Top 5 Fitness trackers for CrossFit
Monitoring your CrossFit progress is easier with a good fitness tracker. Here are our top recommendations.
By: Travis
Hi, I am Travis. My main focus in life is to understand training better and help others get better results too. I used to be about the least fit kid in school and would always be last to get picked for a team. It wasn't for a lack of trying, but all my efforts just lead to injuries
For years, I had completely given up on ever getting in shape. Then I began to use my brain before using my muscles. I read every popular book on exercise, and began to structure my training.
With the right training methods, and the right machines, I was able to rebuild my body from the ground up.
According to science, I would never be able to walk pain-free again. And I would never be able to do 20 pull-ups with the injuries to my rotator cuff. But they were al wrong.
This site is where you can find all my tips and recommendations.
Fitness trackers are exceptionally helpful in monitoring all your essentials when you are training. Most wrist-worn devices can track several physical activities, but the trackers we have covered in this piece monitor more functions.
A good fitness tracker should be able to monitor strength exercises to become relevant even to weightlifters, and CrossFit athletes who do strenuous exercises. However, you need to know the main features of a good fitness tracker before you purchase one.
In this piece, we have outlined some of the best devices that you can use to monitor your CrossFit training. We have also outlined the features of these devices that make them superior and efficient to be used by a CrossFit athlete.
1. Garmin Fenix 5X
Garmin is the best fitness tracker device for a runner, but it also has fantastic features that are incredibly helpful to CrossFit athletes. It has an upgraded profile that allows you to record essential data when you are training. It has an exceptional technology that detects and monitors your movement, but you should adjust the settings once you purchase it, to get accurate data.
The Fenix 5X tracker is wearable anywhere, and it can stand severe conditions like sweat, because of its sapphire screen, which is resistant to water components. It can also stand any impact while training because of its stainless steel bezel, which reinforces its housing.
Additionally, the Fenix 5X tracker also exceptionally tracks cardio activities. It is impressive when used in CrossFit exercises.
Pros:
- It has an excellent strength profile.
- It has a substantial number of fantastic smartwatch features.
- It has a big screen that is water-resistant.
- Powerful activity tracking abilities.
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- It is quite costly.
- The watch may be too sophisticated for a basic gym exercise.
Product Features:
▼ ▲- : The watch has an excellent battery life that can go up to 12 days.
- : It is waterproof.
- : It has a heart rate monitor.
- : GPS is available.
- : It has a sleep tracker.
- : It has multiple activity trackers.
- : The satellite reception is multi-network.
2. Apple Watch Series 5
It is the newest Apple watch in the market. While its design is not for tracking fitness, it has some fantastic features that capture an enormous range of activities. It is a unique element in monitoring heart rate, calories burned, and activities of high intensity.
While it is not yet suitable for tracking weightlifting activities, it is still useful in monitoring your CrossFit exercises. The watch also has multiple workout apps that are very handy in monitoring your vitals during any workout exercise.
Additionally, it can last for long if properly cared for because of its unique hardware design. It is also waterproof, and it cannot get spoilt from the sweat during a training exercise.
Moreover, it also looks elegant and stylish when you wear it, and it is efficient in monitoring your body vitals.
Pros:
- It is an exceptional smartwatch that is easy to use.
- It is waterproof.
- Generally stylish, and a prestigious watch to wear.
- It has a simple user interface and strength tracking apps.
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- Battery life is incredibly short.
- It does not have strength profiles for training.
Product Features:
▼ ▲- : The battery has a short life of about 18 hours.
- : The watch does not have a sleep tracker.
- : It is waterproof.
- : It has a heart rate monitor.
- : The Apple Watch has an excellent GPS monitor.
- : Good music storage.
- : The watch has a female health tracking feature.
- : It has a built-in compass.
3. Garmin Vivoactive 3 Music
It is an excellent fitness tracker watch for cross-fitters, powerlifters, and bodybuilders. The Garmin Vivoactive 3 Music watch is quite affordable, and it also has some fantastic training features that make it an excellent choice.
The watch also has impressive features that allow you to time your rest periods, and manually enter your reps. Moreover, its automatic tracking system is exceptionally accurate in monitoring your exercises, making it efficient.
The added music feature makes the watch a bit costly, but it is worth it. You will no longer need to carry your phone to the weight rooms again. The Vivoactive three music can store up to 500 songs, and you can also be able to use Spotify application using the watch.
In a nutshell, it is an efficient fitness tracker watch to use.
