The best fitness activity tracker reviewed by Fitness Adaptations

What are the best heart rate and stress monitors from a competitive athlete’s point of view?

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First of all, let’s talk about heart rate monitors. Most people only look for heart monitoring for the purpose of counting calories. However, heart rate can also be used to monitor your stress levels on a per workout basis as well as a per day basis. Which one you need depends on a couple questions you should ask yourself.

Before I get very detailed about why you need an activity tracker or smart watch this is how I, a Certified Professional Trainer and active athlete, use it. For me the biggest success for my athletic abilities and body shape is due to two things.

  • Number one, a great ability to follow the proper nutrition program.
  • Number two, a great training program designed to hit specific goals.

With my activity tracker I know how many calories I burn on a daily basis. I know how many calories I burn on days I workout and how many calories I burn on rest days. To be honest this is the biggest reason I own an activity tracker. You on the other hand may use it for a variety of other reasons. Many fitness trackers monitor blood pressure, resting heart rate, sleep quality, and more. Sleep quality was also a very important feature as to why I purchased a Fitness tracker in the first place. Now that I know I sleep well and get plenty of hours of sleep I feel much better because one the biggest overlooked factors for fitness success is quality sleep.

How to approach the price point of what brand or type you buy?

When you buy a product you are most of the time buying the brand. You also buy the extras a brand may provide such as a special service or app. By going with a non-branded activity tracker you may save yourself as much as $100 dollars or more. For me, the FitBit Charge 4 model is the best for performance. By model I mean the shape. It’s not bulky but the screen and features are represented very well. It’s also not too slim like the Inspire causing it to be very fragile and get damaged fairly easy. The Fitness tracker below is exactly like the FitBit Charge 4 but of course for much less. If you purchase it and subscribe to my newsletter you get instant enrollment into my 5 DAY FITNESS FOR LIFE PROGRAM.

What is the 5 day Fitness for Life Program?

You get a series of 5 emails over 5 days with simple tasks. By the 5th day you’ll have a complete fitness program in place to get you to the best shape of your life based on the shape of body you desire! So buy this Activity Tracker , SAVE OVER $100, and join the Fitness Adaptation’s team. Additionally, you get access to over 120 pre-recorded workouts. I go live 4x’s per week so you’ll get the option to work out with me live. The workouts are not emailed workouts for you to do on your own. You choose go on YouTube, pick the workout you want to perform, and you follow a long with me. You get to sweat and experience the satisfaction of completing this workouts TOGETHER with me! Without further ado, let’s get into my reviews for what I consider the best options when it comes to buying a fitness activity tracker.

Are you a Crossfit type athlete or a gymnast or do you just recreational swim laps in the gym, practice yoga, or spin?

These questions are critical because it’ll tell you whether you need a heart rate monitor that accurately measure you caloric output per day or a stress monitor that measures you sleep and training strain levels in order to maximize recovery. You may need both!

When it comes to choosing a heart rate or stress monitor you have to decide what category of active person you fall under. Are you a competitive athlete that trains twice a day in the off season or are you someone who exercises for leisure, hobby, and keeps the workouts light to moderate without any heavy equipment?

I own both a Fitbit Charge 4 and a Whoop Strap 3.0. I’ve been using the Fitbit for years and the Whoop Strap 3.0 I started using it about 6-8 months ago. Let me describe to you what type of training I do so that you can see why someone like me needs both.

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Fitbit Charge 4

Heart rate monitoring:

I first purchased a Fitbit because I wanted to track my calories. After years of using it and monitoring my client’s progress using their’s, I’ve come to the conclusion that the Fitbit in combination with it’s app is the cleanest, most accurate, and most simple heart rate monitor in the market. I’ve been able to maintain my physique and have all the data I need to cut when I want to.

