You see them all the time, right? People wearing watches and “checking their rings.” What does that mean, what does it do and WHY are wearable fitness trackers so incredibly popular? Keep reading to learn how fitness trackers can be powerful tools for goal achievement.
Using and wearing a fitness tracker can help you set clear and SMART goals. You can customize what your goals are on the trackers and see your work toward them every day. You get to set what goals are for YOU and it is your personal helper!
Fitness trackers will provide you with real time data on your fitness. You can see things like, steps taken, distances, heart rate, some will show you sleep patterns as well as how many calories it estimates you have burned in activity and throughout the day. Most monitors will send you a little nudge if it senses you are not on track toward your goal or if you have been sedentary for too long. These can be helpful reminders to make sure you are moving throughout the day.
With these nudges you can expect some extra motivation and accountability. The trackers will help with pushing you to keep moving and give you a community of others that you can share your goals and progress with. This also will allow you to compete with others or friends if you would like.
One of the most important things that trackers can do is watch important health metrics. Most are equipped with heart rate trackers to see how your heart responds to exercise and throughout the day. Some monitors can track sleep quality and stress levels. There are even trackers that can check your heart rate for symptoms of Atrial Fibrillation and send an alert if your heart goes into a rhythm that is not safe.
As a reminder, while fitness trackers are great, they are not the most important thing in your fitness journey. There are limitations that they have and can cause an over reliance on technology. The most important thing is to build a healthy habit of exercise and not to rely on a fitness tracker to tell you your worth.
If you are looking for another level of accountability, consider using a fitness tracker! Here are two that we recommend!
