Thinking of using an activity tracker to attain your exercise goals? Here’s where it could possibly help – and where it probably won’t

It’s that point of yr when many individuals are getting began on their resolutions for the yr ahead. Doing more physical activity is a well-liked and worthwhile goal.

If you’re hoping to be more lively in 2024, perhaps you’ve invested in an activity tracker, otherwise you’re considering buying one.

But what are the advantages of activity trackers? And will a basic tracker do the trick, or do you would like a flowery one with a number of features? Let’s have a look.

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Why use an activity tracker?

One of the strongest predictors for being lively is whether or not or not you’re monitoring how lively you’re.

Most people have a vague idea of how lively they’re, but that is inaccurate loads of the time. Once people consciously start to maintain track of how much activity they do, they often realise it’s lower than what they thought, and this motivates them to be more lively.

You can self-monitor without an activity tracker (just by writing down what you do), but this method is tough to maintain up in the long term and it’s also loads less accurate in comparison with devices that track your every move 24/7.

By tracking steps or “activity minutes” you’ll be able to ascertain whether or not you’re meeting the physical activity guidelines (150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week).

It also permits you to track the way you’re progressing with any personal activity goals, and look at your progress over time. All this could be difficult without an activity tracker.

Research has shown the most well-liked brands of activity trackers are generally reliable in the case of tracking basic measures reminiscent of steps and activity minutes.

But wait, there’s more

Many activity trackers available on the market nowadays track a spread of other measures which their manufacturers promote as essential in monitoring health and fitness. But is that this really the case? Let’s have a look at a few of these.

Resting heart rate

This is your heart rate at rest, which is often somewhere between 60 and 100 beats per minute. Your resting heart rate will regularly go down as you turn into fitter, especially in the event you’re doing loads of high-intensity exercise. Your risk of dying of any cause (all-cause mortality) is way lower when you will have a low resting heart rate.

So, it is helpful to regulate your resting heart rate. Activity trackers are pretty good at tracking it, but you can even easily measure your heart rate by monitoring your pulse and using a stopwatch.

Heart rate during exercise

Activity trackers can even measure your heart rate while you’re lively. To improve fitness efficiently, skilled athletes concentrate on having their heart rate in certain “zones” after they’re exercising – so knowing their heart rate during exercise is significant.

But in the event you just wish to be more lively and healthier, with out a specific training goal in mind, you’ll be able to exercise at a level that feels good to you and never worry about your heart rate during activity. The most vital thing is that you just’re being lively.

Also, a dedicated heart rate monitor with a strap around your chest will do a a lot better job at measuring your actual heart rate compared to an activity tracker worn around your wrist.

Maximal heart rate

This is the toughest your heart could beat while you’re lively, not something you may sustain very long. Your maximal heart rate just isn’t influenced by how much exercise you do, or your fitness level.

Most activity trackers don’t measure it accurately anyway, so you may as well ignore this one.

VO₂max

Your muscles need oxygen to work. The more oxygen your body can process, the harder you’ll be able to work, and subsequently the fitter you’re.

VO₂max is the quantity (V) of oxygen (O₂) we could breathe maximally (max) over a one minute interval, expressed as millilitres of oxygen per kilogram of body weight per minute (ml/kg/min). Inactive men and women would have a VO₂max lower than 30 and 40 ml/kg/min, respectively. A fairly good VO₂max can be mid thirties and better for ladies and mid forties and better for men.

VO₂max is one other measure of fitness that correlates well with all-cause mortality: the upper it’s, the lower your risk of dying.

For athletes, VO₂max is generally measured in a lab on a treadmill while wearing a mask that measures oxygen consumption. Activity trackers as an alternative have a look at your running speed (using a GPS chip) and your heart rate and compare these measures to values from other people.

If you’ll be able to run fast with a low heart rate your tracker will assume you’re relatively fit, leading to the next VO₂max. These estimates are not very accurate as they’re based on a number of assumptions. However, the error of the measurement is fairly consistent. This means in case your VO₂max is regularly increasing, you’re more likely to be getting fitter.

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So what’s the take-home message? Focus on what number of steps you are taking every single day or the variety of activity minutes you achieve. Even a basic activity tracker will measure these aspects relatively accurately. There isn’t any real must track other measures and pay more for an activity tracker that records them, unless you’re getting really serious about exercise.