for about 10 months. So, saved 35 pounds, that is close to the FSO weight of all my gear.

So, for me, it has already been worth the $1k for a Fenix 7X Sapphire Solar.

 

[justinspicher]

I have found simplicity works best for me. If I complicate working out it feels like a chore and I won’t do it. I have a Garmin watch but don’t use all the features it has. I’m not sure why I even have it.

 

[Marbles]

Well, I edited some of the random rambling out of the first post and made the title more representative. So, figured I'd give this a bump.

The pole is more for fun. But I am curious if there is good reason to be hesitant in recommending these to others. At the moment I think it is awesome, but sometimes things burn out after a few months and initial impressions are flawed.

 

[DuckDogDr]

In high school I went from overweight to super skinny almost track star frame then started lifting weights getting into body building work outs ; think Arnold , and Franco as motivation
Only tools used were stop watch and tape measure to keep track of gains ……let the jokes begin…
I like the idea of keeping track of everything from a scientific standpoint and use the my fitness pal sometimes but these days I feel I do good just to get exercise in

 

[Rick653]

I recently picked up a Garmin instinct solar and it's one of the best purchases I've made in awhile.

I played D1 rugby and still take my fitness pretty seriously. I always kept track of my workouts in notebooks. All of my lifts and runs, always with my first page being a personal record page. All my core lift rep records from 1 to 10 and my best .5, 1, 1.5, 2, 3, and 5 mile runs.

I love my watch because it keeps track of everything. Plus I base my breaks in my runs based on my resting HR. No more counting while holding my pulse and panting like a dog during my sprints.

Side note, BMI is a scam

 

[Team4LongGun]

I have a garmin watch as well and don’t use any of the functions.
I do use a chest HR monitor and wrist watch combo for when I do hill run/walk climbs and do find it helpful to stay in a targeted zone, along with tracking my overall time to complete so I know if I’m actually gaining.

 

[FrontRanger]

How many of you find that technology (like a Garmin watch) helps you stay fit?

After years of resisting I finally purchased a smart watch. After driving from Anchorage to North Arkansas, then having family feed me well, I tipped into the obese BMI range and figured that clearly what I have been doing is no longer working. I have been 10-20 pounds over weight for a few years too.

I purchased a Garmin Fenix and started counting calories using MyFitnessPal. Having the watch tell me how many calories I burn from activity has helped my keep my intake appropriate and motivated extra exercise because I want to be able to eat more. Having the watch track what I do has also helped me be more active in general, and made me realize how sedentary a normal day was. I justified the purchase because if I actually nock 20 pounds off my gut it turns out to be much cheaper than $50-100 an ounce for lighter gear (about $2.80 per ounce).

Curious if anyone else has had a similar experience? I laughed at the idea before getting the Fenix, but there comes a point when failure dictates one reassess what they think they know.

I typically keep track of my workouts with a FitBit (also wear it to sleep because the alarm is a nice quiet vibration so I don't wake Mrs. FrontRanger), but I've recently gone back to a Suunto Core watch during the day. When I got back into seriously working out, counting macros, etc, it was an integral part of my daily routine. Watching my output along with MyFitnessPal got me out of the red zone of weight, so to speak.

Since my daily habits haven't changed in about 6 years and I'm extremely consistent (bordering on robotic), I don't use the information or the fitnesspal app much anymore. Still can be extremely useful while you're developing those habits though.

 

[DuckDogDr]

Did you like the suunto ? Considering getting the baro 9

 

[Cwillimon]

The only technology that I use are head phones and watch my phone while I’m on the dreadmill

 

[Marbles]

Well, just reporting back on my own experience so far (which is still early). Having the watch and tracking what I do has certainly increased my activity level. I'm training multiple days a week now (after only training once following hunting season).

The real test will be if I continue training after hunting season when the weather makes getting outside less enjoyable.

I'm down about 22 pounds from the moment I said something had to change, and below 190 for the first time in years. So, from a cost perspective, it has paid for itself.

I do think a combination of things came together for the result though, so while the Garmin has helped, simply buying it earlier likely would not have lead to the same results earlier.

 

[Rick653]

Good work man!

 

[Marbles]

Well, currently down 35 pounds and running distances of up to 26 miles. I have found the data motivating. It honestly does more than just logging. While only a calculation, the VO2 Max is helpful because I can see improvement without pushing speed. Speed has repeatedly resulted in injury for me, but before the Garmin my only marker of fitness was speed and distance. Having a different metric to follow has really helped me ignore speed. Plus, I realized I was not training in the lower heart rate zones that build endurance, so being able to watch my heart rate has resulted in slowing down and improving my form.

Getting calories added to my daily allowance for activity has taken food from being a problem to being a reward and I will literally go work out so I can eat more.

