Worn a fitness tracker during practice?

I've recently picked one up, to help remind me to get my backside out of the chair more regularly (I work at a pretty sedentary job), and I'm thinking of trying to have it on me while practicing.

Has anyone here done this? If so, what kind of tracker did you use? Did you find it useful?

As an FYI, I'm using a Fitbit Flex 2, which is a little module that normally goes in a wristband or other carrier. I'm thinking I'll stitch a small pocket for it in my pants or something.

I use a FitBit to track my walking and use the app to track water and food intake, other activities, etc. However, my sensei requires us to remove all jewelry and fitness trackers (iwatch, fitbit, standard watch, etc) as they could be damaged or get in the way while learning techniques, etc.

I don't want to train with someone wearing a watch-like object or jewelry.

We have the same no jewelry rule

I'm not planning on wearing it on my wrist. The Fitbit Flex 2 is a very small (about an inch long, maybe 1/4 inch wide), rectangular module. It CAN go in a wristband, but I was thinking of making a tiny pocket in my pants to hold it.

It's a total no-go for taijutsu (=no weapons) practice, as they tend to snag your partner. You can generally get away with wearing one in weapons practice as long as you're not doing tanto-/tanken-dori (some jodori or tachidori techniques might also be out of the question). There is a mild risk it could get smacked by a jo or bokken in paired weapons practice (like partner cuts, kumijo, kumitachi, etc.).

I was thinking of putting an Apple watch in an arm strap to track my energy usage. I'd have to buy another one for every day use though, as I don't want to be changing bands twice a day.

It would be interesting what data you would get.
I would sew it inside the gi jacket lapel in a closed pocket.
Pick a place where the jacket is thickest. On the pants the watch could get damaged in a fall or dig into you. Likewise on the side or back of the jacket. You might put it in a small zip lock plastic bag to keep it dry from sweat.

dps

Matthew Middleton wrote: I'm thinking I'll stitch a small pocket for it in my pants or something.

Did anyone read this part of the post?

Hilary Heinmets wrote: Did anyone read this part of the post?

This is the Internet. Don't be ridiculous.

David Skaggs wrote: It would be interesting what data you would get. I would sew it inside the gi jacket lapel in a closed pocket. Pick a place where the jacket is thickest. On the pants the watch could get damaged in a fall or dig into you. Likewise on the side or back of the jacket. You might put it in a small zip lock plastic bag to keep it dry from sweat. dps

Thanks, that's a good point. It's not a full-blown watch, but the lapel would likely still be a better place for it. Not too worried about sweat - it's supposed to be waterproof enough to swim with, and while I certainly get plenty sweaty at practice, I don't think I'm quite at pool-level volumes yet.

For those that are curious, this is the device I'm using: https://www.fitbit.com/en-ca/flex2

Of course, I won't be using the wristband

we have folks who wore those blood glucose monitor thingy inside the gi jacket. shouldn't be a problem. maybe wear it as an ankle bracelet since we don't really have technique such as ankle dori with ticklish foot waza. wonder why though?!! maybe it's just too brutal and against Geneva convention.

I have been using Fitness trackers for several years now. There was a time when I wore my tracker during class just because I wanted to see what I could learn. I have tried wearing it in several places. The Shoulder(bra strap) was okay and I also wore it on my belt beneath the hakama. I found it least accuate there but did gather some data. The best place I found was to wear it on my ankle. I had the Charge HR that has a normal band with a buckle and found that I could jsut use a hair band to extend the length to fit my ankle. Currently using a rebuilt Garmin Vivoactive HR and going back to the Charge2. I really do like them as motivators to do more. My first tracker was a Flex and that one never worked out well for me for practice. I did think of sewing a pocket for it but I didn't stay with that version for too long. I did jsut tapem it to the inside of my gi with a wide piece of duck tape which worked okay.

I saw on Amazon today that somone has finally made an ankle band that can hold a tracker in place. Wearing it on the ankle did not interfere with ukemi at all and kept it out of the way of training partners.

Another dojomate has worn hers on her wrist, moved higher up her arm and it was not much in the way but it did at times slip and interfere with wrist grab attacks. She has a smaller arm than I have though and I know there were times when she decided to remove it.

These days I no longer wear mine during class but it was worth doing fo a while just to get a sense of how much of a workout I was actually getting.

