Using a Fitness Tracker or App While Horseback Riding?
By: Brittany Bevis
Like the majority of Americans, it’s likely your New Year’s resolution has something to do with getting in better shape, losing weight, or starting an exercise program. If the statistics are correct, 71% of us will have maintained our resolution to the two-week mark. However, after six months, the percentage drops down to 46%.
Therefore, it’s no surprise a little device that saw a huge boost in popularity during 2014 was the fitness tracker. There is a wide variety of fitness trackers, such as the Fitbit, Jawbone, or Nike+FuelBand, that allow you to track daily activity, sync wirelessly via bluetooth with your smartphone, monitor progress with charts and graphs, set goals, earn badges, and share your results with friends on social media.
For example, the Fitbit Flex tracks number of steps taken, calories burned, hours slept, distance traveled, and active minutes. The Nike+ FuelBand uses an algorithm to measure whole-body movement by using an accelerometer, much like the technology that knows when you’ve turned your phone sideways and adjusts the screen to match.
Wondering how many calories you burned while walking your dog today as compared to last week? Some devices allow the user to track a specific session of the day for later comparison.
If these devices are useful for tracking fitness while walking, running, and working out, what about horseback riding? Granted, these devices weren’t specifically created with equestrians in mind, however, might they still be useful for measuring activity while doing everyday chores like grooming, tacking up, cleaning stalls, ect?
First, we chatted with a Nike+ Support team member to answer a few of our questions. Then, we embarked on an experiment of our own with a Nike+ FuelBand…
“The FuelBand SE uses a three axis accelerometer to determine movement along with the user’s profile and, in return, provides an estimate amount of steps and calories burned,” Brandon says. “The main feature is called NikeFuel, which is a universal way to track pretty much any activity.”
“I’m no horseback rider myself, but I can certainly tell you that as long as there is arm movement, it should track riding a little inaccurate since it’s not a human movement, unless he or she moves their arms to guide the horse enough. It can however, track maintenance of the horse [grooming, tacking up, cleaning] as NikeFuel is a way to track any human activity.”
This app screenshot shows average stats from the 14 barn sessions recorded.
Although the FuelBand SE wasn’t made for a specific sport, Brandon says many users find ways to use the device to their advantage and help them stay more active.
Now for our little experiment… Just for fun, I wore my Nike+FuelBand during several barn sessions over several weeks. It recorded 14 sessions in total. Each session included the time spent to groom, tack up, ride, untack, and clean the horse. Just like our Nike+ Support Team member said, certain statistics were skewed slightly during the time actually spent in the saddle. However, it was very helpful for tracking the average duration of each ride (1 hour and 31 minutes), average fuel earned during each session (1,150 fuel points), and the most “intense” ride on record at (17 points a minute).
This app graph shows one particular barn session. We added the activities being done at the time for clarity.
From an equestrian standpoint, I did find the activity level graph to be fairly accurate based on what task was being done at the time. The device’s app clearly showed similar peaks and valleys that were consistent across most sessions recorded during time spent tacking up as opposed to cleaning stalls, ect. Granted, this wasn’t a scientific experiment or endorsement of any one fitness tracker, just a fun, little experiment.
If you’re looking for something a bit more concrete, check out the Compendium of Physical Activities Table online, which assigns a number called an MET to reflect the amount of energy expended during various physical activities. For example, playing a game of basketball has an MET of 8.0, while bowling has a 3.8, and shooting pool has a 2.5.
Horseback riding in general has a MET of 5.5, but that can vary depending on your horse’s gait. Walking receives a 3.8, trotting a 5.8, and cantering a 7.3. Horse chores like feeding, watering, and cleaning stalls rank as a 4.3.
Comparison sports
- basketball game- 8.0
- golf- 4.8
- bowling- 3.8
- shooting pool- 2.5
Equestrian activities
- horseback riding in general- 5.5
- horse chores like feeding, watering, cleaning stalls- 4.3
- saddling, grooming, cleaning- 4.5
- trotting- 5.8
- canter/gallop- 7.3
- walking- 3.8
- jumping- 9.0
- pulling a cart- 1.8
- polo- 8.0
As fellow equestrians, what fitness trackers do you like to use and what apps are helpful? Here are a few we’ve heard are popular with our equestrian friends.
Equitrack iPhone app– This app enables you to record rides using a GPS and stats including time, distance, and speed. View your progress on a map, and monitor the energy you and your horse expend.
EveryTrail– Allows user to track route on a map with GPS. Intended for walking, biking, hiking, ect. Allows you to post camera pics and video clips on the map and view stats like distance, speed, and elevation.
ViewRanger- This app uses high quality topographical maps, provides guided routes to follow, and allows the user to share their location from the trail with the BuddyBeacon. “The ViewRanger is used by practitioners of many different sports, be it on foot, on bike, on horseback, on snow, on water, motor-powered…”
Allsport GPS- This app track rides, runs, walks, and can track training sessions.
Good luck in keeping your resolutions throughout 2015!
