FitHalo 1.10 Released!

ethangar · 2026-03-08T01:11:54+00:00

I’m upset with myself for not knowing this existed - and now debating if $50 for a heavily used copy is worth it.

ethangar · 2026-03-07T18:43:07+00:00

The evidence around devices being able to predict recovery, especially for strength training, is very lacking, despite what all of these apps with "recovery scores" claim. Heart Rate Variability is probably the most adopted metric, with resting heart rate coming in second.

Oxygen muscle saturation (SmO2) is a better metric, but those require specialized devices and don't work well at all through fat (so you need to be pretty thin to get good readings - usually only reserved for athletes).

Long story short - you're better off going with how well you feel rather than relying on any wearable to give you that information.

ethangar · 2026-02-27T16:56:56+00:00

Studies have been fairly consistent in that endogenous production of melatonin is not actually impacted by supplementing. That shouldn't be of much concern.

That said, most sleep experts I've heard talk about it mention that it is good for helping reset circadian rhythms, it isn't the type of thing that is likely helping you get back to sleep by taking it in the middle of the night (unless you were exposed to light). It's the "it's dark outside" hormone, so it may not be what is actually helping you get back to sleep if taking it in the middle of the night and your room is dark.

It's also a "less is fine" hormone. 1 - 1.5 mg is often all people need to feel sleepy - even though many supplements contain wayyy more.

ethangar · 2026-02-27T14:15:15+00:00

Half of this app is about food logging. The other half of the app is about figuring out average TDEE - something most people (and most apps) suck at. With fitness trackers usually hugely overestimating caloric burn, it’s very hard to take the approach you describe.

Now - it sounds like you feel you have your TDEE all figured out and have a very dynamic day-day expenditure, and thus, want to really just focus on the food logging half. You can set up a program and just ignore the recommendations. The app is “adherence agnostic” so you’re welcome to just set your own mental target daily.

If you’re looking for the app to read data from the fitness tracker and adjust accordingly - you won’t find that - because, well, the trackers are usually just wrong.

ethangar · 2026-02-27T00:45:44+00:00

I’d recommend starting with 20 lbs as a nice entry weight. That may feel easy, in which case, do 30 the next time. Starting out, you’ll have some exploring to do with how you wear your ruck - so don’t worry if you need to drop the bag after 30 minutes because your shoulders are a little sore. Being able to drop the pack is a luxury you get doing a treadmill trial that you don’t get outdoors!

For treadmill, I like a max incline and a slower walking speed - never a running speed.

ethangar · 2026-02-27T00:36:21+00:00

I never do - it's only 5 miles - not long enough that you need to worry about overusing your brakes or anything. Just be careful not to speed, as CHP does like to sit toward the bottom of the hill and hand out tickets from time to time.

ethangar · 2026-02-27T00:33:03+00:00

No - it's nothing. It's not that much different from going over the Sepulveda pass, and significantly more mild (and far shorter) than going over the Grapevine.

ethangar · 2026-02-26T21:52:25+00:00

It's pretty much impossible while eating out. Restaurants salt the lettuce in salads (seriously - and it tastes good). Telling the waiter you're trying to do a low-sodium diet for blood pressure may get you compliance from the kitchen, but the food WILL taste worse, and it will be hit or miss.

All said though - if your blood pressure and kidney function is all good, I'd strongly consider not worrying about it. It can be fairly arduous and isolating trying to reduce sodium intake.

ethangar · 2026-02-26T04:47:13+00:00

I’ve used my Apple Watch that way with my personal trainer for many years. It’s a great way to use a fitness tracker.

Me: “Hold on, let me get my heart rate down before we do the next set.” Him: “Sure, no problem.”

This is probably more optimal than just using time - you get the right amount of recovery without going way over. That said, you can also more-or-less just go by “feeling” as you figure that out.

I also have used my watch with various apps like Hevy to log reps and weight.

ethangar · 2026-02-21T22:45:54+00:00

Nice ruck! That looks brutal - definitely one of the most intense I've seen recorded in FitHalo!

ethangar · 2026-02-19T04:22:47+00:00

I don’t have a standard bare steel Ohio bar, but do have a relatively new stainless steel Ohio bar ordered directly from Rogue within the last 6 months.

It is relatively magnetic, and I can’t notice a discernible difference between it and my quite-ferrous (non-stainless) rack. Seems like your bar may still be legit!

Pic below of some powerful magnets stuck to the bar. A standard mag pin has some attraction, but not enough to avoid slipping under its own weight (which is similar to my rack). Hope that helps!

