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You already know that Fitbit smartwatches and fitness trackers have a lot to offer and can change how you manage your health and fitness. It certainly did for us.
With the risk of being obsessive, we can imagine a morning without checking our sleep score and an evening without making sure that we managed to reach our daily 10,000 steps milestone.
Wearing your brand new Fitbit Sense or Fitbit Charge 5 the right way is critical to ensure proper continuous data collection.
It can be frustrating not to get your morning Heart Rate Variability, temperature, or Blood Oxygen Saturation (SpO2). But, most often than not, the lack of data collection will be linked to the way and how tight you wear your device. Ensure, of course, that the firmware is updated and the battery is charged.
How to Properly Positioned and Tighten Your Fitbit?
The Fitbit website provides detailed instructions on how to position your tracker or smartwatch depending on whether you are exercising.
We will refer to the instruction manual of the Fitbit Sense. The instructions are the same for the Fitbit Versa and can also be applied to other trackers such as the Fitbit Charge 5.
The critical point to remember is that the sensors should always contact the skin. So wear your device tight enough to touch the skin but loose enough not to impair blood flow.
How to Position Your Fitbit for All-Day Wear?
The basic principle is to position your Fitbit one finger away from your wrist bone for all-day wear. The wrist bone is easy to locate and is a convenient anatomical marker.
How to Position Your Fitbit While Exercising?
While exercising, you will hopefully move and sweat, leading to your Fitbit to move and lose proper contact with the skin. Therefore, you should wear the device slightly higher, two fingers away from the wrist bone, and slightly tighter than usual.
Do not forget to release the watch and put it back in its daily position after exercising. A good piece of advice is also to shower and wash appropriately after exercising before putting back your Fitbit model in place. Sweat contains a lot of salt, and you certainly do not want to leave a layer of salts between the sensors and your skin.
Also, remember that even if most Fitbit devices are water-resistant, we do not recommend you bathe or shower with them. Soap or shower products can leave residues on the sensors. Check Fitbit care instructions to make the most of your device for the years to come.
All the Fitbit Bands Are Not Created Equal
Most Fitbit, except for the designer’s models, such as the Fitbit Luxe Gorjana, will come with infinite loop rubber bands.
While comfortable to wear, the provided bands may become uncomfortable, and it can be challenging to find the right setting on the band.
Our recommendation and the one we follow with our Fitbit Charge 5 is to use an adjustable nylon band. These bands are cheap, come in various designs, and use a clip to adjust the Fitbit device at the correct position and with the proper tightness. We love the convenience these bands offer and consider them a must-have in your Fitbit accessories collection.
Depending on the occasion, it is also possible to change the bracelet. For example, you may favor a casual one while exercising and a more stylish one for daily wear.
What Are the Risks of Wearing Your Fitbit Too Tight?
It is critical to wear your Fitbit tight enough to ensure proper data tracking but not too tight. We know it sounds tricky, but it is not. We suggest that you proceed in steps:
Position your brand as previously described: one finger apart from the wrist bone for daily use and two fingers away when exercising.
Adjust the band properly to be loose enough to move but tight enough to allow close contact with the skin.
Wearing your Fitbit too tight will not improve data collection and may lead to irritations or even to the infamous Fitbit rash that most of us experienced at one point in our life with a fitness tracker or smartwatch.
RELATED READING: How To Deal With A Fitbit Rash?
What Are the Risks of Wearing Your Fitbit Too Loose?
The main risk of wearing your Fitbit too loose is not correctly collecting the data, especially while exercising or at night.
Most data collection issues are directly linked to improperly positioning your device. For example, at night, the newest Fitbit devices, such as the Fitbit Sense or the Fitbit Charge 5, will collect more than your heart rate. Still, they will make the most of their numerous sensors and gyroscopes to detect sleep patterns, temperature, Heart Rate Variability, Blood oxygen saturation, and much more.
It is then critical to position your device the right way to make the most of the features offered—some of them requiring a Fitbit Premium subscription.
To Wrap Up
We hope we did not scare you and make how tight to wear your Fitbit seems complex. It is not. It is just a matter of finding the right sweet spot to combine comfort and data accuracy.
Do not hesitate to test different levels of tightness and stick to the one that gives the best results. Also, as indicated, an adjustable nylon band may be an excellent option to consider, providing that you are willing to pay a couple of extra dollars.
With just a little bit of practice, we are convinced that you will make the most of your Fitbit without dealing with rashes or blood flow issues. After all, a Fitbit is just a watch, but a smart one.
