Workouts with Blaze

[jesterkazuzi]

Hi, I am thinking of getting Blaze but was wondering about the other trainings it detects. I do mainly weights training and so I am curious if it's going to log in all the simple exercises such as biceps curls. What do you think? Thank you 🙂

Moderator edit: subject updated for clarity

[SunsetRunner]

Hi @jesterkazuzi

Moved this thread from the Share your Story to the Blaze Section since more relevant to the topic.

The tracker will automatically recognize activities such as (this applies to the Surge..) so it should be similar to the Blaze:

Walking, Running, Outdoor Bike, Elliptical, Sport & Aerobic Workouts.

The minimum time of needing to do the certain activity is 10 minutes before it's being automatically recognized.

It's also possible to start pre-configured exercise(s) from the tracker itself, there may be exercises which can't be chosen from on the tracker (which don't have their own category), though there's a specific option 'workout' to select for exercise in these circumstances.

[bbarrera]

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@jesterkazuzi wrote:

I do mainly weights training and so I am curious if it's going to log in all the simple exercises such as biceps curls. What do you think? Thank you 🙂

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Fitbit has no support for weight training. All you can do is manually log a session:

- date

- start time

- duration

- (optional) calories

I use Fitocracy and Strong (http://www.strongapp.me) apps on my phone to track weight training. Fitocracy has a great community and guides/prompts you thru a workout you've setup (e.g. bench press, shoulder press, bicep curl, etc). However I really like the Strong app, it simple, clean, and easier to setup routines and log in the gym.

[EmersonFitbit]

Keep in mind that Blaze's multi-sport feature will allow you to track weights as an exercise with HR and calories burned as primary metrics tracked. 

@bbarrera Thanks for that. I just started lifting weight again, and I didn't know about either of those apps. Strong is like carrying a traditional pen/pad- except modern!

[bbarrera]

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@EmersonFitbit wrote:

Keep in mind that Blaze's multi-sport feature will allow you to track weights as an exercise with HR and calories burned as primary metrics tracked. 

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Two issues with that:

- Weight lifting is anaerobic exercise, without steps, and Fitbit's calorie estimates have been optimized for step-based aerobic activity.

- Wrist based HRM are generally inaccurate when lifting weights. I've tried several - Surge, Apple Watch, Mio Fuse, and when I'm lifting weights the tracker reads 60-80bpm when I'm reallying at 130-160bpm.

In conclusion, not only is the calorie estimation questionable, and outside Fitbit's target of step-based aerobic activity, the HR tracking is usually very bad as the wrist is bending and restricting blood flow which interfers with the optical HRM.