Some of these include
best-selling products from Fitbit (http://www.fitbit.com/ ), Jawbone (https://jawbone.com/ ), Withings (http://www.withings.com/us/), LG (http://www.lg.com/us/fitness-activity-trackers ), Garmin (http://sites.garmin.com/vivo/ ), and Misfit
(http://www.misfitwearables.com/
), not to mention the various free and paid apps available on smartphones.
The good thing about these
devices is that they’re a step in the right direction. Many people actually
want to be aware of their potentially
unhealthy habits and are making an effort to change them. But while these
devices aren’t bad, by any means,
there are still some things to keep in mind before putting your faith in them
completely.
Most of these are
first-generation products and have limited capabilities—if you know this
beforehand, you can have more realistic expectations if you purchase and wear
one.
1. First, your device
doesn’t know you or what activity level you’re participating in. For instance,
a fitness tracker that measures movement will measure your steps the same way
whether you’re running at a steep incline or walking along a flat sidewalk.
Clearly, you’re going to be burning more calories and getting a more intense
workout with the former. Additionally, activities with fluid motion like
biking, rowing, and skiing will probably not be accurately tracked with these
types of devices.
2. Some trackers are more
accurate than others—and they’re not all the same. They vary widely in accuracy
and measurements, so if you’re looking at your results from a tracker on a
daily basis, you may not actually be getting a clear picture of reality.
3. Swimmers beware! Most
activity trackers now claim that they’re water resistant up to a certain point.
But, while an occasional splash of water won’t do any harm, sometimes swimming
for an extended period of time can result in failure of the device. This
clearly limits people who swim for regular exercise and would like to track
their activity and progress.
4. Do your research to
ensure that you’re wearing your wearable correctly. Different devices are meant
to be worn on different areas of your body, and—believe it or not—your readings
will actually vary depending on where the device is placed. For example, some devices like Fitbit
and the Misfit ankle accessory are recommended to be worn close to your ankle,
while the CEO of LifeBeam (another device) thinks that you’ll have the greatest
accuracy if you wear the monitor nearer to the core of your body.
5. Last but not least, be
cautious when paying attention to sleep monitors. Many wearables made for sleep
base their readings on nocturnal movement; if you’re not moving or fidgeting,
they count this as deep sleep. As you can imagine, this leaves a lot of room
for error and mis-readings. One woman pointed out that her Misfit device “just
told me I had three hours of deep sleep last night—without any context about
whether this is good or bad, or how you might be able to sleep better.”[1]
If you’re interested in
purchasing and using a wearable fitness device, don’t let their
less-than-perfect data dissuade you. As I said before, the benefits you can
gain from just being aware of how much you’re moving each day (to a certain
extent) can lead to making healthier choices—and that’s always a good thing!
“Working to restore GOD’s perfect design in you!”
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