Here is why I think Personal Trainers & Coaches should jump on the FitBit bandwagon.

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You might have read a few post back about my discovery of FitBit (click HERE if you missed it), but since then so much has happened. Not only am I on daily challenges with friends, but a lot of my athletes have joined in and they have invited their families to do the same! The connection that I have made with my clients/athletes/victims even after years of training is pretty cool too! You can read my detailed review HERE, but don’t just take my opinion, see what my athletes/victims/clients have to say. I’ll add the reviews as they come in!
Pam (Client/Athlete of 7+ years)
I guess I am middle age, I know I have to exercise to be happy. I have Two kids, Two dogs and One husband. I’ve known about Fitbits from friends who have them but never had a real interest in owning one. UNTIL, one day my crossfit coach, KP showed me her Fitbit app and mentioned that she was in a group with one of our gym mates. It looked like fun and I didn’t want to be left out of the competition. It also seemed like it would be the easiest workout I’d ever do. There are several facets of the Fitbit that attracted me over my Garmin watch which up until now was how I tracked my steps. The Fitbit has the capability of tracking steps in more activities (running, spinning, crossfit, pilates), more accurately than my watch. I also use it to track my sleep. I love the motivational messages that you get on the app when a goal is accomplished. The Fitbit is light weight and fits comfortably on my ankle. The only con that I have is that I found inputting food was cumbersome and just took too long. I might use that more if it was easier because I like the idea of monitoring macro nutrients I thought the price was reasonable. I didn’t shop around so I am not sure if there is a better deal available than what was offered by Amazon. I have had my Fitbit for about two weeks and have had no issues with it or the app. I am an active person so for me the Fitbit does significantly increase my level or time of exercise. Honestly though I do feel guilty if I don’t get my goal steps in. Having the Fitbit count your steps makes it a lot more fun to exercise and you have a real time idea of your accomplishment. It’s great to get a pat on the back and little words of encouragement from the imaginary Fitbit man. I love the group challenges. It is a great way to get to know people and give each other encouragement or friendly ribbing. One of these days I may beat Gary and get a trophy.
Jeannie (Client/Athlete of 10+ years)
1. I’m a senior widow. I’ve been walking or jogging for pleasure and exercise for 40 years.
2. I just heard about it when it became popular. Never had much luck with pedometers.
3. It was given to me.
4. It’s also my watch. It seems to be pretty accurate. It’s falling apart so I will have to purchase another pretty soon.
5. It was free
6. It brings into focus how much or little I’m moving.
7. I think it’s fun but I don’t feel any competition because I really don’t want to walk as much the others in the challenge
I’m going to put a personal note here. Jeannie and I have been training together for over ten years now. She is amazing and a super tough woman. She had her fitbit wall before any of us did, but started paying attention to it more now that she joined our challenge. Jeannie was far from a couch potato, but since this challenge she now hikes twice a week with a friend and then walks 1 a week with a neighbor IN ADDITION to training with me twice a week. While she says she isn’t competitive, we do talk a lot about how others are getting their steps in during our session 🙂
Kim (my sister who started it all)
  1. Please give me a little background on yourself. Recently quit my job to be a stay at home mom. Enjoy biking and walking.
  2. How did you find out about Fitbit? What interest you in it? Found out about it from a colleague. Originally used it to track walks at work. My walking buddies and I used it in conjunction with weight watchers. At the time I didn’t know you could challenge. We mainly used it to help us reach our step goals for the day.
  3. Why did you feel like you needed to purchase it? My First Fitbit was given to me by a Work colleague/ walking buddy. My Second Fitbit my mom found on amazon. I purchased my 2nd Fitbit bc it was thinner, water proof, a my sister in law showed me how to use it to do challenges.
  4. What are the positive and negatives of your Fitbit? Positives: I love that it tracks my sleep and steps. I thought I walked a lot before I got a Fitbit, but it really challenges me to move more and more often. Love my Fitbit community. I’m addicted to the challenges. Negatives: I wear mine on my ankle bc it doesn’t track very well on my wrist. If I’m carrying things in my arm such as baby etc or pushing things such as grocery cart or stroller then it doesn’t track steps. It also doesn’t track sleep well on my ankle so I have to switch it to my wrist at night
  5. What was the price? What do you think of the price? Is it a good value? I got it on sale on amazon. I thought it was a good price/value.
  6. How did Fitbit improve your life? What are the benefits? I notice I have more energy the more active I am.
  7. What do you think the group/challenges with our Fitbit? Love the group challenges. Even though I am a stay at home mom it allows me to stay connected to my husband that travels, my parents, sister, and sister in-laws that live in other cities, and my previous work colleagues. I love that we can watch each other’s progress, as well as, chat back and forth as a group.
Emma
1. Emma Myers. Born and raised in Austin, TX. Studied Industrial Engineering and Economics at Northwestern University. Living in Columbus, OH working in technology at JPMorgan Chase. My sport is tennis. I try to vary up my exercise so I use different muscle groups in different capacities (which is good and bad).
2. My mom sent me a fitbit because you (Karen) and Jeannie were talking about fit bits along with her sister Karen and Darragh. She said that it sounded fun. My mom is always down to try something new and hip. (One of the many things I love about her.) So, she decided she would get one to see what everyone was talking about.
3. Felt it was a good way to connect with my mother. Another item we could text/talk about.
4. Positives: (1) Makes you aware of how active/inactive you are and gives you a numeric value as a metric
(2) Pushes you to get to your 10,000 steps if you didn’t already
(3) Gives you a community of support and to hold you accountable
Negatives: (1) I could see how it could be addicting if you are competitive.
(2) I don’t get any steps when I do crossfit or pilates which makes it frustrating. I promise I am working out!
(3) It’s scientifically proven that people think they can eat more when they get to their 10,000 steps. This isn’t true. It has been shown that people who use fitbit actually gain weight once they start because they think they are burning a ton of calories (which isn’t true with just walking 10,000 steps).
5. My mom paid for it, so I can’t complain. She spoils me! But i bought one for my friend since it was on their wedding registry. I honestly don’t think the price isn’t that bad. I wish they had more fashionable bands though. They do have ones for work, but they are expensive. Plus, I don’t think i would want to switch bands so often.
6. I don’t know if fitbit has improved my life significantlly because i don’t take it too seriously. If i make my 10,000 steps, wohoo! If i don’t, no worries. I’m not measuring my self worth on it. My health metric usually relies on “did i make it to my workout today?” I recognize that fitbit doesn’t account for all of my workout methods, so I don’t fret too much i worked out but didn’t hit my 10,000 steps (which honestly is a more days than not).
Side note: It makes me feel like a convict under house arrest when i wear it on my ankle. Maybe that has given me more attitude?
7. I think the group challenge is super fun. It’s my favorite part of the fitbit. I honestly probably wouldn’t be as consistent with wearing my fitbit if it wasn’t for the group challenge. The ones with the hiking paths are the most enthralling. I think the point to remember with the group challenges is that you should try to be in a group where you can win and lose sometimes. It’s no fun and demotivating to be in a group where you always lose. (I like our group. I just sometimes feel bad for jeannie because i feel like she never has a chance against gary).