Lifehacker 101: How Well Do Fitness Trackers Work?
Wander into just about any shop and you’ll be bowled over by the pure selection of fitness trackers, all declaring to help you on your fitness journey. But are they accurate at monitoring exercise actually? And what kind of features in the event you look for? This guide will help. What Is A Fitness Tracker?
Fitness trackers are a class of wearable computing that, as the name suggests, are made for those with fitness aspiration. Most trackers concentrate on two key goals; monitoring and collating the amount of steps you take each day, and tracking the quantity and quality of sleep you get every night. The step counter part of a fitness band works from at least one accelerometer to measure the start, and end of a motion as well as its intensity, judging it against its predetermined threshold to count a “step”. They’re generally designed to be worn on your wrist such as a bracelet or wristwatch.
The same movements are used to track your rest, but with a lot more attention paid to smaller motions, because you move less while asleep unless you’re a prolific sleepwalker. Perhaps one of the most contentious aspects of the procedure of a fitness tracker is how accurately they matter steps. Most work at the popular metric of stimulating one to take at least 10,000 steps per day, although some calculate a calorie rating or some other arbitrary device. As we’ve seen before, 10,000 steps isn’t the “magic amount” some purport it to …