Fitness trackers help monitor your diet and calories, count your steps, track your location, keep in touch with friends and family, and an array of other functions. Unfortunately, as with every tech gadget these days, they also come with significant risks. For instance, they may be paired with apps that put your privacy at risk, which is a significant cybersecurity concern. So, if you are undecided about whether to get one, here are some of the advantages and disadvantages of fitness trackers to help you make an informed decision.
The Pros
Promotes healthy living
This is perhaps one of the most important benefits you get when using fitness trackers. Did you know that moving regularly keeps you healthy? With a fitness tracker regular movement is just one of the indirect benefits to your health. The sensors help track your calories, sleep, heart rate and blood pressure, count the distance travelled, and monitor your dietary intake. Consequently, through these functions, it becomes easier to monitor your health and make better decisions about your diet and exercise for healthy living. This is especially useful when you’re counting calories or are trying to achieve a certain calorie goal.
Keeps you motivated
You would be surprised what a little motivation can do to help you maintain your diet and fitness goals. This is especially important when getting started on an exercise routine as the results can be difficult to see at the beginning. With a fitness tracker, you can set goals and monitor your progress visually through stats, which helps you stay focused and motivated to maintain a new routine.
Helps you stay committed
Every health and fitness routine requires commitment, which could be difficult if you can’t see or feel any improvement after the first few weeks. However, a fitness tracker is an excellent solution to this. You are able to log exercise data to monitor your progress, set cardio goals, and give reminders throughout the day.
The Cons
Cybersecurity concerns
Fitness trackers collect a lot of sensitive personal information including your location, identification information, dietary intake, and health conditions. Unfortunately, this poses a considerable security risk especially if the tracker or its paired fitness app was hacked. This is a risk you should take into consideration before using a fitness tracker, and it should influence your decision.
Unhealthy obsessions
Stats are an awesome way to stay motivated and maintain accountability in your fitness routine. However, they can also lead to obsessive disorders in some people. The risk of using fitness trackers is that you may fixate on the stats so that everything about your health and fitness is all about achieving the perfect stats, which can more harmful than good. Be sure to listen to your body as ignoring it can potentially raise the likelihood of injury or mental fatigue.
Inaccurate
Although fitness trackers are a tremendous help in keeping up with fitness metrics, that does not make them 100% accurate. These stats can be quite misleading if they are assumed to be completely accurate, especially when it comes to tracking your calories and sleep.
The Takeaway
Fitness trackers are an excellent gadget, but they should be used in moderation. Before you purchase one, you should look up all the possible merits and demerits of your choice. Most importantly, fitness trackers shouldn’t be used as the end all be all option when it comes to your health. You should remember that yoga, meditation, and relaxation can play a significant role in improving your health even though they cannot be measured.
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