I’m not talking about the scale. Let’s remember that the scale is not always the most accurate means of gym gains/losses/improvement. Skip the scale. I’m talking specifically about technological means of tracking.

Tech tracking has become a hot-button topic in the fitness world. Many people are utilizing apps, fitness trackers, and online subscriptions for things such as; meditation, core training, heart rate monitoring, steps per day, calories burned, etc. In this we will focus specifically on tracking workouts, not utilizing technology for the actual workout (subscriptions, meditation, WODs, follow-along videos, etc.).

Strength and conditioning are fantastic for people of all ages and fitness levels, inactivity is the new smoking. Everyone should move every single day, it’s important for overall health, muscle tone, bone density, and hormone levels. We’ve gone over this before but I am happy to remind everyone of the benefits of moving…Now, fitness trackers/heart rate monitors help a person better understand how much they are doing throughout a day, and how much energy they are expending during a workout. Depending on the tracker you can get down into the nitty-gritty of your workout; calories expended, steps taken, GPS map of movement (great for runners/bicyclists/hikers), heart rate, resting time, etc.

Here are a few of the reasons I wear my fitness tracker on a daily basis:

1. Helps me reach my self-set goals – Every week I set out a goal of calories burned per day, stand time, steps count to hit, and workouts per week. My fitness tracker makes this a no-brainer. I honestly have very little work to do, and as it transmits to my phone, I can easily see where I am at each week. If I slack one day I know I will have some work to make up in the days following. I like the accountability and the fact that there isn’t a human telling me to “push harder” or anything they think is motivating. I’m good with self-motivation.
2. Weekly improvement – My tracker allows me to see that week over week, my numbers are improving. Even if my weight doesn’t drop, I am hitting better numbers, more active hours, an improvement on calories expended, a better resting heart rate, etc.
3. Reminds me to get off my a** and move around – I am no stranger to lounging around on my off-days (sometimes on my on-days as well) but my tracker makes a point of reminding me to get up, and it also helps me be more active on days I would rather sit on my butt.
4. Sleep tracking – I don’t sleep or I sleep fitfully, I try and I just can’t, so the tracker helps me. It lets me track day-to-day, and I can see a pattern. Sleep is important to overall health, so I find this portion of my tracker really helpful.

Fitness tracking works at any time, you don’t need to have hired a personal trainer in order to successfully use your tracker. As long as you are active, or you choose to head over to the 24/7 gym or fitness facility you are a member at, this is a helpful tool. Make sure that you do your research, and don’t let the cheap/high prices turn you off, these are a great investment if you are investing in your fitness.