Fitness Trackers Is It Good Fit for You?

From the first pedometer, the device that counts steps taken, to the current innovative wearable technology devices, fitness trackers are on trend! In short, these devices are easily one's personal coach that provide multiple fitness and non-fitness choices. How fit these trendy devices are, to keep us fit, let's find out.

Fitness Wrapped at Your Wrist Fitness tracker is a device to track and monitor fitness activity. It does so by providing data like number of steps walked, distance walked, run, swum; calories burned, heart rate, time spent exercising, blood pressure, quality of sleep, body temperature and many more. Tiny, state-of-the-art computers, these smart watches, wristbands, bracelets to even rings, come in various lucrative elegant, classic and user-friendly sizes and models.

Advantages of fitness trackers
Recognizes Activity This sensor fitted in these devices helps to overview the fitness progress by monitoring the activities done and their impact on burning calories. It suggests which activities suits best and helps to achieve or maintain an active lifestyle .

Measures Sleep Quality Collects information about sleep quality and provides an overview on deep sleep hours and percentage of deep sleep from overall sleep.

Keeps a Track on Fitness Progress It notifies the user by vibrating when set goals are achieved. One can overview last week's or month's achievements and stay motivated as well.

Helps Communicate With facilities of answering calls, sending messages and see notifications from social media portals, they help to stay connected with the world.

Saves health care costs, as more physically active individuals fall ill less often.

As it acts like a classic daily accessory, it still does its basic function-shows time
It becomes financially friendly in a way as it bridges the gap between those who have access to expensive weight loss gyms and diet trainers, and many who don't.
Few apps in these fitness trackers help to follow and track the fitness progress of the loved ones. One can take care and motivate them too.

Stumbling Block to Fitness
Not 100% perfectly accurate in calculating number of steps taken or calories burned.
Everyone's body is different, so is the effect of exercise or physical activity on their fitness. One can compare their fitness or weight loss progress with friends/colleagues, and can get discouraged and demotivated to exercise if their progress is slower than others, despite trying. It works like a double-edged sword.
Quite costly than other gadgets.
Health status of an individual is personal information. Since, these devices are connected with internet, invasion of privacy is a threat.

How accurate are fitness trackers
Technology is not always perfect Fitness trackers provide data which are rough estimates or slightly approximate values. It is not as exact as the data obtained from a doctor's clinical assessment/Pathology Test. Accuracy depends on activity, but sometimes these trackers are not accurate to measure less vigorous movements like household chores, walking, climbing stairs.

Influence on Behavior Encourages healthier habits.
Makes one aware of their responsibility towards health.
Develops a positive, hopeful attitude towards exercising and monitoring physical activity.
Diet tips given by these devices can influence eating patterns and meals. If not accurate, it can affect one's health negatively.
Sometimes, devices underestimate physical activity, making some people overdo it, stressing their cardiovascular system

Too much Health Information can be harmful
Those users who set unrealistic goals, have eating disorders or are obsessed with losing weight, may over-exercise and under-eat, seeing the data given by the device. These devices cannot replace real medical doctors or tests done in a hospital to evaluate health In case, the app does not function properly and the user blindly follows them, it can increase the risk of further health issues.

Those who lack medical knowledge, when see fluctuations in health parameters like heart rate, blood pressure on a fitness tracker and surf the internet for quick info, can go through huge stress and anxiety.

Even a smart watch alarming calorie intake will not work, if food habits are not healthy. These 'digital friends' are not real doctors! One should not base their self-value on data shown by fitness devices because health or fitness cannot be completely monitored by the parameters shown there. Physical activity, healthy stress manage ment, meditation, less sedentary hours, a good balanced diet and sufficient sleep on a daily basis are key elements to be fit

Fitness trackers are very popular in personal health care. Having a personal device, which is so seamlessly integrated in our life that monitors everything from what we eat, to how we sleep, to how often we move, to the composition of body, is like having a personal caretaker with self-monitoring system! Reap their benefits with achievable goals to monitor health.