Fitness trackers are everywhere now; from FitBits to Polar Watches. Activity watches and apps have made it easier than ever to monitor your workouts and your progress. Not only do they help you stick to your fitness and health goals, but many of them have been designed so well they are fashionable and almost undetectable as a monitoring device. Whether you want to log your steps, check on the quality of your sleep, check out how many calories you burned during your strength training – there is surely a device to fit your needs. For the first year of my strength training I used a Polar FT7 watch in order to be able to measure how many calories I was burning during my lifting sessions. Before using one of their watches I had no idea how many calories I was using, and when you’re looking to log things in your trackers or logs you want that information. (You can read my full review on my Polar FT7 watch here)

My Top Picks for Fitness Trackers

Apple Watch Sport 38MM

A smarter way to look at health and fitness. Fitness isn’t just about running, biking, or hitting the gym. It’s also about being active throughout the day. So Apple Watch measures all the ways you move, such as walking the dog, taking the stairs, or playing with your kids. It even keeps track of when you stand up and encourages you to keep moving. Because it all counts. And it all adds up.

The Activity app provides a simple visual snapshot of your daily activity, with three rings telling you everything you need to know. The Stand ring shows how often you’ve stood up to take a break from sitting. The Move ring shows how many active calories you’ve burned. And the Exercise ring shows how many minutes of brisk activity you’ve completed. The goal? Close each ring every day. Even if you’re active part of the day, sitting too long has its own health risks. So Apple Watch senses when you stand and move just a bit and gives you credit. And if you’ve been sitting for almost an hour, it reminds you to get up. You close the Stand ring when you’ve stood and moved for at least one minute in 12 different hours during the day. It may sound like a small thing, but sitting less can improve your health in significant ways.  Each week, Apple Watch can suggest a new daily Move goal for how many active calories to burn each day, based on your recent history. You close the Move ring when you meet your personal active calorie burn goal for the day. You can also adjust the suggested goal, making it higher or lower, until it feels just right for you. By aiming for small improvements each week, you’re more likely to make progress. Any activity performed at the level of a brisk walk or above is considered exercise. And Apple Watch keeps track of how much you do each day, even when it’s not in the context of a dedicated workout. You close the Exercise ring when you reach the globally recommended 30 minutes of exercise per day. And you don’t even have to do it all at once, which means you’re more likely to fit it into your day.

Fitbit Charge HR Wireless Activity Tracker

HEART RATE + ACTIVITY WRISTBAND. For better fitness, start with heart. Let your heart be your guide with Charge HR. Monitor heart rate automatically and continuously right on your wrist to accurately track calorie burn, maintain workout intensity, maximize training and optimize health—all without an uncomfortable chest strap. This is great for strength training since you are going to be able to monitor calories burned due to your heart rate. This is great for someone who wants overall health and well being stats. With a comfortable fit and Caller ID, Charge HR lets you stay connected in style. See incoming call notifications on display when your phone is nearby to stay in the know, on the go.

Fitbit Surge Fitness Watch with Heart Rate Monitor

THE #1 SELLING GPS WATCH IN THE US. Create your own path. Track it with GPS.Don’t just start. Surge—with run time, distance, pace and elevation stats on display. See split times real time. Scroll through workout summaries and review routes after you run them to stay on track while you train. The Fitbit Surge is great for distance runners, hikers, joggers and walkers who like to venture outside. It’s also great for those people who hate to wear a heart rate monitor strap. Maximize training, maintain intensity and monitor calorie burn with automatic wrist-based heart rate monitoring. With continuous heart rate readings, Surge keeps you in the zone—all day and during workouts. No straps. No clips. No guessing.

Garmin Vivofit Fitness Bracelet and Heart Rate Monitor

vívofit 2 learns your current activity level, then assigns an attainable daily goal. Research shows prolonged periods of inactivity such as sitting at a desk decreases your body’s production of fat-burning enzymes. You can reverse that effect by taking frequent, short walk breaks throughout your day. And while you might lose track of time and forget to move, vívofit 2 knows. A red move bar appears on the display and a gentle alert sounds after one hour of inactivity. The move bar builds every 15 minutes until you reset it by walking for a couple of minutes. Don’t want to be bothered with a beep every hour? Set up your compatible mobile device to vibrate as your cue to move. As you meet your milestones, vívofit 2 will adjust your goal for the next day, gradually nudging you toward a healthier lifestyle. At Garmin Connect, our free online fitness community, you can earn virtual badges and view your progress. When you’re ready to take the next steps toward better health, vívofit 2 has additional features to keep you motivated. Use the activity timer to record a timed activity, such as a walk or run, which can be saved and sent to Garmin Connect. You can also pair vívofit 2 with a heart rate monitor² during fitness activities, such as a run or a cardio class at the gym, to record your heart rate and zone data and get more accurate calorie burn information. For detailed calorie tracking, you can create an account at MyFitnessPal and link it to your Garmin Connect account. This allows you to compare calories consumed to your total calories burned, which vívofit 2 records throughout the day.

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Polar Ft7 Heart Rate Monitor

This is the fitness tracker I am most familiar with and seems to be the most popular among weight training and strength training females. This allows me to monitor my heart rate and time spent in my ideal heart rate zone. It will alert you if you fall below your zone which means to push yourself or speed up the tempo. It helps me to measure the number of calories burning while lifting. I have had 2 polar watches over the years and while I don’t use mine as often as I used to, I still love this brand.

Polar Loop Fitness Tracking Band

Polar Loop 2 Activity Tracker. Finding time for fitness can be challenging, but the Polar Loop 2 is here to help with motivating feedback and individual guidance. At the tap of a button, Loop 2 displays the time, your total steps, calories burned, daily activity goal and tips to reach it.

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The writer and creator of JerseyGirlTalk.com - a blog dedicated to inspiring and helping readers to feel and look their very best both inside and out. I love writing, photography, makeup, fashion and fitness.