The arm strap I was thinking of earlier was this one:

https://www.twelvesouth.com/product/actionsleeve

Do you sweat during your practice? Do you get short of breath during practice? Does your heart-rate get higher than (say) 130 for any length of time (sweep second hand on a wall clock, if you get more than about 11 beats in 6 seconds, your answer is yes). Then you don't need the fitbit during practice.
On the other hand - does your sensei spend more time "teaching" than you do training, or is it brief teaching followed by lots of training? That makes a difference.
Short answer - you probably don't need a fitbit, especially not during aikido practice. Why let an app have all that personal info anyway..

Never used a "fitness tracker" myself. What problem does it solve?

I dont need a tracker to tell me it was a hard class, the crawling to the changing rooms after class is a good enough indicator for me.

However with so much competition around for students it could be a handy marketing tool come join Aikido and burn 800 calories kind of headline, you never know it might get some people through the door from it.

Justin Thomas wrote: I dont need a tracker to tell me it was a hard class, the crawling to the changing rooms after class is a good enough indicator for me. .

Hmm. Crawling to the changing room after warm up is about my speed these days...

David Soroko wrote: Never used a "fitness tracker" myself. What problem does it solve?

I would not nescesarily say it solves a problem. It does however provide information that I find useful. I like data. It also provides motivation by means of friendly social comepetition with freinds who also use one which can be a great motivator to get up off the couch and go for a walk.

It's just a gadget. A fancy watch. Some of us enjoy them.

Walter Martindale wrote: Do you sweat during your practice? Do you get short of breath during practice? Does your heart-rate get higher than (say) 130 for any length of time (sweep second hand on a wall clock, if you get more than about 11 beats in 6 seconds, your answer is yes). Then you don't need the fitbit during practice. On the other hand - does your sensei spend more time "teaching" than you do training, or is it brief teaching followed by lots of training? That makes a difference. Short answer - you probably don't need a fitbit, especially not during aikido practice. Why let an app have all that personal info anyway..

Really great questions, Walter I almost always end up getting pretty damn sweaty *LOL* Wearing my fitbit is more for my own curiousity than anything else, although I definitely agree that the whole information-gathering thing is a bit dicey. I dabble in computer security, so I know how much data these things collect, and that it's not always as secure as it should be. Definitely worth keeping in mind.

This doesn't directly solve any problems - I'm as happy with my practice, in terms of fitness training, as I can be. It's more of a curiousity, to see if it tells me anything interesting. For example, since I can get a breakdown of steps by hour, and my classes are usually either 1 hour or 2 hours, I can look at how much I'm moving around. Defintely not worried about how much of a workout I'm getting! *LOL*

Since the alogrithm is written for more linear activity like walking and running, I wonder how accurate the Fitbit will calculate calories burned, steps made, distance. I think these things would be under calculated. Also how would it calculate a roll, a high projection and the sudden deceleration of landing on the matt.

dps

Phi Truong wrote: we have folks who wore those blood glucose monitor thingy inside the gi jacket. shouldn't be a problem. maybe wear it as an ankle bracelet since we don't really have technique such as ankle dori with ticklish foot waza. wonder why though?!! maybe it's just too brutal and against Geneva convention.

Au contraire, mon frere. The ankle is a lovely target to exploit while performing an aware ukemi close aboard.

A yonkyo against the side of the achilles works just fine to drop him in a hurry, applied on the inside of the lower leg just above the ankle. Forearm strike or leg sweep (esp. leading with the shin) there works almost as well. If you happen (or contrive) to land with one foot inside and one outside nage's own foot, (depending on angle) a strong twisting roll outboard can scissor his leg between yours at same spot and do much the same thing, using the shinbone to apply the pressure instead of the hand.

Enjoy, boys and girls!

I don't wear one any where. Especially in class. Exercise is an area in my life that is fun -- no need to make it measured and controlled.

Mary Eastland wrote: I don't wear one any where. Especially in class. Exercise is an area in my life that is fun -- no need to make it measured and controlled.

For some people it is fun to use trackers. I especially enjoy the cometetive challanges between my freinds and I. But they are not for everyone and that's fine. I just don't understand the need to be negative toward people who like them and want to have conversation about how others use theirs in relation to other areas of interst such as Aikido.

I also find it helpful too have certain data when talking to my Dr or when my boss thinks I don't work hard enough.

I was being negative??? if you like it -- go for it. i was speaking for me -- not for you.