Are you even using that fitness tracker-armed wearable thing?
So, you have one of those fitness bands. And the novelty was lovely in the early weeks. Maybe your mum even applauded you for upping the number of steps you took everyday. But, really, was your life better?
I’ve had a wearable device on my wrist since, well, time immemorial, so to speak. And since I’m not one of those who go nuts with exercise (my gym stint lasted for a glorious one week, and that was back in high school — and I quit because I found out that my muscle-bound, hulking instructor was, well, let’s just say ‘oriented’ in a way that I wasn’t). But the point is, I’ve used wearable fitness bands for either aesthetics (RIP, Jawbone) or as a watch (no RIP to my standard timepieces, though). One day, however, changed all of that. It was one instance when I was truly inspired to use my wearable thingamajig for fitness: when I was diagnosed with borderline hypertension. (Truth is, it was my septuagenarian Mom who was actually scheduled for her regular check-up that fateful day — until the knucklehead in me decided to have my blood pressure checked in front of her, which yielded a higher-than-normal result. Though she freaked out at that, my Mom emerged with a clean chit... while I ended up being scheduled for more tests. And, eventually, got prescriptions for maintenance meds. Oh, the joys of being an only child, sometimes still getting treated like a baby when I already have a son who will shortly be taller than me.)
So, armed with my wearable, I diligently took note of my steps, set higher goals every now and then, and made sure I accomplished them. Those were also the times when the last thing I did before going to sleep was to make sure I set it to sleep mode and the first thing after opening my eyes was to check the level of Zzs I racked up during my stint in bed. And no — I didn’t go back to the gym.
Heck, it even forced me to morph from being dominantly carnivorous to full-time omnivorous.
That went on for three months — the same period I was required to gobble up those maintenance meds. Very soon, I had another check-up, and — bam! — my levels were back to normal.
After that, well... one other level shot up — my disinterest in tracking my body’s activity.
Of course, the mentality there was hey, I’m back to normal, maybe I can go back to having my wearable as a ‘normal’ thing again.
It was, however, a gradual but really obvious process: if before I was eager to set higher step goals, I just stuck it out with the normal rate.
Forgot to set my sleep tracker? It went from banging my noggin on my bed’s headboard to meh. You know where this is heading, right? If you look at the entire thing, you’ll realise how funny it was for me to transform from a statementmaking of sorts user to a megalomaniac and back. Truly, tech is not the only thing that can influence what we use and how we use it.
Not a few have predicted that the wearables market will be going down soon enough. The International Data Corporation says otherwise: in a recent report, they say the market actually grew 16.9 per cent. It’s not dead — it’s just shifting its focus. And the health and fitness vertical remain a major focus.
The problem is, just how long can you stay dedicated (ouch) or have reason to (ouch-ouch) align your fitness strategy with your device?
Sometimes I’d like to warp back to during my heyday, when playing basketball from 7am to 7pm was an everyday affair for me. If I had a fitness tracker at that time, it could have conked out with my steps alone.
Nowadays, I have a smart watch on my wrist, and I use it for — you guessed it — checking the time. But also for having a sneak peek at who’s calling and every other notification possible. To be fair, it has some built-in reminders for my step count, when to stand and when to relax. So, yeah, seems like I haven’t entirely backed out of this whole fitness thing — it just isn’t the way it used to be.
Unless, well, I get my blood pressure checked in front of my Mom again. alvin@khaleejtimes.com Tech Alvin’s part-time optimistic and full-time eccentric. Loves basketball, shoes and cooking
I had another check-up sometime after I was diagnosed with borderline hypertension, and — bam! — my levels were back to normal. After that, well... one other level shot up — my disinterest in tracking my body’s activity