Activity trackers are riding a fitness trend wave now, seemingly for good reason. For many, a good quality tracker can be a fashionable, intelligent and accountable way to get into shape or keep fit. However, they may not be for everyone as they do have drawbacks (stay tuned for our post about the drawbacks next). Some people argue the technology isn’t precise enough yet for the best of the best when it comes to fitness management, but here are a few reasons we believe a fitness tracker may be the nudge you need to reach your fitness goals.

Fitness trackers can:

• Provide a true reflection of your lifestyle – Personal fitness trackers (PFTs) help calibrate a baseline by tracking your normal activities before you even start working out or reaching goals. This will help give you a decent reflection of your lifestyle, which may be less active than you think. While it may be a wakeup call, this is a great feature because it allows no room for denial about your current activity level and plenty of room to up your game.
• Promote personal accountability – One of the best features of PFTs is that they help hold you accountable for reaching your fitness goals. If you routinely decline your evening walk, you have a little device to answer to who is counting and calculating your every fitness move. This helps many people push themselves a little harder, feeling more accountable to do their best.
• Help you set and reach goals at your own pace – Most PFTs on the market today have several fitness options and are highly customizable. Many have a default setting goal of 10,000 steps a day, but you can easily change that to better suit your lifestyle. If you were largely sedentary before purchasing your PFT, it would be wise to start small by adding increments of a couple hundred steps every day and work big gradually instead of going straight for the gold.
• (Kind of) track your sleep – Another fascinating (but debatable) feature of many PFTs is the sleep monitor function. Using its 6-axis accelerometer technology PFTs can also loosely keep tabs on your sleep by tracking your movements. This will be in no way as precise as being monitored at a sleep lab, but may a fair enough indicator of optimal versus inadequate sleep so you can look further into the issue medically if need be.
• Count calories – As well as an activity and sleep tracker, your device will be able to help you keep track of how many calories you’re burning. Again, the technology isn’t quite at its pinnacle yet, so calorie counts may not be very precise and could even vary from tracker to tracker, but it will give you a loose idea of how much you’re taking in and burning off.
• Create a communal fitness environment – The corresponding apps usually give the option of participating in a community of others who are using the same fitness tracker as you and have similar goals. Many people find this communal environment encouraging and motivating factor in becoming or staying fit. Most popular weight loss programs offer meetings to give this sense of community, but you can participate from the comfort of your home.
• Help you find of renew your love for healthy living– All in all, fitness trackers may not make you crazy fit, crazy fast, but they are certainly an option worth exploring if you are having trouble getting motivated on your own.

Thanks for visiting DocChat! If you have any questions about fitness, wellness or weight loss sign up to DocChat today to connect with one of our very knowledgeable board certified physicians! Stay tuned for some of the drawbacks of fitness trackers coming up next!