I compete in bodybuilding, Crossfit, I do Spartan Runs, and I run a HIIT training circuit training type YouTube live class 5x’s a week. I perform gymnastic movements, Olympic lifting, powerlifting, and advanced dumbbell and kettlebell work. Depending on the season, some times I go into a heavy strength and power program and sometimes I go into muscular endurance. If I’m bodybuilding, I go into a cutting program.

I have found that I need both the FitBit and the Whoop. Let me explain why.

Calorie Tracking with the FitBit:

Even though the Whoop Band gives you a caloric output reading, I’ve found from personal experience that the Charge 4 is much more accurate. Fitbit also has a phenomenal app that syncs myfitnesspal and combines it’s output data with it’s consumption data to give you a full analysis about whether you’re plan serves to lose weight, maintain, or gain weight.

With that said, back to the question of what type of person are you? Competitive athlete or recreational gym goer? If you’re a recreational gym goer, I suggest going with Fitbit and choosing any of their other types. For the low budget stick to Inspire or Charge 4. For more sophisticated and higher end, go with the Ionic or Versa.

See my Fitbit Charge 4 review to get the entire details of the features as well as tips.

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Workout Recovery Tool:

If you’re a competitive athlete, you know that your nutrition is as important as your recovery. Without recovery you can’t progress. One of the hardest things to do is to know when to take a day off. Many people train until their body tells them they need a day off. Honestly, by this time, it’s already too late! This is where the whoop comes in. When it comes to my recovery in order to plan my training, I rely on the whoop band. It monitors my sleep, my strain levels, and keeps me honest as to how hard I should push on a daily basis.

Check out my whoop strap 3.0 review to see all the full details.

Use this code to purchase your whoop and we both get a BONUS benefit:

https://www.talkable.com/x/JjkDTZ

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Conclusion about heart rate monitors:

As I mentioned, depending on your degree of training, you should choose what’s important and within your budget. Both the Charge 4 and the Whoop Strap 3.0 measure heart rate. Their purpose though is different.

Pricing comparisons:

The Fitbit Charge runs for around $149. They will last you for about 1.5 years if you protect it right.

The Whoop Strap has a monthly charge and if paid in full can run in the neighborhood of $250 per year.

If you’re a prize athlete that’s a tiny expense for what you get in return. If you’re not a competitive athlete then you go with what is most important to you. For most people, that is calorie counting. So go with the Fitbit Charge 4.

Useful training posts to maximize your results:

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Come train with me live on Youtube:

All you need are dumbbells and kettlbells:

The ultimate and most complete Health and Fitness Resources:

Fitness for Life 5 day articles:

Need a coach? Check out free and paid online personal trainer packages. If you thinking of competing, see my contest prep articles that includes information about how to go about a bodybuilding contest prep diet, amount of cardio, programming, and more.

Do you want to become a personal trainer? Check out my how to become a personal trainer where I give you advice, tips, and resources to get you started.

Build your body step by step with the Perfect Body Shape Formula. First figure out, how much should I weigh for my height? and use these other sub steps included in the process:

Related steps:

Step 2, find your body fat by using this how to calculate body fat percentage article (this will be used to calculate current body fat mass and current lean mass).

Learn to control your calories, hunger, and making nutrition a lifestyle by learning about intermittent fasting benefits, low carb diets such as ketogenic, what is keto for beginners, and mix that up with carbs using the Fat Cycling Method, Fat Cycling Diet? Keto ish Weight loss system.

Once your nutrition is programmed, then learn to workout. How should you be working out to get your ideal body type? How heavy? How many reps? How much rest? If you want to workout from home check out Gymming at Home – Essential Equipment to get my recommendations for tools, equipment, and workout schedule for my YouTube workouts. Make sure you check out my profrom treadmill reviews if you are interested in starting off your journey by walking or jogging the weight off. I give you tips and guidelines to get the best results.

Make sure you compliment your nutrition plan with a full supplementation guide:

Order your overall health, performance, fat burners, and protein powder from here: dotFit Customized Supplementation Program

Check out these other topics and books that I highly recommend: (My article and purchase)

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