Pros:
- It comes at reasonable prices, and it is a useful fitness tracker.
- It has adequate music storage, and it is also compatible with Spotify.
- It has efficient automatic tracking features.
- It has training profile features that are built in.
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- The automatic training feature can malfunction at times.
Product Features:
▼ ▲- : It has a good battery life that can last up to 7 days.
- : It has a sleep tracker.
- : It is waterproof.
- : The watch has an efficient heart rate monitor.
- : It has a functional GPS.
- : It has a nice stress tracker feature.
4. Garmin Vivosmart 4
The Vivosmart 4, is a Garmin watch that goes for way less than the other type of Garmin watch. While it is relatively cheaper than the other Garmin watches, it is still efficient in monitoring all your activities inside the weight room.
It does not have advanced features like Fenix 5X, but it still offers sufficient services for a cross lifter or any other lifter operating on a tight budget. For starters, it can still be able to detect your rest time and reps automatically, but you can still do it manually for accurate data.
Additionally, its 5ATM rating makes it adequate to be used in swimming, and it can produce the results you desire. Moreover, other than being able to monitor a cross-lifting exercise, it can also track more events like cycling and running, for instance.
Pros:
- The price is very reasonable for its exceptional features.
- Comes with a strength training profile.
- Can track multiple activities.
- Its waterproof feature makes it great for swimming pool exercises.
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- Limited features and configuration options
- It has a plastic screen that can scratch
Product Features:
▼ ▲- : Average battery life that can go up to 7 days.
- : It has a sleep tracker.
- : Waterproof.
- : It has a heart rate monitor.
- : It does not have a GPS.
- : It contains weather apps.
- : It has a stress tracker.
5. Atlas Wristband
While the Atlas Wristband is not as efficient as other fitness tracking devices, it is the only tracker specifically created for CrossFit exercises, weightlifting, and other high-intensity exercises. Despite the poor ratings it could be getting, it could have considerable benefits to you.
The fitness tracking device has a unique touchscreen that is detachable and incredibly wide. Its unique features are mainly for high-intensity exercises. For instance, the device can track your heart rate, burned calories, and your reps and sets accurately.
It has a mode that you can use when doing a CrossFit exercise for more accurate fitness tracking. Its heart rate monitor is accurate, which makes the product efficient to use during a workout.
Pros:
- Great value for money
- It has a heart rate monitor that is accurate.
- It has a large screen, which makes it easier to read.
- It can track individual sets and reps
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- The battery only lasts for 5 hours
- The exercise recognition feature is sometimes very inaccurate.
Product Features:
▼ ▲- : Battery life lasts for 5 hours.
- : It does not have a sleep tracker.
- : It is waterproof.
- : It has no GPS.
- : It has an accurate heart rate monitor.
- : It has a large unique touchscreen.
What to Look for When Buying a CrossFit fitness tracker
You may probably have noticed that searching for the right wrist fitness tracker is not as easy as finding a tracker for simple workouts like running, for instance. We have outlined some features that you should consider before buying a CrossFit fitness tracker.
Fitness Trackers Design
Fitness trackers come in many shapes and colors. Some come in modern shapes and sizes, and others have more traditional shapes. A fitness tracker can also come with a leather strap or a metal strap. Ideally, your taste will be vital in determining the type of tracker design you will buy.
However, you should consider whether you will be wearing your device, only gym hours, or plan to wear it all day long. If you intend to wear it during gym time only, then the exterior design does not matter, but when you want to wear the tracker to the office, choose a more refined design.
Additionally, it would be best to go for a design with a high-quality screen that is always on. When you perform a high-intensity exercise, you will not have the time to put the screen on. Therefore, a design that has an always-on display would be best for adequate monitoring.
Battery
A fitness tracker with incredibly poor battery life is not helpful to you regardless of the features it has. Like the designs of a tracker, the battery life also varies. For starters, if you want to use your tracker only for gym sessions, you can go with short battery life.
However, you have to be very wise while looking at the battery life of a tracker. For instance, some trackers with long battery lives usually have limited features. Others with a short battery life may have a lot of features like the always on screen, and a continuous heart rate monitor, for instance.
How you decide will depend on the features you are looking for in a tracker. If you want a product with sufficient features, you have to be ready to charge the tracker often, but it is worth it.
Activity Tracking
An ideal tracking watch should track your daily activities like steps, steps, and calories burned, in addition to monitoring your formal workouts. Some devices have specific profiles for exercises like running and swimming, but other devices have profiles for all activities.