So, at this point I'm 5 months in to having the Garmin and think it is very helpful. Getting a run of more than 10 miles every week. Last year, at the start of hunting season at the peak of my training four mile runs were as far as I would go and some 6 mile rucks.

 

[bigbuckdown250]

I recently bought an Apple Watch mainly for the purpose of fitness tracking. I find it very helpful for tracking workouts throughout each week as well as daily activities and calories burned. Also seems to be a bit of extra motivation for me to stay active.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Sccritterkiller]

Been using an instinct for 3ish years now...I actually have 2 shatteref the glass on one in the gym you can send in to Garmin and get a refurbished unit for like 100 bucks...so yes I find them very helpful. My wife made a comment the other day that I never wear the Rolex she bought me for our 15th wedding anniversary...Its nice but it doesn't track my sleep. That was the biggest take away from me..I was only getting 5-6 hours a night before I started tracking.

I also like how it can track gear usage, mileage on running shoes, boots, ect.

Another plus my hunting buddy lives 3hrs away so we have group set up so we can keep hold each other accountable.....removes a lot of hunting buddy issues when you know he has been working as hard as you all year going into a hunt.

 

[BenchToField]

Garmin Fenix 6X Pro here. Linking it to MyFitnessPal has been a game changer for nutrition management. Saving my hikes on my watch has made journaling / record keeping easy. The GPS is a nice reassurance when exploring new trails while out hiking in the woods. I'm a data guy, it's made fitness fun for me.

 

[Backcountrycardio]

How many of you find that technology (like a Garmin watch) helps you stay fit?

After years of resisting I finally purchased a smart watch. After driving from Anchorage to North Arkansas, then having family feed me well, I tipped into the obese BMI range and figured that clearly what I have been doing is no longer working. I have been 10-20 pounds over weight for a few years too.

I purchased a Garmin Fenix and started counting calories using MyFitnessPal. Having the watch tell me how many calories I burn from activity has helped my keep my intake appropriate and motivated extra exercise because I want to be able to eat more. Having the watch track what I do has also helped me be more active in general, and made me realize how sedentary a normal day was. I justified the purchase because if I actually nock 20 pounds off my gut it turns out to be much cheaper than $50-100 an ounce for lighter gear (about $2.80 per ounce).

Curious if anyone else has had a similar experience? I laughed at the idea before getting the Fenix, but there comes a point when failure dictates one reassess what they think they know.

As someone looking to qualify for the Olympic marathon trials I can say it is 100% effective assuming you are actually doing the work. I love looking at my stress levels and body battery often throughout the day to try and keep myself rested if possible. HR isn’t a huge concern for me and too many things can affect it from day to day, but stress has a huge impact on training.

 

[pk_]

It makes tracking sleep and counting calories much easier.

I used MyFitnessPal to tack for a few weeks to know exactly what my most common meals, snacks etc are and it really helped me dial in my micronutrients and seek out foods to fill some gaps.

My fitness goals aren’t so strict that I need to track constantly. But it definitely helped me to correct some issues that would have been difficult without it.

As someone looking to qualify for the Olympic marathon trials I can say it is 100% effective assuming you are actually doing the work. I love looking at my stress levels and body battery often throughout the day to try and keep myself rested if possible. HR isn’t a huge concern for me and too many things can affect it from day to day, but stress has a huge impact on training.

When I first got my Garmin I thought the stress level and body battery were gimmicks until I started paying attention to how well they correlated with how I actually felt. It’s crazy.

 

[deltadukman]

AS someone who is looking at getting one of these watches, which ones do you recommend? Not looking to drop $500+ but $200ish or so. What options do i need to look for?

 

[Anglo-American]

The short answer is no.

I've used it in the past, 10-15 years ago when I regularly ran mountain marathons, so I understand why people use it.

Ultimately though for the past five plus years I've been removing tech from my life wherever possible.

It's only had positive effects for me, my wife and our children, especially our children in doing so.

 

[Owens]

When I first got my Garmin I thought the stress level and body battery were gimmicks until I started paying attention to how well they correlated with how I actually felt. It’s crazy.

@pk_, I'm curious about this part. What do you do with this information, do you actually alter your training plan on a given day based on the numbers? I've got a Fenix 6, I use it mainly to track distance and time. I occasionally look at some of the other metrics, but the data doesn't influence my training. I work a regular 9-5 job M-F, so even if the data says I should take Saturday off, it's just not happening. That's my long run day. I will sometimes skip a weekday run if I've been on a good streak and I'm feeling fatigued. But that's totally based on feel (never actually compared that to the data, I should in the next cycle). I've got several friends who also track all this data, none of them change their training based on the data either. So, I'm not trying to call you out, I'm genuinely curious if anyone who trains recreationally uses the data to influence their training schedule.