Advantages and Disadvantages to Using a Fitness Tracker
By Angela Bland
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Advantages:
- Accountability
- A fitness tracker helps you exercise every day whether just walking, jogging or working out. You are more committed to get your steps in or complete your workout sessions.
- Motivation
- A fitness tracker gives a visual of your progress and accomplishments each day. Seeing your progress is good motivation to improve more and more each day.
- Healthy eating
- It is important to eat a healthy diet while you exercise. By keeping track of your food and water intake helps you maintain a healthy lifestyle.
- Set goals
- Set goals for yourself to accomplish each day. For example, 10,000 steps a day. It is a great feeling to know you are capable of achieving anything you set your mind to.
- Tracks sleep
- A fitness tracker has the ability to track your sleep patterns, how deep or light you sleep, how long you slept, and each time you woke up. Recognizing your sleep patterns can allow you to have a good night’s sleep and improve your mood the next day.
- Stay Connected
- There are some fitness trackers that include Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. This allows you to receive incoming calls, text messages, or emails without looking at your phone. It is a great way to stay connected without always being close to your phone.
- Monitors Heart Rate
- Most fitness trackers have the ability to monitor your heart rate by measuring your pulse. This allows you to reach your target heart rate with each workout. The maximum heart rate is about 220 minus your age. During moderate physical activities, you’re target heart rate is about 50-70% of the maximum heart rate and with vigorous workouts it should be about 70-85% of the maximum heart rate. The fitness tracker can detect changes that may occur to your heart rate.
Disadvantages:
- Expensive
- Fitness trackers can be expensive to buy. If you don’t use it, you could have spent your money on something more useful.
- Battery
- Most trackers have limited battery life. When charging your device, you will not be able to keep track of your steps or workouts.
- Accuracy
- Some trackers do not provide 100% accurate metrics/information that may be shown on the device. Some of that information is just an estimate. Try not to fully rely on these devices.
Source: https://www.dumblittleman.com/do-fitness-trackers-work/