The Pros and Cons of Fitness "Wearables"

In today’s fitness world, “wearables” such as Fitbits, Apple watches and other devices have become very popular. For many people, they help to provide motivation and a sort of "gamification" to working out that helps them stay engaged and can make exercise more fun. For others, they can lead to an obsession with numbers and a poor relationship with exercise. This blog will cover some of the pros and cons in detail of using these devices, allowing you to decide for yourself if these devices would be helpful or a hindrance to you personally in regard to your fitness goals.

First, let’s start by covering one of the upsides of these devices. The first and probably the most obvious would be the motivation factor. These devices provide motivation by showing you real time statistics in regard to your workouts, including heart rate monitoring, calories burned, and steps taken, among other things. For some people, this can be a powerful motivator and help them progress and push towards their goals. On the flip side, this can lead to an obsession with numbers that could be detrimental to your overall health and well-being. This can be counterproductive in the sense of becoming over reliant on numbers and not properly factoring in other important factors of health such as strength and a sense of well-being.

Continuing off from that last point, another potential con of fitness trackers is the often inaccuracy of numbers. However, the most important thing in most of these cases in regard to progressing towards your goals when monitoring metrics such as heart rate or distance traveled is ensuring you’re increasing continuously over time. Therefore, the exact accuracy of such metrics isn’t so much the most important thing, just as long as the overall trend of these numbers is headed in the right direction. The main area where accuracy could be a potential issue is specifically in regard to calories burned. This is a favorite metric for fans of "wearables", especially people just starting or getting back into exercise. It is a number that is often repeated and bragged about among friends. You might hear someone say, “Check it out, I burned X amount of calories today.” This is an issue because if your tracker says you’re burning 500 calories, but you are only really burning, say 300, you may justify eating more calories as a result. This is often an issue with being over reliant on calories burned. It is never a good long term solution to be overly reliant on manually burning calories. After all, the main components in terms of long term weight management are strength training and proper nutrition habits. See previous blogs such as, “The problem with not eating enough”, for more info. This can lead to bad habits such as a perpetual cycle of burning more calories in order to eat more calories. This is a twofold issue in the sense that the calories burned number on your tracker is likely wrong. And it also creates the justification of thinking: burn more=eat more. Leading to a potential long-term poor relationship with food and exercise. Also, potentially leading to unsustainable habits.

That’s why trackers are likely a better option for people with specific endurance or cardiovascular goals such as running, cycling, rowing etc. In regard to a tool to assist with weight loss, it isn’t going to be the main thing that helps move the needle anywhere near to the degree that proper strength training and diet applied consistently will have.

Therefore, another potential upside would be not having to play the guessing game in terms of your training routine. Through tracking, you’re able to ensure you’re training at the proper intensity and continually challenging yourself over time instead of just going off of “feel”. Specific metrics that this would make sense for would be heart rate and distance traveled.

Ultimately, whether these devices will work well for you comes down to first-hand experience and ensuring you’re using them for the right reasons. I know many people, clients and colleagues alike, who find them very valuable, helping them stay consistent and achieve their goals. For me personally, "wearables" became more of a hindrance and weren't necessary for my own personal fitness and health goals. The points above are food for thought, but we all must decide for ourselves.