Using a fitness tracker might help you adopt healthier habits by giving you a little push. Most people who wear a fitness tracker will tell you that it inspires them to be more physically active, and they find exercise more satisfying when they can see their progress in black and white statistics. A particular objective, such as 10,000 steps per day, excites them more than a general aim of becoming healthy.
Such kind of mindset is encouraged by a tracker. It sends messages of encouragement after you achieve a goal gives you an ego boost. Plus, you may share the messages with your pals to show them how active you are. This brings out the competitive impulse in many people.
You may view information such as heart rate, sleep patterns, and step counts over time by connecting the fitness tracker to an app on your phone, where you can earn virtual badges for your efforts. Some fitness trackers also allow you to connect with friends, exchange achievements, and participate in little challenges.
As a result of your recent Google searches such as FitBit, Garmin, Honor, Xiaomi for fitness trackers. You have likely come across all of these names as well as a few more. If they’re not worth the money, do you question if they’re any good? Is it true that they will help you lose weight and become in shape? Or did you revert to a previous version? After insights of many reports today, we will discuss some facts to ensure if a fitness tracker is a must-have option for you or not. But before that, let’s talk about what a fitness tracker is? And why is this so popular in recent days?
A Fitness Tracker is What it Sounds Like?
These handy little wristbands have been around for a while now, and you’ve most probably seen some of your friends wearing them too. A fitness tracker is a tiny gadget that is worn on the body and tracks a variety of health-related parameters. In addition to tracking activity and other information throughout the day, the wearable gadget pushes you to walk a bit more, attempt a heart-rate-raising exercise, drink more water, and use the stairs instead of the elevator. Small adjustments add up to a better way of living. Fascinating fact, the FitBit, introduced in 2009, was the first contemporary fitness tracker. The modest pedometer was one of its antecedents. It has been around for a lot longer than most people think they have.
Why are Fitness Trackers So Popular?
An estimated 21 percent of American adults routinely use a smartwatch or wearable fitness tracker as the new year begins, according to a Pew Research Center poll conducted June 3-17, 2019.
In the last several years, the fitness tracker business has elevated a lot. By 2027, it’s expected to be valued at $63,48 billion. But how do they show so much data? It’s quite simple, data, statistics, figures help define your fitness level, and tracking them allows you to know immediately whether and when your fitness goals have been reached.
A fitness tracker motivates you to be more active. Get in your 10,000 steps, sleep for eight hours or keep your heart rate below normal limits. Nevertheless, do they truly increase your level of physical activity? According to experts, the jury is still out on this one. Some studies have found that those who wear fitness bracelets are somewhat more active than those who don’t, but the difference isn’t significant enough to give a yes or no verdict.
The fitness tracker industry is rising due to the growing popularity of wearable technologies among young people. Moreover, the older population’s appetite for these gadgets has increased due to a growth in the number of healthy retirees. This is due to the fact that these gadgets include high-end activity tracking features as well as interactive operating systems, which increases their demand. But the expensive cost of these gadgets and the risk of data theft by tampering with their connections limit the fitness tracker market’s growth. Though right now, many fitness trackers deliver unique features with budget-friendly options so that any health-conscious person can buy.
A rise in Internet of Things (IoT) adoption and increased health awareness mostly due to covid pandemic among consumers, on the other hand, are expected to create development opportunities for the global fitness tracker market in the future, according to analysts.
What is New Science All About?
Recently published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, a research recommends prescribing fitness monitors to individuals who want to be healthy. According to the study, people are said to walk an extra mile each day when they have the app on their smartphone or smartwatch.
The study’s researchers compared the exercise habits of those who don’t use a physical activity tracker to those who do. CNN stated that a total of 7,454 persons participated in the research. They discovered that wearing a tracker or app increases a person’s daily physical activity by 1,850 steps on average. Those who don’t use trackers or apps, on the other hand, take roughly 2,000 steps to accomplish a mile.
Aside from that, fitness trackers and applications with text-messaging alerts that remind users to keep track of their physical activity were more successful than those without. According to The Free Journal Press report, articles like goal setting, planning, and grading activities were also linked to higher efficacy.
