Fitness trackers are becoming increasingly popular and more and more people are enjoying the numerous health benefits that go along with wearing a tracker. However, many people find it a thorn in the side that they can only wear them around their wrists, either because they are not allowed to wear a tracker at work (e.g. nurses or cooks) or because they don’t like the constant distractions on their wrist.
If you are one of those people, then you have just come across the right article because here we are going to take a look at 5 different possibilities how you can wear a fitness tracker on your ankle. Have fun!
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Why Does It Make Sense To Wear A Fitness Tracker On Your Ankle?
Fitness trackers track your steps, as well as other activity and health data during the day and give you feedback whether you have been active enough or not. The underlying goal is to increase our awareness of the right amount of exercise and to incorporate more movement into our increasingly sedentary daily lives.
Therefore, fitness trackers are the ideal and very useful everyday companion. However, many people’s daily life does not allow them to wear a fitness tracker, at least not on their wrists.
» You Might Like: The Best Minimalist Fitness Trackers Without a Display.
Healthcare professionals and nurses, for example, are often not allowed to wear bracelets, watches or other types of jewelry at work. And this is not just an individual case. In fact, wearing a fitness tracker is problematic in many more professions.
But do all the people working in these jobs really have to do without the many benefits that fitness trackers provide? Well, fortunately not, because now there are several ways to have your activity tracked on your ankle as well.
By the way, this is also useful for some sports. When cycling, for example, our arms and even the wrists where the trackers are normally located hardly move at all.
Since the devices work with accelerometers, hardly any movement will be tracked in sports like cycling when wearing the tracker on the wrist. For this reason, it is much more useful in these cases to attach the tracker to the ankle or leg, since this is where most of the movement takes place.
So, let’s take a look at which fitness trackers you can wear on your ankle!
» Related: Fitness Trackers that Work Without a Smartphone (to Preserve Your Privacy)
The Moov Now Fitness Tracker
Update: it’s a shame the Moov Now fitness tracker has been discontinued; however, here are 2 viable affordable alternatives: The MorePro Fitness Tracker & Mgaolo Fitness Tracker.
Phew, I can tell you that it is not so easy to find a fitness tracker you can wear on your ankle. While the fitness market is flooded with classic wristband trackers, hardly any manufacturer has developed a good device for the ankle.
One of these few, positive exceptions is the Moov Now Fitness Tracker. This model consists of a wristband in a net design that contains a small core that does the actual work. The tracking is done by the integrated 9-axis accelerometer, which can detect 3D movements.
In addition, a gyroscope is used to detect the rotation, and a magnetometer is used for better orientation. This allows the Moov Now to keep an eye on your activities while running, cycling, swimming, as well as numerous other sports.
For example, while running, the tracker also tracks the cadence, impact intensity and the range of motion of the foot. When swimming, the swimming style, the amount of strokes, the SWOLF value to indicate swimming efficiency and many other parameters are given.
What’s also very nice about this device is the strong battery life of up to 6 months, as well as the detailed phone app, which can be downloaded for free in the respective App Stores.
However, the best thing about this tracker is, as you might guess, that you can wear it on your ankle. This model was especially designed for being used on the ankle and works perfectly. It also comes with a sleep tracking feature, which is really not a matter of course for ankle fitness trackers.
3D FitBud Pedometer
Here’s a second different way you can wear a fitness tracker on your ankle. Instead of the classic wristband-style fitness tracker, you can also use a simple 3D pedometer. These are usually small devices in the size of a pocket watch, which can be worn independently of a wristband.
It is just the sensor itself and it can be worn everywhere, really everywhere: On your arm, on your leg, on a necklace, on your hip, in your pocket… the possibilities are almost unlimited, it is only important that you have the pedometer with you.
This is made possible by the so-called tri-axis sensor technology, which can track your movements in any position and from any angle. This makes it much more accurate than traditional trackers (even on your ankle) and allows us to use the technology anywhere we want.
If you are interested in these simple trackers, you should take a look at the FitBud 3D pedometer.
Misfit Shine Foot Fitness Tracker
Alternatively, the Misfit Shine Fitness Tracker is worth considering. Just like the Moov Now, this tracker consists of a bracelet and a removable core. It can actually be worn anywhere on your body, no matter if on your wrist, your shoes, your hip, or of course your ankle.
This tracker has a fantastic design and is really eye-catching. Moreover, it is of very high quality and extremely durable.
The metal core consists of aircraft aluminum, is waterproof, and according to the manufacturer it is “designed to last a lifetime”. I’m not sure whether it’s really a lifetime, but this tracker definitely makes a high-quality impression.
All in all, the Misfit Shine is a very interesting fitness tracker for the ankle, and it certainly doesn’t hurt to take a look at it. But from the looks of it, the Misfit Shine is out of stock and so be sure to check out this popular alternative from Amazon that’s way more stylish, discreet and doubles as a sleep tracker: Amazon Halo Band.
Can You Wear a Fitbit Tracker on Your Ankle?
There is no doubt that Fitbit is among the best fitness tracker manufacturers, the models of the American company usually enjoy huge popularity. When you are walking around the city, you can’t help but notice Fitbit equipment on other people’s wrists. But what about wearing Fitbit models on your ankle?
With popular models, such as the Fitbit Alta HR, or the Fitbit Charge 3, for example, the wristbands can easily be changed. This allows you to remove the core of the device, which also contains the motion sensors, and place it wherever you want.
As with the previous options, you can wear the tracker wherever you want. Some runners and cyclists place the tracker in their socks or in tight cycling shorts.
To attach the tracker to the ankle, you could just use a hook-and-loop fastener.
Fitbit does not guarantee a 100% tracking accuracy in this case, but experience shows that counting steps also works very well in this way. The only problem I can think about is that you would have to do without the heart rate monitoring, because it’s much harder if not impossible for the tracker to measure your heart rate on your ankle.
Using Extra Large Extender Bands
The problem with wearing fitness trackers on the ankle is usually that the wristband is too short. However, you might consider an extender band that can be connected to the original wristband to expend it. This will also allow the tracker to be worn on the ankle.
There are not too many options that I could find but this extender band (compatible with Fitbit) might do the job.
Can Fitness Trackers Monitor Your Heart Rate on Your Ankle?
Advanced fitness trackers, such as most of Fitbit’s models, can measure your heart rate on your wrist by scanning blood flow using LED lights.
Simply put, this works by having the heart rate sensor detect the color differences on your skin as a result of increased blood flow at higher heart rates. For this to work, the tracker must fit tightly on your wrist and should not slip too much.
The technology is not exclusively usable on the wrist, but this part of the body is best in terms of its anatomy because there is not much skin, muscle or other tissue between your capillary veins and the heart rate sensor.
The optical heart rate measurement should work in the same way on the ankle, but the bony structure of the leg and the fact that a fitness tracker would slip much more when worn here, will decrease the reliability of the heart rate values.
Therefore, I have made the experience that heart rate monitoring on the ankle is not really useful. However, simple movement data, such as step counting, works perfectly on the ankle as well.
Final Thoughts on Wearing Fitness Trackers on Your Ankle
Fitness trackers are quite rightly enjoying an ever-increasing popularity and are being worn by more and more people around the world. Even people who cannot or do not want to wear a tracker around their wrist for professional or private reasons do not have to go away empty-handed, because there are various ways to wear the tracker on the ankle or other parts of the body.
I hope that I could show you some of these options with this article and that I could help you in general. If you have any further questions or if you have found a solution for this problem yourself, I would be very happy to hear from you. Otherwise I wish you a lot of fun with your new ankle fitness tracker.