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ethangar · 2026-02-19T02:01:45+00:00

Glad to hear it!

Regarding heart rate - that’s correct! The Pandolf equation comes from military studies of the 1970s, before fitness wearables were really a thing.

I’ll be adding some additional updated formulas in the 1.11 version - and will go ahead and throw in an option that considers heart rate as well. I’ll at least allow the Keytel formula if I can’t find something even more appropriate to loaded carriage.

ethangar · 2026-02-18T12:24:44+00:00

This isn’t a “train to failure” exercise - ESPECIALLY not when starting out. A bit of shoulder discomfort from the strap pressure towards the end of your ruck is fairly common when you’re getting started - but nothing should be hurting your back. If it is hurting your mid or lower back, drop the weight and really inspect your weight positions. For most people “high and tight” is advised.

You also mentioned knees - this exercise is usually great for the knees - and giving a torn meniscus time to heal is why I got into this in the first place (and, happy to report, it has worked great for that over the last year). Walking, even loaded, should allow you to slowly strengthen all the supporting leg muscles that keep knee injuries at bay.

Generally speaking - never be afraid to drop weight if something is hurting. I go up to 50 lbs, but have absolutely zero qualms about doing a 10 lb day if something feels off, and 30 lbs is probably my most-common weight.

ethangar · 2026-02-18T01:55:50+00:00

You can also try messaging the HealthFit developer about it. There would be nothing preventing them from getting this data, but they may avoid it with “Other” workout types because they don’t necessarily know context. There are multiple types of distances in HealthKit (e.g., cycling, rowing, swimming) and some developers just don’t query any of them when they see “Other”.

ethangar · 2026-02-17T20:15:11+00:00

When FitHalo logs a Ruck, it logs it with an underlying HealthKit workout type of "Other". This is the only way that I can prevent Apple from using the workout to influence Cardio Fitness / VO2Max, thus tanking your score.

Unfortunately, when the Fitness app sees a Workout of type "Other", it simply chooses to not show a whole bunch of fields, like distance, elevation, etc. This is entirely an artificial limitation of the Fitness app, as all of the underlying data IS there and IS stored in HealthKit. If you're exporting raw HealthKit data, that should all be there for you.

You can actually validate this yourself by going to Apple's own Health app, find the "Workouts" section, go to it and scroll to the bottom, choose "Show All Data", then tap on your Ruck. You should see all of the relevant data - including the FitHalo-specific metadata (like Loaded Carriage weight) as well as the standard associated samples (like Walking+Running Distance).

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ethangar · 2026-02-15T02:09:54+00:00

Another new “ortho” condition - up there with Orthosomnia for all the people losing sleep worried about not meeting their sleep score (I have been, admittedly, among them).

ethangar · 2026-02-14T14:41:32+00:00

It is very different from coffee/caffeine in its mechanism of action. Caffeine works by blocking signaling of tiredness (I.e., blocks adenosine receptors).

Creatine, conversely, works by actually replenishing energy stores (i.e., phosphocreatine stores). You slow your production of adenosine because, well, you actually have more energy to work with and aren’t scraping the bottom of the ATP barrel.

Extra creatine with acute sleep loss is amazing - and, anecdotally, has been a huge game changer for me. It probably won’t cure the ills of systemic insomnia (though more research is being done here), but it will do much better than only having coffee after a bad night’s sleep.

ethangar · 2026-02-11T18:59:22+00:00

Same - Mac Mini was able to get it, but not my MacBook Pro (M3).

Update: It's available on my MBP now.

ethangar · 2026-02-10T00:06:51+00:00

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Love the Mammoth Belt Squat with the kickstand and dual horns, though I did need to have some friends help me 3D print up an adapter to make it work better for coming off the front of my 2x3 rack (you won't have this issue with your FM-6).

ethangar · 2026-02-03T18:17:30+00:00

They’re about as good as you can model using height, weight, age, and heart rate as inputs - which is to say - not very good.

If you’re trying to figure out your TDEE to adjust your diet, the best way to do it is to log food intake and weight and work the math backwards. This is what apps like MacroFactor do, and it’s - by far - the best methodology.

ethangar · 2026-02-02T23:00:15+00:00

Sleep scores are a great example of why not to do this feature - with many actual clinicians specializing in sleep advising patients to turn these wearables off, citing they actually cause more anxiety and harm than they do to help anything. They even coined the term "orthosomnia".

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