Best Fitness Trackers for Athletes

Let’s be honest. Who ever dreamed of being able to maintain their fitness goals throughout the entire year, but found it hard to control their activity levels and drop all the efforts? The good news is that today it is possible for you to keep your health under control but also to have a good idea of your progress as an athlete, thanks to fitness trackers. By wearing one, you’ll get all the necessary information to be informed about your health and your activity progress, everything in real-time and accessible from your wrists. Most wearable fitness trackers can also help you sleep better (thanks to the accurate sleep tracking technology) and will give you enough information to make it easier for you to improve your health. There are many types of wearable devices, suited for different users. Some such devices are equipped with special features that come handy to the most advanced athletes. Others are more for everyday uses. No matter your levels of activity, the truth is that reaching your fitness goals and keep everything under control has never been that easy.

The Importance of Fitness Trackers for Athletes

Indeed, it is not surprising that fitness trackers have become so popular. However, it is also true that because of this popularity, the competition in the market has become quite harsh. With all of the several models to choose from, it is getting increasingly hard for consumers to make the right choice on the best fitness tracker for their needs.

This is why we prepared an exhaustive list of the best fitness trackers for athletes you can find out there, to help you make an informed decision on the purchase of your wearable device. Hopefully, you’ll have an easier to find the perfect one for you.

So, shall we start?

The Best Overall: The Apple Watch Series 4

Apple is a company with a great reputation. While it is best known for its trendy laptops and computers, it is also one of the most competitive suppliers of fitness trackers. Apple’s smartwatches are not only characterized by an attractive design. The latest series includes several updates and features that set this model apart from the harsh competition in the market of wearable fitness trackers.

This watch provides you with a particularly accurate heartbeat monitor and advanced fitness tracking, unrivaled by any other fitness tracker out there. For how fancy as it might look, the Apple Watch Series 4 is a great device even for extreme athletes: for example, it is water-resistant up to 50 meters and is extremely precise in measuring your calorie consumption, at any moment of the day. This watch is the perfect option if you are looking for advanced tracking of your activity levels during the entire day, no matter your fitness condition. Indeed, this watch can be worn during the entire day, making it not but also fashionable, thanks to the endless options and possibilities for wrist bands and colors.

Pros

• The display is large and extremely easy to read
• The health and fitness features are accurate and complete
• It has a decent battery life
• You will get notifications from your smartphone
• Extremely User-Friendly
• Choose from several automatic workouts for better tracking
• Trendy and stylish
• Beautiful design; endless combinations of wrist bands

Cons

• It does not offer the most accurate tracking sleep
• The cost is very high, it is an investment you should consider only if you are looking for something more sophisticated than the common step tracker

Fitbit Charge 3 Fitness Activity Tracker

• Better measure calorie burn, understand resting heart rate & more with 24×7 heart rate tracking and a battery life of up to 7 days (varies with use and other factors); charge time (0 to 100%) 2 hours
• Choose from 15 plus exercise modes like run, bike, swim, yoga, circuit training and more, set a goal, and get real time stats during your workouts to see how you can keep getting better
• Automatically record time spent in light, deep and REM sleep stages, see Activity trends, healthy insights, and personalized guidance in one place with Fitbit today. Operating temperature is -10° to 45° Celsius
• Swim proof and water resistant to 50 meters, so you can track swims and wear in the shower; we do not recommend wearing charge 3 in a hot tub or sauna; also connect to Smartphone GPS for real time pace and distance during outdoor runs and rides
• Stay connected to your day with everyday apps for weather and more and get called, text and smartphone app notifications on your wrist; small wristband fits a wrist between 5.5 to 7.1 inches; large wrist band fits a wrist between 7.1 to 8.7 inches

Another big name in the business of fitness trackers is Fitbit. This user-friendly device helps you tracking your health data and getting information on your daily steps, calorie burned and your heart rate. It is known for its daily reminders that are meant to push you to move more during the day to reach your fitness goals. Furthermore, it offers one of the most accurate REM sleep rate trackers on the market, to help you improve the quality of your sleep. All of this comes for a more reasonable price compared to the Apple Watch Series.