When choosing a CrossFit exercise tracking device, you have to ensure that you go for a device built for high-intensity exercises. It is because some tracking devices are usually unable to work well when you are changing movements often, and they may not work efficiently, especially for CrossFit.
Moreover, some devices are also able to track activities automatically. But for a dynamic exercise, they may not work efficiently. Manual tracking of activities is more accurate, especially if you are doing a high-intensity exercise like CrossFit.
Heart Rate Monitoring
While a fitness tracker device should be able to track all your activities adequately, it should also be able to monitor your heart rate effectively.
For instance, if you are doing a CrossFit exercise or any other high-intensity exercise, you have a definite goal you want to attain. The easiest way to measure if you are achieving your goal is being at a particular heart rate zone. For starters, to burn fats efficiently, your heart rate has to be over 60%.
Moreover, for a CrossFit exercise, the heart rate monitor must be accurate because it is a high-intensity exercise. You will experience peak heart rates, and at the same time, your heart rate will briefly drop, then spike again when you embark on the exercise.
The monitor should be able to keep up, and also record accurate readings during all these changes. More prominent brands like Garmin or Apple, come with more accurate heart rate monitors.
Sleep Tracking
A good night's sleep is essential for everyone, not just trainers. While building muscles and strength is awesome, recovery is also as important as doing the exercises. Therefore, it is also essential for you to keep track of your sleep, and know whether you are getting adequate sleep.
Generally, there are times that you wake up and feel refreshed. Also, there are times that you wake up and feel tired than you were feeling before going to sleep. The only way to know what happened while you were sleeping is to monitor your sleep with an adequate device.
The devices will be able to record and store your sleep data. Mostly, they monitor your movement changes when you are sleeping. The sleep monitoring feature will determine whether you had a restful sleep, which explains how you feel when you wake up.
Lifestyle Features
These are the general features of a fitness tracker that make life more convenient. For instance, the music feature in a wrist track device makes it easy to play music. Some high end watches also have streaming features, which allow you to play your favorite music from the internet.
Some watches also come with the smartphone notification feature, but this type of watches are generally expensive. You can see all the messages, incoming calls, and all the other notifications coming to your phone through your watch.
The smartwatches also have weather alert applications that update you on weather changes in your location. Moreover, they also have female health tracking features that are incredibly helpful to women. Primarily, you can download any application that suits you on your smartwatch.
Is The Apple Watch Good For Fitness Tracking?
Apple watch series 5 is the best watch for fitness tracking offered by Apple. Today, it is currently used by many people during training exercises. The series five watch has many features that are essential in tracking fitness activities. The watch has individual profiles for many activities like running and swimming, for instance. Moreover, the tracking device also gives advanced metrics for every activity an athlete does. For starters, it records the number of steps, distance, and the calories you have burned. In a nutshell, it is an efficient fitness tracking device.
What Does a Fitness Tracker Do?
Primarily, a fitness tracker monitors all your fitness activities and all metrics that are involved with fitness. For starters, sleeping is an essential element in general body fitness, and a fitness tracker can be able to monitor your sleep. It can analyze your sleep, and use the various data it has collected to show you whether you are having a healthy restful sleep or not. Generally, it monitors all fitness activities that someone does, from the gym to home workouts, and also monitors metrics like distance walked, calories burned, and heartbeat rate.
How Do Fitness Trackers Measure Heart Rate?
A wrist fitness tracker uses LED light to view your capillaries through a sensor that can measure the rate at which your blood is flowing. The watch generally interprets the information and displays it on the screen in beats per minute. However, for the wrist track to measure the heart rate more accurately, you have to be still. Moving or talking could lead to inaccurate readings. Many people usually get inaccurate readings because they measure their heart rate while still working out. Moreover, when you take your heart rate when you are sweating, you will not get accurate readings. Therefore, ensure that when you measure your heart rate appropriately for accurate readings.
Conclusion
While choosing the right fitness tracking device is not a smooth ride, when you use all the information we have outlined for you in this piece, it will be much easier for you. For CrossFit athletes, the Garmin Fenix 5X remains to be the best tracking device.
Its long battery life and exceptional features, make it efficient in monitoring high-intensity activities like a CrossFit exercise. Also, they have a sleep tracker that can be able to monitor your sleep to ensure that you get a night of restful sleep for optimum health. Therefore, be wise in choosing a fitness tracking device considering all the factors we have outlined in this piece, to get the results you desire.