7 best fitness trackers for gym rats for 2023
Indoor workouts at gyms have been something many of us have avoided for more than a year. But these are starting to open back up — a way to take our fitness routine out of a bedroom, hallway, or the street. A great fitness tracker can help people stick to a new routine and amp up their workouts. These six are ones to consider that work anywhere you're breaking a workout sweat, including your favorite gym.
Garmin Venu 3
Amazon
Garmin Venu 3 smartwatch
The new Venu 3 from Garmin can calculate an estimation of your fitness age by taking into account your age, resting heart rate, and body fat percentage (taken from a smart scale) or BMI number. From there, you'll get advice on how to improve your fitness and lower that statistic. There's also something called Body Battery Energy Monitoring, which tracks your body's energy levels throughout the day in a bid to help you find the best times for activity and rest. This could be useful to working out when it is best to go to the gym and when you should stay home.
This data is presented on a circular AMOLED touchscreen display inside a 41mm or 45mm case, and you can select various colors, including black, gray, gold, silver, whitestone, and slate, with a strap to match.
Buy on Amazon
▲Apple Watch 8
Apple Watch 8 Series offers 18 hours of battery life
The Apple Watch is now in Series 8 and better than ever. The new bigger, and better design boasts a blood oxygen sensor, an app, a heart sensor, and automatic workout detection. If you forget to start the watch but start a class, you'll get a little haptic buzz on your wrist to start recording it. This smartwatch also has built-in cellular, so you can call, text, and stream even if you don't have your phone. (Although there is an extra monthly fee for this feature.) Plus, the Apple Watch 8 is swimproof, ideal if you're lucky to belong to a gym with a pool. It has a new running form analysis feature and a new swimming stroke detection feature, which will be helpful. However, the newest part of the new Apple Watch 8 has a faster dual-core processor for improved performance. This makes the watch faster and more responsive, especially when working out, and it tracks your vitals in real time.
Buy on Amazon
▲Fitbit Luxe
Fitbit
Fitbit Charge 5 Fitness Tracker
In August, the Google-owned Fitbit introduced a new fitness tracker called Fitbit Charge 5. This new fitness tracker is compatible with both iOS and Android mobile devices. Fitbit Charge 5 benefits with a seven-day battery life and built-in GPS to track your workouts without carrying your phone. It also comes with an ECG app that can be used to take ECG readings, an EDA Scan app that can be used to measure your skin conductance, can calculate a daily Readiness score that tells you how well-rested and ready you are to work, and has several stress management tools, such as guided breathing sessions and relaxation exercises.
The Fitbit Charge 5 has various workout features, including pace and distance tracking, which is useful when running on a gym treadmill. This slim smartwatch also has built-in exercise modes and automatically starts recording when exercise is detected. The Fitbit Charge 5 is water resistant to 50 meters and has a swimming mode to track your exercise in the ocean or a gym pool.
Buy on Best Buy
▲Fitbit Inspire 3
Fitbit
Fitbit Inspire 3
The Fitbit Inspire 3 is another good fitness tracker from the Google-owned Fitbit, released in September 2022. It is the successor to the Fitbit Inspire 2. The Inspire 3 is more affordable than the Charge 5, but it still offers several features for tracking your health and fitness.
Here are some of the critical features of the Fitbit Inspire 3:
- 24/7 heart rate monitoring: The Inspire 3 can monitor your heart rate 24/7.
- SpO2 monitoring: The Inspire 3 can monitor your blood oxygen levels.
- Sleep tracking: The Inspire 3 can track your sleep.
- Activity tracking: The Inspire 3 can follow your steps, calories burned, and distance traveled.
- Stress management tools: The Inspire 3 has several stress management tools, such as guided breathing sessions and relaxation exercises.
- Active Zone Minutes: The Inspire 3 calculates Active Zone Minutes, which measure the intensity of your workouts.
- Menstrual health tracking: The Inspire 3 can track your menstrual cycle and symptoms.
- Smart notifications: The Inspire 3 can receive smart notifications from your phone.
Garmin Fenix 6
Garmin Fenix 6 on the far right
You need to be willing to invest a bit for the Garmin Fenix 6, but this is a smartwatch that can go from the gym to the outdoors easily. With many of the sports and fitness tracking features you see on other smartwatches, this $550 smartwatch also has apps for hiking, expeditions, skiing, golf, and more — a waterproof device that can easily handle some HIIT workouts at the gym and then take you waterskiing or swimming as well.
Buy on Amazon
▲Withings ScanWatch and ScanWatch 2
The Withings ScanWatch has advanced fitness and sleep tracking, plus constant heart rate monitoring, an ECG function, and the ability to measure SpO2, better known as blood oxygenation. You can also start exercise tracking manually by pressing the crown, scrolling to the workout option, and pressing it again to get started. Here, you have to select 'other' if you are doing something other than running, cycling, or swimming, then head into the Health Mate phone app afterward to tag the exercise.
The company just launched the new ScanWatch 2, which is also a good fitness tracker and a hybrid smartwatch. This second-generation fitness tracker and the ScanWatch on Amazon, Best Buy, and the company site are available.
Buy on Best Buy
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One fitness tracker that still makes our list is Fitbit's Luxe because it is the fitness tracker with the most style. Fitbit Luxe benefits with a five-day battery life, comes in four colors, and has various workout features, including pace and distance tracking, which is useful when running on a gym treadmill. This slim smartwatch/fitness tracker also has 20 built-in exercise modes and automatically starts recording when exercise is detected. The Fitbit Luxe is water resistant to 50 meters and has a swimming mode to track your activity in the ocean or a gym pool. It only costs $129.95 and is available on Amazon and Best Buy.
Buy on Amazon
▲Check out The GearBrain, our compatibility find engine, to see the other smartwatches that work with your smartphone.
