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People wear wedding rings but take them off for pull up bars and so on. But a fitness tracking device you need to take off to... Do some fitness exercises... Is

People wear wedding rings but take them off for pull up bars and so on. But a fitness tracking device you need to take off to... Do some fitness exercises... Is not a smart idea in my book.

rtkwe 19d ago
I'd question the utility of the data from a ring for weightlifting, cardio sure but just lifting weights there's not a huge need to track your heart rate, you're not moving a lot for steps, etc.
- pastor_williams 18d ago
  Lifting weights definitely causes your heart rate to change.
  - jerlam 18d ago
    It's usually not the primary benefit of the exercise. You are not going to maintain zone 2 (120-140 bpm) while lifting.
  - rtkwe 18d ago
    Of course it does but it's barely relevant to the goals of the exercise though so tracking it is minimally useful beyond the vague curiosity of cataloging and measuring every moment.
    - deleted 18d ago
      [deleted]
    - ratmice 18d ago
      The data should be useful for automatically counting reps...
      - rtkwe 18d ago
        I suppose, if counting to low double digits is difficult for you?
        ratmice 18d ago
        Not really the point. If you make program with a bunch of different exercises, and are modifying your program a lot, it can be a pain to keep track of what your next exercise should be. If you are automatically tracking reps, it can just announce whatever the next thing in your program is, and start rest timers automatically... It's not really about tracking reps as much as tracking where you are in a program that it is useful for...
        louthy 18d ago
        I use the Pump Club app when lifting, it has the day's programme to follow: I simply enter the reps after each exercise. It never occurred to me that I'd want to automatically track reps. I mean, it could be kinda useful, but I'm also taking 45 to 60 seconds cool-down between exercises anyway, so it's not like it gets in the way. That also moves the app onto the next exercise in the programme. It's manual, but it's not intrusive and can't be wrong, like a fitness tracker, that definitely can be. So shrug, just personally, auto-tracking reps isn't something I need and wouldn't be a big selling point for a band/watch over a ring.
        ratmice 18d ago
        I wasn't wading into the watch/ring debate, never used a ring just a watch. Was just saying while heart rate data might not be the most useful. There might be uses for other sensors and reasons to replace the ring with a watch while lifting...
        louthy 18d ago
        Fair enough.
        18d ago
- fn-mote 18d ago
  The utility is not having to take your ring off. If nothing else, once it’s off, you are one step closer to losing it.
louthy 18d ago
If you constrain the device to ‘fitness tracker” and not lifestyle/sleep/health/illness/fitness telemetry, sure. I wear an Oura Ring for the complete suite of telemetry, not just for tracking workouts. I also lift, I’ll take the ring off for heavy lifts, and keep it on for every other exercise (unless I feel there’s a risk that the ring could get caught on the equipment, in which case I’ll take it off for those reps too). Granted this is in my home gym, so there’s no inconvenience to me doing this. I’ll rest between exercises and that’s when I make the call to keep the ring on or not [for the subsequent exercise]. I still get most of the insights and the Oura ring app lets me to tell it that I was doing strength training, which allows it to guesstimate calorie usage based on duration. Of course that’s not perfect, but it’s good enough for people who are interested in health metrics without being obsessed with them (which is just probably a better idea unless you’re a pro athlete). The workout tracking is kinda the least interesting aspect for me. It’s more about the long term trends of activity, sleep, heart rate, stress, etc. Also, it’s worth saying, I went with a ring rather than a watch or a band because I like to wear a real watch.

People wear wedding rings but take them off for pull up bars and so on. But a fitness tracking device you need to take off to... Do some fitness exercises... Is not a smart idea in my book.

rtkwe 19d ago

I'd question the utility of the data from a ring for weightlifting, cardio sure but just lifting weights there's not a huge need to track your heart rate, you're not moving a lot for steps, etc.

pastor_williams 18d ago
Lifting weights definitely causes your heart rate to change.
- jerlam 18d ago
  It's usually not the primary benefit of the exercise. You are not going to maintain zone 2 (120-140 bpm) while lifting.
- rtkwe 18d ago
  Of course it does but it's barely relevant to the goals of the exercise though so tracking it is minimally useful beyond the vague curiosity of cataloging and measuring every moment.
  - deleted 18d ago
    [deleted]
  - ratmice 18d ago
    The data should be useful for automatically counting reps...
    - rtkwe 18d ago
      I suppose, if counting to low double digits is difficult for you?
      - ratmice 18d ago
        Not really the point. If you make program with a bunch of different exercises, and are modifying your program a lot, it can be a pain to keep track of what your next exercise should be. If you are automatically tracking reps, it can just announce whatever the next thing in your program is, and start rest timers automatically... It's not really about tracking reps as much as tracking where you are in a program that it is useful for...
        louthy 18d ago
        I use the Pump Club app when lifting, it has the day's programme to follow: I simply enter the reps after each exercise. It never occurred to me that I'd want to automatically track reps. I mean, it could be kinda useful, but I'm also taking 45 to 60 seconds cool-down between exercises anyway, so it's not like it gets in the way. That also moves the app onto the next exercise in the programme. It's manual, but it's not intrusive and can't be wrong, like a fitness tracker, that definitely can be. So shrug, just personally, auto-tracking reps isn't something I need and wouldn't be a big selling point for a band/watch over a ring.
        ratmice 18d ago
        I wasn't wading into the watch/ring debate, never used a ring just a watch. Was just saying while heart rate data might not be the most useful. There might be uses for other sensors and reasons to replace the ring with a watch while lifting...
        louthy 18d ago
        Fair enough.
        18d ago
fn-mote 18d ago
The utility is not having to take your ring off. If nothing else, once it’s off, you are one step closer to losing it.

louthy 18d ago

If you constrain the device to ‘fitness tracker” and not lifestyle/sleep/health/illness/fitness telemetry, sure. I wear an Oura Ring for the complete suite of telemetry, not just for tracking workouts. I also lift, I’ll take the ring off for heavy lifts, and keep it on for every other exercise (unless I feel there’s a risk that the ring could get caught on the equipment, in which case I’ll take it off for those reps too). Granted this is in my home gym, so there’s no inconvenience to me doing this. I’ll rest between exercises and that’s when I make the call to keep the ring on or not [for the subsequent exercise]. I still get most of the insights and the Oura ring app lets me to tell it that I was doing strength training, which allows it to guesstimate calorie usage based on duration. Of course that’s not perfect, but it’s good enough for people who are interested in health metrics without being obsessed with them (which is just probably a better idea unless you’re a pro athlete). The workout tracking is kinda the least interesting aspect for me. It’s more about the long term trends of activity, sleep, heart rate, stress, etc. Also, it’s worth saying, I went with a ring rather than a watch or a band because I like to wear a real watch.