Activity monitor recommendations?
 

Want to get an activity monitor to help my 80 y/o dad stay active. He is supposed to walk daily, and professes a desire to do so, but he just sort of starts well and trails off over a couple of weeks.

Should be very simple, and if it needs to work with a computer, needs to be a Mac.

Any recommendations? Fitbit has a wristband one that also tells time.

How's his vision? All trackers have small displays even the Apple watch, when it reminds me to stand I have to have glasses to read it.

He's 80?

How about a 40 yr old hooker?

Does he have a smart phone? Thuy had a Jawbone Up Move that she's been using over a year now and loves. Just a small little thing that she can clip to her clothes and it tracks everything. Cost about 50 on Amazon.


I'm sure my Apple Watch tracks my steps, but I haven't looked of given a damn. ;)

For an old guy, I recommend a simple pedometer with a large read out and a calendar to manually enter steps.

The fitbits are very nice, even the simple ones, but you really need a smart phone to get anything out of them.

G

I really like my fitbit Charge HR...there is an earlier thread: http://forums.pelicanparts.com/off-topic-discussions/896537-fit-bit.html

They retail at $149 but easy to find at $109. Paired with my Iphone 6, it really does a lot. The Heart Rate feature is really helpful. It syncs up with the Iphone using Bluetooth. It replaces a watch as it is smart enough to know when you turn your wrist, the LED display comes on showing the time. It also vibrates when you get phone call and displays caller ID. so you can leave your ringer off and the phone nearby or in your pocket. It automatically monitors (knows when you are sleeping) your sleep so you can track (sleep quality) how long you sleep how many times you wake and how many times you were restless. It also has a silent, vibrating alarm.

It also monitors your heart rate so you know if your activities are in a fat burning zone or an aerobic one (climbing stairs, fast walk, etc). It monitors you at night and determines you resting heart rate (most accurate time), how long you sleep and if you are waking or sleeping poorly. It measures distance and steps you travel each day. If you do stairs, it tracks floors climbed (all automatically). You can set goals to met and it will let you know if you meet them. The software also monitors water intake, but you have to put that in manually. You can also manually put in your weight each day to track it or buy the fitbit scale (aria) that transmits it automatically.

It is good to use if you have a workout "buddy" and can challenge them. It will send your challenge to them and monitor and decide the winner (it also allows you to track/graph your dad's activity, heart rate, sleep, etc. daily and over time and keep him on track). My wife got one a couple years ago and she never could keep a workout routine before, but a friend challenges her and she has does a fast 70 minutes each day on the treadmill. Started at a slow 20.

I recently got one as a gift...and although I never really though I would appreciate/wear it...I do and really like it.

Excellent idea! I will show this to my wife the next time tells I need to exercise more.

Cattle prod ?:D