GETTING THE MOST OUT OF YOUR TRACKER
Five useful nuggets of advice that all new fitness tracker owners should follow…
START SMALL
While it can be tempting to set yourself a million goals when taking the wrapper off your new fitness tracker, try to spend the first week simply monitoring your regular activities and get a feel for the feedback you’re given and how the connected app works. Once you’ve got an overview of your fitness levels, you can set some more easily achievable goals based on your starting point. For example, don’t set your step count goal at 10,000 if you’re only used to doing 2,000 per day. Instead, aim for 500 or so more each day and build it up over time. This will make smashing your goals more achievable.
AVOID TAKING IT OFF
Try to leave your fitness tracker on, only taking it off to charge, otherwise you’re more likely to forget to put it back on and get out of the habit of wearing it. Keeping it on will also give you a more accurate view of your health and this help you better pinpoint where you can improve. A good time to charge is when you’re already sedentary, such as overnight or while at your desk (if you like to track your sleep). Also, try to interact with the device daily so you get a sense of whether you’re on track with your goals, while having time to make changes if you’re falling behind.
GET COMPETITIVE
Motivate yourself with competition. Most companion apps boast a community of users that you can complete goals with. Those that don’t will still work with apps like Strava, which even touts a social network aspect as well as leaderboards you can compete on.
ALL MOVEMENT IS GOOD
The great thing about having a fitness tracker on throughout the day is that it can be a constant reminder to move. However, movement doesn’t have to mean a full-on workout. Any kind of movement is beneficial, and many fitness trackers will tell you this; alerting you to get up from your seat when you’ve been sitting too long, for example.
DON’T TAKE DATA AS GOSPEL Remember, the data you get from your activity tracker isn’t always 100% accurate, so the readings should be only used as a guide. The measurements from the same tracker are generally consistent, however, so if you’ve burned fewer calories doing the same workout you did last week, this can be a good way to gauge effort.