  Firstly, what is an activity tracker? It is a watch that measures health and physical activity, worn on your wrist, controlled through app's. Each brand has features, but the main features are;
The higher end models include things like the ability to answer your phone wirelessly, tracking calories eaten, joining social networks and much more. They can range from around $79 from up to about $1000. In my opinion, as a fitness consumer, here are the main benefits of using an activity tracker: 1. Tracking how many steps you've done in a day. When you get your watch you then personalise it with things like your step size (ie for people of different heights), what hand you are wearing it on, your weight/age etc. It's pretty accurate (I've tested against a pedometor). By watching how many steps you've done in a day it reminds you to get moving, if you've been too sedentary it's a good reminder to get those steps up. This is a great motivator for someone starting out, or someone who needs motivation in general, or just for those who like to follow what they've done in a day. It's great to be accountable for your activity, or lack there of! 2. Tracking your heart rate. The aim of an intense workout is to workout at around 75-80% of your maximum heart rate. So once you've worked out what this is (you can do this on the app), you can see what your heart rate is while you're working out, and adjust your intensity level accordingly. 3. Telling the time. Just using it as a normal watch that is back lit. 4. Tracking your distance. You have a button on the tracker you push as you head off for your run/activity, then you turn it off upon finishing, your tracker will give you a quick read of your stats after your workout. Usually km's, steps, cals burned etc, then once you are home you sync your activity tracker to your app/computer, and all the data is then downloaded. You can monitor your progress each day, the data is stored for you so you can watch your progress over the months. Negatives:
What do I do? I have one and I wear it occasionally, it depends what I'm doing as to when and how much I use it. I used to wear it everyday but I found it got a bit bulky, and with my my main uses for it to track distance on my runs, and my heart rate on an intense workout, I realised I didn't need to have it on all day. I'm not tracking my steps (simply because I exceed 12,000 steps 6 days a week) so wearing it everyday isn't my thing, but I do see them having their place. In general I think they are great tools, it shows a committment to physical activity, your health and the desire to look after your own health, to monitor your own results and those things should be applauded. In summary: Positives
Negatives
 Sharon Bouwer - Registered Personal Trainer Let's Get Active - Group Outdoor Sessions (Boot camp without the boot!) |
AuthorSharon Bouwer: Archives
August 2016
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