Smart watch: best practices and which one??

[plentycoupe]

I am debating getting a smart watch to assist with changing to better habits for fitness and nutrition. Researching them is a bit overwhelming as I have never used one and haven’t worn a watch in years.

I have managed to loose 20 pounds and want to keep it off. Currently I find myself falling back into so older not so good habits.

After reading a bit the Garmin Venu or Fitbit sense look like a good idea.

For those of you that use them what are your recommendations on

1. Brand and model, and why did you choose that one?
2. What features do you use the most and what about those features helps you stay on track with goals?(sleep tracker, heart rate, hydration, etc)
3. Did you have any issues setting it up and do you need special apps to link to your phone?
4. If you use it for more than a healthy lifestyle item, say like while hunting, how do you use it out there?
5. What am I missing?

Thanks for any feedback!

 

[Ross]

Garmin has many options to choose from..would check Jordan’s review a few years ago; https://www.rokslide.com/garmin-instinct-gps-watch-review/

I chose this watch after her review. I like to keep things simple and this watch fit the bill. Heart rate is reasonably accurate, compass, elevation, steps, battery life very good other than when using activities but still solid, easy to navigate the widgets, not overly complicated to setup and use, and has been durable. In addition they have a free tracking program with mapping and data collection. My wife got a similar unit as well moving on from a fit bit simply more feedback.

Would decide how much you want to invest and then decide on the options you want to use often.

A few screen shots of the free app. Little things lIke having an active dog and a watch that tells you how much or little you have done will help when motivation may me waffling.

 

[WoodBow]

I bought a garmin instinct 1 year ago. It was around $200 retail at the time. The new version has some new features and is $350. Everyone likes different things but I will give you my personal experience and opinion. I very quickly got annoyed by using it as a smart watch. Getting texts on the watch was very novel at first but all the notifications just became annoying. Within a month i turned off all of that functionality. HR monitoring is pretty decent unless you are biking or doing CF type activities. It seems quite poor in those. I will be on the bike and and the bike will say 148 and my watch will say 80 or whatever. For running it seems quite good. I bought a garmin chest strap to confirm whether or not i was getting accurate readings from the watch when running and it told me the same thing the watch had been telling me. I like having the gps function to mark a waypoint but in reality it is just easier to use my phone and on x. I have had it on multiple hunts and have never used the gps function once. It is nice to have a customizable display, versus a traditional watch. For instance I have mine setup to show sunrise and sunset time on the default display. I have used it to track runs but honestly I like data format that i get from apps better. I like run keeper. It has proven to be very durable. I do not baby things at all and I do a fair amount of activities that are harder on things. It looks practically new still. You can get these older models new for $150 or less now I believe.

I personally do not feel that devices are going to help most people get or maintain fitness. They provide some metrics that are cool at first and then you realize that you aren't actually doing anything with them. If you don't like wearing a watch just as a watch, I would say don't get a smart watch either. Your mileage may vary.

 

[V2Pnutrition]

I am debating getting a smart watch to assist with changing to better habits for fitness and nutrition. Researching them is a bit overwhelming as I have never used one and haven’t worn a watch in years.

I have managed to loose 20 pounds and want to keep it off. Currently I find myself falling back into so older not so good habits.

After reading a bit the Garmin Venu or Fitbit sense look like a good idea.

For those of you that use them what are your recommendations on

1. Brand and model, and why did you choose that one?
2. What features do you use the most and what about those features helps you stay on track with goals?(sleep tracker, heart rate, hydration, etc)
3. Did you have any issues setting it up and do you need special apps to link to your phone?
4. If you use it for more than a healthy lifestyle item, say like while hunting, how do you use it out there?
5. What am I missing?

Thanks for any feedback!

I’ve had several- Apple, Garmin Instinct, Garmin Fenix line, etc.

None of them in and of themselves are going to help build better habits. However, if you use the data they spit back at you, any of them will work.

For example, if you know you need to be walking more during the day, you could set a step goal for yourself. The watch will help you track the steps and determine if it was a pass/fail/how you need to improve.

They can also be helpful if you’re training for something specific. For example, if you want to improve your mile pace, you can use the pace feature on a Garmin to evaluate if you’re progressively pushing that pace to improve vs “it felt faster..? I guess I’m getting better?”.

Just about any moderate price range wearable will do that. You can also just download Strava to your phone and accomplish the same thing.

All the metrics on the planet won’t mean anything without consistently doing the habits you set up for yourself…including what you did to take off the first 20 (congrats by the way!!).

I would evaluate the “old habits” that have crept in before I’d drop money on a watch. If a watch wasn’t instrumental in taking off the first 20, it won’t do anything to correct the old habits and keep the 20 off.

 

[Hussar]

I'll echo what the others are saying in this thread: adding a device doesn't change the habits. My experience is just that it makes actually tracking the data much easier for review (and adding potential data).

I'm using a 2.5 year old Garmin Instinct. It does everything I need in a "smart" watch, plus the battery life is fantastic. I still get about 5-7 days of battery life with a 45 minute run in most days (using GPS). Notifications are customizable, and my steps, heart rate, and sleep data is nice to have.

 

[Darryle]

Think of the watch as a data logger, you can set them up to monitor different aspects of your health, time asleep, quality of sleep, pedometer, blood oxygen, pulse, ECG, body temperature.

I have the new Apple Ultra, it does crap I still haven't figured out. I use as a progress tracker, but it can "motivate" you to stand, walk, meditate, deep breathing exercises, but you have to stay vigilant to create the new habit. Repetition wins the healthy habits game

 

[hunt1up]

I recently jumped into the smart watch game. I ordered a Fenix 6 Pro a few weeks ago. I sent it back after a day. I'm not a watch guy generally and that thing is like wearing a brick on my wrist. And 95% of the stuff it does is pointless.

I then ordered a Vivoactive 4 model. I much prefer its form, function, and weight. It's just a simpler device. I'm now debating sending it back too and just being done with the smart watch experiment. The heart rate monitor doesn't work at all during exercise, the exact time I want it to work. I don't care what my HR is when I'm sitting at my desk.

They all seem like a solution looking for a problem.

 

[Will_m]

I recently jumped into the smart watch game. I ordered a Fenix 6 Pro a few weeks ago. I sent it back after a day. I'm not a watch guy generally and that thing is like wearing a brick on my wrist. And 95% of the stuff it does is pointless.

I then ordered a Vivoactive 4 model. I much prefer its form, function, and weight. It's just a simpler device. I'm now debating sending it back too and just being done with the smart watch experiment. The heart rate monitor doesn't work at all during exercise, the exact time I want it to work. I don't care what my HR is when I'm sitting at my desk.

They all seem like a solution looking for a problem.

You need to to use a separate chest strap for accuracy during workouts. But I get what you’re saying.

 

[Laramie]

I have the Garmin Instinct. Overall I am very happy with it but as others have said, it won't make you change who you are. It is just a tool to use if you make the choice to do so.

Ironically the thing it has helped me with the most is my sleep habits. It does a pretty nice job of tracking sleep and the kind of sleep you are getting (when paired with the app).

 

[Kenson]

I've had my eye on getting one of those Oura rings - I think they do a lot of stuff that a fitness/sleep tracker does, in a crazy small package. ouraring.com

 

[hunt1up]

You need to to use a separate chest strap for accuracy during workouts. But I get what you’re saying.

For sure. I have a Garmin chest HR setup but it too was working intermittently. I probably need to get something new. I guess I wrongly assumed a watch with HR would be sufficient for exercise.