The sales of fitness and health trackers have almost doubled worldwide from 2014 to 2015 and in India, the market for wearables reached over 400,000 units in the first quarter of 2016 alone. According to the International Data Corporation, fitness bands made almost 90% of this number.
Fitness trackers enable people to eat properly, work out better and achieve their fitness goals more effectively. They also store a ton of data on the users and in the future, all of this data may be used to help treat various conditions and improve the overall health situation in the world.
Unfortunately, there are still many people who do not see the benefits of using fitness trackers, as well as many people who use them, but do not use them the right way.
Today, we will be looking at 5 things most people get wrong about fitness trackers.
1. Fitness Trackers Are Not Magic
The number of people who still believe their weight and fitness goals are one gadget or trick away is still a huge one, despite what experts tell them. Of course, a large number of users think that their new fitness tracker is this “One Special Thing” that will get the slim and trimmed. As is often the case with these one-shot solutions, it simply isn’t what happens in reality. A fitness tracker is only an aid. It aids you in eating properly and working out properly. It can be a great motivation, but it will not get you out of bed and working out.
2. Absolute Accuracy Is Not Paramount
You will often hear fitness tracker users quibble about which product is the superior one when it comes to the accuracy of the readings. Yours has to be at least a hundred steps off! Yours is showing 2 heartbeats per minute too many! It doesn’t really matter. Of course, it matters that your fitness tracker is near the accurate measures, but being somewhat off will not hurt you. The important thing is that you get a baseline and it is around this baseline that you will be building your diet, your exercise regimen and everything else that you are doing to keep fit.
3. All Fitness Trackers Are Not The Same
Believe it or not, but there are still people who believe that all of the fitness trackers are the same and that they will all do the same thing. This is simply not true. Just like anything, you have the brands that really know what is important and how crucial the quality of make is. Others are trying to deliver at least some functionality at a very affordable price. They are also different in what they do. While most trackers will tell you how much exercise you had or what you should eat, there are also more unique solutions such as the body measurement tracker Myfiziq which will allows you to visually track your progress.
4. You Can’t Rely On A Single Device
Sure, there are goals that you can achieve using only a fitness tracker of some kind. Unfortunately, these devices are still limited in their functionality and for the truly spectacular results, you might need to combine your fitness tracker with additional devices. For example, you might want to start using something that will track your heartrate. Also, you might consider specialized calorie counters (most fitness trackers are not exactly precise in this respect) or a sleep monitor of some kind that will tell you how much and how well you sleep.
5. You Are Safe
It is understandable why some people are worried about the data their fitness trackers collect and store in a data center somewhere. In reality, however, there is not much need to worry about this. If you use a smartphone, it is collecting and transmitting far more data than any fitness tracker could. For example, did your fitness tracker ever ask for your credit card number? Also, fitness tracker companies cannot afford to lose the trust of their customers and they know very well that safeguarding the data is of paramount importance.
Keep these in mind and your new fitness tracker experience should be everything you hoped it would be.