They track sleep, steps, and overall physical activity. These trackers are usually connected to a smartphone application or website, which allows you to monitor your progress in real-time using graphs and numbers. Advanced fitness trackers also have GPS-related outcomes like route, speed, and distance. They can record your heart rate.
Self-monitoring is a powerful tool for changing behavior. Self-monitoring can be an effective technique for behavior change.
Let’s take a closer look at these trackers.
- Fitness trackers are effective in the short term.
Basic pedometers have been around for a long while. When people use them, their activity levels increase. Fitness trackers today are basically fancy pedometers. There’s no reason to think that their additional features and functionality make them less effective.
Most of the rigorously controlled randomized trials on advanced fitness trackers found positive results in the short term. Researchers found that Fitbit users spent 62 more minutes a week being physically active than those who used pedometers. In other research, people who use fitness trackers take significantly more steps than those in the control group. However, these studies only measure outcomes for a short time.
- Fitness trackers are best used in conjunction with other strategies for long-term results.
There are too few studies that have examined how fitness trackers work beyond the first three months. It is difficult to determine if they will last. Reports indicate that many people stop using fitness trackers after a short time. The need to constantly recharge the device and sync it with an app or a website are some of the reasons.
Fitness trackers should be part of a strategy to change behaviour in order to encourage a lifetime fitness habit. This is not the case.
In one workplace survey, for example, physical activity increased when fitness trackers and organizational support were combined in the first three months. Support includes educational information, goal-setting, social support, and team challenges.
A study found that people who were rewarded financially for using fitness trackers did not improve their health over time. These external rewards do not work as a strategy to change behaviour because they don’t provide the motivation required to continue after the incentives have been removed.
Fitness trackers can help you form healthy, lifelong habits of activity by providing behavioral support.
- Basic fitness tracker features are accurate.
According to reviews, most fitness trackers are reliable and valid measures of physical activity. For example, they count steps and activity hours. The majority of users consider step-counting to be the most significant function for fitness trackers.
These reviews indicate that energy expenditure, sleep measurements, and calorie counts are also less accurate. It is not a big problem for recreational users, as the measurement error is consistent. You can still accurately determine if you’re making progress, as the device will always underestimate or overestimate.
- Exercise trackers can affect your mood.
Others suggest that it could harm their relationship with their doctor.
Many studies show the positive effects on mental health. These include improved mood, better quality of life, and reduced stress, anxiety, and depression. There is no direct proof, but the positive mental effects of exercise likely outweigh any negative cognitive effects of wearing fitness trackers.
- Despite media reports, fitness trackers will remain popular.
In a recent, the financial problems of Fitbit and other market leaders such as Jawbone were highlighted. The sales are slowing down, and profits are dropping. Many people believe that fitness trackers will only be a temporary trend.
The global wearables industry is expected to grow by more than US$34 Billion a year in 2019. Fitness trackers continue to evolve rapidly. Different brands are developing new models with improved features and performances. In a rapidly changing and dynamic environment, it is hard to remain the market leader.
Health professionals are willing to use fitness trackers with specific patient groups. For example, those recovering from Breast Cancer and those undergoing Haemodialysis. This shows the potential of trackers in the healthcare system.