According to research lead author Dr. Liliana Laranjo, fitness trackers assist people in reducing their chance of acquiring certain diseases, such as heart disease, diabetes, and various malignancies, by increasing regular physical activity. Apart from that, it can reduce the chance of early mortality from any of the conditions listed above. Fitness trackers and applications, such as the Apple Health software and Fitbit wearables, are becoming increasingly popular. They have been found to inspire users to move more than their daily activity requirements.
According to Doctor Laranjo, increasing your level of physical exercise is always a positive thing. However, something magical doesn’t happen just because you’ve reached 10,000 steps. But she also noted that consumers don’t need to spend a lot of money on costly smartwatches because nearly any smartphone is compatible with fitness trackers that measure the steps a person walks.
According to The Sydney Herald, the researchers emphasized that a follow-up study must be done after a year or two to see if fitness trackers have the same substantial effect on the people using them.
Fitness Tracker Features
Early fitness trackers were simple pedometers that kept track of how many steps you did each day and motivated you to reach a specific target. They were beneficial, but they couldn’t tell you how much your efforts benefited your health or discriminated between walking and other intensive exercises.
In modern days, most contemporary fitness trackers can also monitor your heart rate throughout the day. An LED glows on your skin on the wrist, which is detected by a small optical sensor, which measures variations in the light reflected when your heart beats.
A number of goals are served by this. Better fitness is usually reflected in lower resting heart rate, and it’s a positive indicator if it drops as a result of changing your everyday routines. The gadget can also assess how hard you’re pushing yourself during an exercise and how soon your heart rate returns to normal afterward by measuring variations in heart rate.
The World Health Organization advises that people engage in between 150 and 300 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity each week, or 75–150 minutes of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity — or a mix of the two. Most fitness trackers use them, and they motivate you to achieve them.
A fitness tracker that uses heart rate tracking may also keep track of your sleep habits. Most contemporary fitness trackers contain an accelerometer, which allows them to detect body movement in three-dimensional space. Because the gadget detects sleep when your heart rate drops and you’re lying motionless, it can estimate your sleep phases based on restlessness and heart rate fluctuations.
Many fitness trackers may also be connected to your phone’s GPS receiver, allowing them to track your position over time during outside activities and compute your distance and speed. A fitness tracker with an on-board GPS that doesn’t rely on a connection to your phone will provide more accurate data for casual walks, runs, and bike rides.
As a result, you may leave your phone at home during your workouts and still monitor your progress in terms of speed, distance, and route. You should keep this in mind if you’re training for your first 5k or 10k race. A growing number of fitness trackers can accomplish a lot more than they used to. A fitness band can track more than simply walking and running. Adding all these things to your daily routine is a great way to get more done.
The more expensive trackers also have a variety of additional sensors that track your whereabouts. For example, using a gyroscope, they can determine if you’re sitting, standing, or lying down. A barometer, which monitors atmospheric pressure, can compute your altitude and tell you how many flights of stairs you’ve climbed in a certain amount of time. You can also use a smaller GPS device to record the path of a lengthy run or bike trip.
Sleep quality has direct effects on your mood and health. Many fitness trackers record your sleep. When they do, they generally watch for movement using a three-axis accelerometer to a more sensitive degree than they do during the day. Most devices offer graphs in their companion app showing your light, deep, and REM sleep duration. Some also track your overnight respiration. Apple plans to add this featureto its wearables this fall as part of watchOS 8. Some of the new offerings have a sleep tracking feature, which records how much you sleep, and it even lets you review sleep stages. This lets you schedule your sleep timings and get you back on track.
How to Get the Most Out of it?
You can only get the most benefits out of your tracker if you use it r consistently. So choose the one that best matches your needs and preferences. Look for versions with long-lasting batteries, for example, if you’ll forget to charge it every few days. Consider the best waterproof type if you’re worried about forgetting to put it back on after a shower.
There is still a lot of work to be done after selecting the perfect model for you. According to the Mayo Clinic, it’s important to establish a baseline and determine your current activity level. Set realistic goals. For example, if you’re beginning out at 2000 steps a day, consider adding 1000 steps a day for two weeks to your day. Set a new short-term objective after you achieve the first one. You should also have long-term goals in mind while making decisions. Consider the possibility that your long-term objective is 10000 steps a day, which is equivalent to five miles a day for five days a week.
Lastly, who knows a device that is hardly detectable on the body and offers additional metrics, including biological age, aortic stiffness, may influence your decision in the future. However, before beginning any new workout or fitness program, be sure to consult with your doctor.
