Fitness trackers are very popular these days, and with good reason. They can not only assist you and your health care professional comprehend your medical conditions, such as recognizing abnormal heart rhythms, but they can also assist you and your health care professional lead exercise activities such as jogging, swimming, or cycling. They can also assist with more mundane tasks such as weather reporting and calendar notifications.
Choosing a new fitness tracker might be a difficult undertaking. There are several brands and pricing points to select from. Fortunately, you can reduce your options by focusing on a few crucial criteria.
EVERYTHING ABOUT THE SENSORS
The primary purpose of these gadgets is to track your physical activity. They achieve this by capturing and evaluating data from various sensors. These sensors would have weighed several pounds and cost thousands of dollars twenty years ago. Parts now are the size of a grain of sand and cost pennies.
An accelerometer senses linear acceleration and is the most basic sensor. Three of them are often arranged as a single unit, covering all three axes. A tracker requires gyroscopes to detect radial (spinning) motion: one for each axis. Magnetometers in certain trackers sense magnetic fields, allowing them to determine which direction is up. Not all trackers have all three types of motion sensors, but having more sensors means better outcomes and more accurate data.
Photoplethysmography, which is a fancy phrase for “detecting heartbeats using light,” is another typical sort of sensor system in a tracker. This technique combines one or more LED lights with light sensors positioned on the device’s back. The light reflects off blood and tissue, and the quantity of reflected light changes as the heart beats and the blood flows through the veins.
1. MONITORING YOUR EXERCISE
Because the primary aim of a tracker is to aid with exercises, most will offer a timer option that allows you to set an alarm for a specific interval or use a stopwatch to monitor your session. Many trackers also allow you to choose your fitness activity, such as walking, jogging, swimming, or biking.
2. MONITORING YOUR HEALTH
One feature that has recently gotten a lot of attention is the device’s capacity to monitor electrocardiogram (EKG) data. The actual electrical waveforms of your heartbeats are referred to here. These gadgets can even notify you if a potentially deadly cardiac arrhythmia is detected (such as atrial fibrillation).
3. COMPETENCE
The gadget should be simply syncable with their smartphone or with an internet service. If you want to follow their progress, it’s best if they locate an app that allows them to share data with you.
4. PRECISION
For top athletes or those training for extreme sports, accuracy is critical. The heart rate sensor and built-in GPS should be accurate without the necessity for the customer to wear the smartphone.
ARE YOU LOOKING FOR MORE THAN JUST FITNESS?
Almost all fitness bands indicate time, and almost all smartwatches monitor your activity, so your choice will be depending on your preferences, your budget, and how much more you want the gadget to do except track your activity.
Trackers are fantastic for exercise aficionados, but the general consumer needs more if the tracker is to become an indispensable part of daily life.
While fitness trackers’ primary aim is, presumably, fitness, smartwatches allow you to upload applications for a range of fitness and non-fitness-related activities. Furthermore, smartwatches can include a range of watchfaces, the capacity to take and answer calls, and the capacity to listen to audio.
1. REMEMBER TO ALSO
For some, battery life is an issue. Most smartwatches will last a few days between charges, and certain fitness bands can last a week, although even this may be annoying. Another factor to consider is operating system support. The majority of gadgets use Bluetooth connections to communicate data with a smartphone, and the manufacturer nearly always provides apps for both Apple iOS and Android phones. There are some exceptions; the Apple Watch, as one might imagine, is designed to function solely with iPhones. In general, though, most fitness trackers will operate with your Android or iOS phone.
2. MAKE A DECISION
A well-equipped fitness band costs less than $70, while a blinged-out smartwatch costs $1,500 or more. For $70 to $200, most customers will find great options with a combination of capabilities that meet their demands in a fitness band or smartwatch. Choose wisely, and it will be less likely to wind up at the back of your kitchen drawer in six months.
3. What is the purpose of an activity tracker?
The ISSA emphasises the necessity of gathering data to assist program development. This comprises documentation, fitness evaluations, and measures of body composition. Activity trackers provide the trainer with an additional layer of data to work with.
4. Tracking Your Fitness
Many fitness bands are compatible with fitness monitoring applications, allowing customers (and you) to measure physical activity, active vs. inactive time, and fitness objectives. Why is this information useful for fitness professionals?
- To induce a training effect, you may easily measure heart rate in real-time throughout exercises.
- Monitor your client’s active vs. inactive time and assist them in fitting exercise into their hectic schedule.
- GPS-enabled devices track distance, position, and pace. With this information, you can assist runners in improving their speed and endurance on any terrain.
Sleep Monitoring
Clients may share their sleep data with you so you can see if they’re getting adequate rest in between exercises. This is especially useful when working with high school kids (because of the change in their circadian rhythm), postpartum mothers, or shift workers.
Calories and Water You may monitor your client’s reported water consumption and calories in vs. calories out using the fitness monitoring app to assist them improve their eating habits. Many applications calculate net calories to assist with weight reduction objectives.
