I’ve had the Charge HR for a year. I clean the strap with a damp cloth. Fitbit recommends using a non-soap cleaner like Cetaphil. I am going to do that and start wearing it again when the redness is gone. I did sleep with it, but I won’t do so anymore. I also think I tightened the band too much–I found that it would fall off my wrist if I had it too loose and erred in the opposite direction. I hope I can solve the problem. I don’t have sensitive skin, so this surprises me.
I like the Garmin 235 sleep tracking. If I don’t get at least 2 hours of deep sleep and 7 hours total, I try and get a mid afternoon nap on my office couch.
FallGirl, this is not scientific at all, but I think treadmill seems easier because of things like:
- no weather element - no wind, no shade/sun
- outside you might have slight hills, downhills, curbs, people to run around, etc. The treadmill is constant.
- outside YOU have to regulate your speed - on a treadmill it does some of the work for you.
And the final reason? Because if you’re me you have probably died of boredom so when you finally come around you’re just glad to be done!!!
I think my treadmill is harder than outside. I also think mine is a little faster than it says.
We have this discussion frequently on running forums. I would say most people think treadmill is harder, but just a small majority.
Glad you are feeling better, bus!
I am also in the camp “treadmill is harder”! 
My treadmill tells me I burn something like 700 calories after half an hour of 3.8mph walking at an incline of 4 (if that’s standard). Do any treadmills have accuracy in that arena?
I think any cardio indoors is harder than the same activity outdoors due to mind games of one form or another. Indoors, even with the distractions of a tv or music, there is a mind numbing intrinsic uniformity, kinda like the repitive seams in the roadway of a highway that cause your tires to thump regardless of how fast or slow you are going. Outside, there is a constant variability of sensory input. I find that with my structured cycling wattage training, riding indoors always seems harder, more unrelenting, even though objectively I know outside I’m usually riding harder based on my heart rate and wattage. Outside I can simply endure the loads better than inside.
JenJen, that seems way too high. In order to get a reasonably accurate calculation of calorie burn, age, gender, weight, resting heart rate, Max heart rate and measured working heart rate need to be factored into the measuring device’s algorithm. You also need to be wearing a chest HR strap for the best accuracy. Calorie estimations provided by most cardio machines are notoriously off although I believe that some of the newer high end treadmills are now using more accurate algorithms. Others on this board who are regular treadmill users may know more details.
JenJen, I wonder if someone has pre-set the bodyweight on your treadmill at a pretty high number. My Precor consistently told me I burn roughly 100 calories per mile ran or about 350 calories for half an hour, which is a good approximation for me.
I actually came across this treadmill study yesterday in an email: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/8887211/
^ Lots of numbers for me to read first thing in the AM! Interesting because I set the incline at 1%.
Jen I think your treadmill #'s are off. I burned around 300 running the 5k in about 33 minutes.
100 calories a mile is a good estimate:
3.1 dark miles before heading to the airport to go back to Colorado. Tough gig, but I’ll make the sacrifice!
Yes, those calorie inaccuracies are probably the cause of a lot of weight gain in America. “Wow, I just walked for 30 minutes and burned 780 calories - now I can have extra food/snack/dessert/wine!” - when in fact, you have probably burned much less!
On our fitness center treadmill, it takes me about a mile at 5.6 mph or a 10:30-11 pace to burn about 100 calories. And about the same number as FallGirl for a 5k.
Isn’t how many calories you burn based on how much you weigh? A 160 lb person burns more calories running the same distance at the same pace than a 125 lb person. My calories-burned number changes a little if I gain or lose a few pounds.
When I use a treadmill, I do input my weight. If I don’t, then the number that comes up is much much more. On machines that don’t let me input a weight (like the elliptical at my health club), I know to reduce by at least a third the number that the machine says.
My Fitbit theoretically tells me my calorie burn based on my heart rate, although who the heck knows how accurate that is.
Yeah, I would think weight does matter - but probably not to the degree of being multiple times more than a lesser weight person!
The best and most accurate caloric burn calculators use an algorithm that incorporates: age, gender, weight, resting HR, max HR and a factor of metabolic/muscle efficiency based on a question of whether you have been involved in a program of cardio training for more than a certain defined period of time. Then you need an accurate and reliable measure of your activity HR. Most gym cardio machines don’t provide for the input of all these personalized factors. Higher end tracking devices like the various Garmin watch units do. Polar heart rate monitors do. I never rely on the read outs from the cardio machines. And I never use calorie burn from an exercise to justify deviating from my nutritional plan. I plan my nutrition based on my activity levels and don’t increase what I eat simply because an electronic device says I burned up 100 calories more than anticipated.
Well, I broke down and did it. Ordered a Garmin Varia Vision unit as my birthday present. I’ll now have a heads up display when I am riding so I don’t need to take my eyes off the road to check my bike computer read outs. Are you developing an itch ohio? 
Got it at a great price of 22% off MSRP.
MIchael - either you own Garmin stock, enjoy depleting my bank account or simply like to gloat. I can see why you are a coach/personal trainer!
Here’s a review of Aqua Core one of our own who asked me to share…
"My park district is deciding whether it’s worthwhile to offer this class, so they have several trial classes. Being the overdoer I am, I signed up for 4 of them. I was one of only 2 participants in the first trial class. Envision a 5-inch thick mat, a bit larger than a yoga mat, that is anchored to the lane dividers with clips. http://thewatermat.com/yoga-watermat/ You get in the water, hook the mat up, and then crawl up onto the map. I have enough upper body strength to pull myself onto the mat enough to then ungracefully clamber all the way on, but unfortunately the other lady taking the class didn’t so it took a while to get her on top of her mat.
The moves are some pretty basic moves (who would have thought standing was a move - but it was!) - very basic yoga / pilates / calisthenics types of moves - downward dog, warrior pose, bridge, side leg lifts / circles, side planks (surprisingly hard to do even though I can do them in yoga just fine), regular planks, superman moves, mountain climbers, etc. all made 10x harder by being on this unstable surface. The instructor is on the side and demonstrates. There is no music. Even though the moves looked simple, they really required a lot of concentration and core stability to get them right. The first 10 minutes, I hated the whole thing and was regretting signing up. I couldn’t get any sense of balance and kept slipping (which doesn’t hurt, as the mat has “give” to it, but it’s just damaging to the ego). And I thought - I’m never going to be able to stand on this thing. But about 10 minutes in, my balance kicked in and I enjoyed it after that.
But I could feel improvement even over the course of the class and by the end I thought - oh, I see how you could really do a lot on here, and I started playing around with slightly-more-advanced yoga poses (like tree pose, eagle, dancer).
So … net … I did like it, but it’s really about balancing and core – doubt I burned too many calories!
Oh - as we were starting out, a photographer for the park district came and started taking photos – and I was like - oh no, this had better NOT go in any brochures without my consent! Not exactly flattering! They assured me it wouldn’t.
For WildChild (and his parents) and anyone who has ever had to ship a bike:
http://www.theverge.com/2016/9/25/13048668/vanmoof-shipping-damages-dutch-bicycle-design