Fitness tracking tech is the Next Big Thing, according to reports. Chances are, if you haven’t got one yet, that you might be thinking about getting one (check out our awesome article here about fitness tech to help you decide).
If you already have one, you’ll know that they give you lots of parameters to monitor your health and wellness by. It can be challenging to decide what’s best for you to achieve your goals.
Below is a rough guide on what you should do when you have a fitness tracker. Pick absolutely no more than 3 things to improve — anymore than this and you will overwhelm yourself and your body, and definitely not achieve what you wish to!
But remember! The data they provide are not a be-all and end-all, and definitely not the only way you should measure your health by. At the end of the day, you are the best at monitoring how you’re doing.
For the Super Sedentary Person:
Monitor your sitting and/or your movement (not your exercise!). If you know you spend 2-8 hours at a time sitting (due to your job, your commute, etc.), receiving a gentle reminder to get up and move around from your fitness tracker is often a good way to break up a sedentary lifestyle. If you think that just getting up and moving around doesn’t change anything, think again. See our article here on the dangers of sitting around.
For the Person Wanting to Improve their Mood and Overall Wellbeing:
Make sure your tracker has sleep monitoring, so that you can get a rough idea when you’re losing your z’s. These trackers often can include alarms to remind you when to put down your screens, and get ready for bed. Ensuring a good night’s sleep is very important to your overall health and mood.
Any kind of tracker that tracks not just movement, but exercise. What’s the difference? Movement or physical activity is what you do whenever you aren’t stationary. Exercise is when you move in a way that challenges your cardiovascular system and/or your muscles to improve your cardio, strength or endurance. Exercise is the easiest way to boost your mood, and change your body for the better, and having a fitness tracker can help ensure that you’re getting at least 150-300 minutes of moderate intensity exercise a week (as per government guidelines).
For the Athlete:
Fitness trackers now have very specific parameters that they can monitor, mainly for cardiovascular activity. VO2 max, heart rate, kilometres travelled and rep counting are all available on many fitness trackers. Choose a tracker that will have enough specificity to your goals, such having a VO2 max function if you wish to increase your endurance in running.
Notice that we haven’t mentioned step counting?
While an excellent way to make sure that you aren’t being sedentary, step counters don’t regularly break up long periods of sitting. Likewise, walking is a good way to get some physical activity but it’s not exercise, and therefore, not the best way to improve your body and not efficient use of your time.
If you don’t know where to start, get in touch with us so we can help you with your goals.
