This is a follow up post to address comments/questions from the original GoWear Fit and Bodybugg article.
Let me point out that there has been a new comment widget added on the side of the site to see who has left a new comment. I encourage you to leave comments and to come back after you have left one to see if it has been addressed. I get a lot of comments/questions that I have previously answered and often receive emails asking for my response when I have already given it in the comment section.
So just a heads up on that. From now on I will do most of my follow-ups in the actual comment section unless the response requires extreme detail.
Here are a few of the points/questions raised from the article.
Question: Can you provide more detail about the tests you perform with the Bodybugg/GoWear Fit?
Answer: At least three different long term experiments will be covered with the release of Body By Eats. I have saved the majority of the detailed material for inclusion that book if people want to dive in further. The rest I will try to release here and there in the blog when I can.
Question: Do you still rent them out?
Answer: No. I don’t rent them out anymore and likely won’t be doing so again in the future. I will only be using them in my client work as needed.
Question: Does the 15% error go in either direction?
Answer: Yes. It all depends on the activity you do and your conditioning. The devices don’t take heart rate into account either which means it doesn’t adjust to conditioning on certain levels.
Question: Why should I get your book to go with it?
Answer: You don’t have to but I feel it provides a foolproof system. I figure—why waste time. Still, without my books or without the devices you can still achieve great success. If you wish to do so, you can access them here.
Question: How do you know it is off by that much?
Answer: The first note I put was that the information provided was my opinion. Nothing was labeled as absolute fact, and I had no means of proof. I have done many side by side comparisons with heart rate monitors and breath testing, and I have tracked and measured the progress of a large number of clients. So based on the overall average rate of loss versus activity and caloric intake, I would definitely recommend accounting for these types of errors to remove frustration so you can focus on fine tuning if needed. That is all.
Question: Price is all wrong yo, check it!
Answer: Yeah, it appears there are too many sources to purchase these devices so I removed that part of the review to focus on what matters most—performance. They both perform the same way really. I have only seen slightly higher readings in GoWears versus Bodybuggs; and the differences were so small that I didn’t feel right relaying them so that information wasn’t included.
Question: Regarding overtraining, do you think that is due to the body’s adaption to the exercise (and thus greater caloric efficiency) or to cloaking?
Answer: I think it can be both, but I think efficiency is a mixed bag of good and bad. In some ways, being more efficient means to slow down. It is the difference between a having slow heart rate due to good conditioning or having one because you are sick.
When we overtrain and under eat, things in our bodies (thyroid, leptin, axis of stress, etc.) can start to get weird. Breaking and refeeding halts this process.
I constantly see the best pace of loss, backed by the device measurements, in people that followed a program of programed training breaks and refeeds.
10 comments
Sinead
July 18, 2009 at 9:53 pmThanks for the clarification!
shari
July 19, 2009 at 5:02 amthanks for the answered questions!
Jack
July 19, 2009 at 8:10 amLeigh,
Your mention of the overreaching/undereating problem and the need for refeeds in such cases had me wondering about something.
In all your time working with scores of clients, have you encountered any cases where extreme mental stress alone started a major negative cascade of problems due to stress on the adrenals? e.g. things were going along fine with both a reasonable activity level and a food intake that wasn’t anything approaching a massive deficit but suddenly a mentally stressful period crops up and just sets things moving in the wrong direction (possibly to the point where reducing activity and consuming more nutrients doesn’t have a major impact in the positive direction)
Obviously resolving mental triggers is at the heart of such matters, but I was just curious if you’ve seen any/many cases where mental stress alone became the driving force behind significant negative changes.
Thank you for any feedback you’re able to share.
gabi.k
July 19, 2009 at 10:02 amLeigh I was wondering why you didn’t consider the actigraph/actitrainer? The actitrainer can also track a heart rate monitor (theactigraph.com/actitrainer.com). Also the fitbit is almost ready for release (fitbit.com). I have high hopes for this pedometer+accelerometer to monitor changes in daily activity without having to deal with an obtrusive armband — the price point is great too. Of course it’s pre-release and they may turn out to be terrible! One last huge difference that you didn’t mention, which I believe is still the case, is that GWF is Mac compatible while BB is Windows only.
shari
July 19, 2009 at 1:03 pmgabi-
that fitbit is very interesting looking….
I still cant tell if it is the same thing as the gowear fit? Do you know?
Much cheaper and no subscription
RedOne
July 19, 2009 at 2:12 pmThank you for answering (another) one of my questions!
I have so many more, but something tells me that they are unanswerable given the research conducted thus far. Do you know of any scientific studies currently being conducted? Pubmed’s results only yielded a frustrated hissy fit…
Gina
July 19, 2009 at 3:24 pmAwww I hate that you aren’t renting them. Thanks for answering more questions.
gabi.k
July 19, 2009 at 10:10 pmRedOne, this article refers to some studies: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124570834470838683.html which might help you find them.
shari, the fitbit is just the little black thing. there will be fewer inputs than a bodybugg (no temperature or skin response thing). it is just an accelerometer-based pedometer. but it’s much cheaper and basically all you can do is compare day-to-day anyway even with the armbands. there are more details at blog.fitbit.com — btw i’m not affiliated but I did preorder one!
RedOne
July 20, 2009 at 2:54 pmThanks gabi….already saw that 🙁
metalheaddoc
July 23, 2009 at 3:40 pmI preordered a fitbit as well. Seems pretty exciting.