Pros

• Extremely Easy to Use
• You can choose out of 15 different workout modes for more precise tracking
• You can connect it to your smartphone to get text and phone notifications
• Reminders to move more
• Great Sleep Tracker

Cons

• It is not particularly stylish and you’ll have to buy extra bands if you want to wear it during the day without ruining your outfit too much
• Many users find the font of the screen too small and not very easy to read

Garmin Forerunner 735 XT Smartwatch: The Best Option For Athletes

• GPS running watch with multisport features
• Estimates heart rate at the wrist so you can run freer on race day.Shock resistant. Battery life : Smartwatch Mode Up to 11 days. GPS mode Up to 14 hours. UltraTrac mode Up to 24 hours without wrist heart rate
• Provides advanced dynamics for running, cycling and swimming7, including ground contact time balance, stride length, vertical ratio and more (when paired with a Running Dynamics Pod, HRM Run or HRM Tri Monitor, sold separately)
• Offers VO2 max estimate, lactate threshold (when used with a chest strap heart rate monitor), race predictor and recovery advisor
• Connected features4: smart notifications, automatic uploads to Garmin Connect, live tracking and more

The Garmin Forerunner 735 XT Smartwatch device offers highly accurate and advances training feedback, combined with sport-specific settings that make it a great option for athletes. This fitness tracker works extremely well for those people that do not follow “basic” workouts and are looking for something more advanced that will help them perform better.

No matter if you are biking, sprinting, strength training or running, this durable device will become your best companion during your workouts. The kind of feedback you’ll get goes beyond the classic heartbeat rate and includes stride length, vertical ratio and ground contact time balance, among others.

Pros

• Great for athletes: it offers advanced feedback useful if you are training for a race and need to keep track of your performance and improve it
• You can connect it to your smartphone
• Includes advanced feedback not offered by other devices

Cons

• Not-so good looking design
• Quite Expensive

Garmin VivoActive 3: Great For Watersports

• Garmin Pay contactless payment solution lets you pay for purchases with your watch (available for supported cards from participating banks)
• Personalize your watch with thousands of free watch faces, apps and widgets from our Connect IQ store
• More than 15 preloaded GPS and indoor sports apps, including yoga, running, swimming and more. Lens material: chemically strengthened glass, bezel material: stainless steel, case material: fiber-reinforced polymer with stainless steel rear cover

If you tend to workout mainly in the water, it can be difficult to find the appropriate fitness tracker. One of the best out there is the Garmin Vivoactive, designed specifically for water workouts. It is one of the only devices that are completely safe to be used in water and under the shower and extremely durable.

You can use it to keep track of your heart rate and estimate your maximum VO2 levels. It is a good device to keep track of your performance and to improve your records. By connecting it to your smartphone, you’ll be able to get a good overview of your daily workouts.

Pros

• Water-resistant and water-friendly design
• Wrist-based monitoring technology for heart rate and VO2 max
• Easy to read
• Fast navigation
• Durable

Cons

• You might need to invest in extra screen protectors, especially if you play water polo or similar sports, where there might be higher levels of contacts

If Style is Important For You: The Motiv Ring

• YOU 1ST GET A SIZING SET TO FIND YOUR SIZE; RING SENT ONCE YOU SELECT SIZE/COLOR, SHIPPING INCLUDED
• 24/7 Smart Ring: Track steps & distance, heart rate, activity, calories burned, sleep monitoring
• Waterproof & Durable; Ultralight Titanium; USB Magnetic Charging Dock
• 3-day battery life; charges in 90 minutes via included USB Charger
• Works with Apple Health and Google Fit.

Most fitness trackers can look quite big on your wrist and are not very stylish. The Motiv Ring offers you the possibility to keep track of your daily exercise activity and your heart rate without compromising on style.

The design is made for the device to be durable, waterproof and to fit with pretty much every outfit. You will be able to wear it all day long, whether for training or a nice dinner out! That means that you’ll be able to wear your activity throughout the day, without having to worry about having to wear a clumsy-looking watch that does not fit with your outfit.

Pros

• Stylish and functional
• You can try out the ring size before the purchase for a customized fit
• Provides you with most fitness tracking features (calories, steps, heart rate and more)

Cons

• You won’t be able to connect it to your smartphone, so you won’t receive screen notifications

Conclusion

So here was our list for the best fitness trackers for athletes, make sure you take into account the various pros and cons for each model, to guide you in your final decision. Good luck!