The continued advancement of technology has given fitness and lifestyle enthusiasts some amazing tools and applications at their disposal. One perfect example of this is fitness trackers. These trackers, which have been around since smartphones first became popular, have continued to evolve. Whereas they once utilized manual tracking only, they can now take advantage of Bluetooth and smartwatch technology, enabling them to automatically track a wide array of fitness metrics. As a result, they can track your heart rate, blood pressure, pulse, distance traveled, and much more.
While there is a large number of these trackers now commercially available, they tend to come with similar features. Here is an overview of some of their more popular features, and some examples of some of the more popular trackers.
Features of Fitness & Activity Trackers
Different trackers come with different features. However, broadly speaking, the newest fitness trackers tend to come with similar features. These include:
- Your location: Your actual location isn't important, but where you move - and how quickly you move - is. Any fitness tracker will use the GPS inside of your phone to track where you move and how fast you do so. You'll also regularly update the phone with your height and weight. This will enable it to track how many steps you take and how many miles you travel.
- Calories burned: This is one of the best metrics that any fitness tracker will keep tabs on. Since it tracks your heart rate and location, it should be able to give you a good estimate about how many calories you burn while you move. For people who track their calories during the day and use those calories to determine how much they can or should eat, this can be an exceptionally useful feature.
- Heart Rate: A good fitness tracker will keep track of your heart rate. This has many useful features, as it can tell when you are exercising. This information will then be logged to determine your calories lost and when your heart rate is in a range to be engaging in cardio exercise. Of course, this requires the use of additional equipment, like a smartwatch or fitness band. If your heart rate ever has any sort of problem - like going too fast or too slow - it can alert you or medical authorities.
Popular Fitness and Activity Tracker Models
The number of fitness trackers and models continues to grow. Some of the most popular models include:
- Fitbit Charge: Fitbit is one of the originals in this field, and the Charge comes with a variety of highly useful features. It comes with all of the standard tracker benefits, including easy integration with your Smartphone and the ability to track any number of useful fitness metrics. However, it also comes with the ability to control your music with Spotify and integration with Apple Pay. Indeed, the Charge seems to be pressing into a variety of non-fitness-related areas. This can make the device even more useful.
- Garmin Vivosmart: Garmin has a long history of activity in the GPS world, and the Vivosmart can be highly useful for fans of this brand. It comes with an ultra-slim design, so people who are worried about having a bulkier device on their wrist may find this to be highly useful. It also has one of the longest-lasting batteries in this area, going up to 24 hours without a charge.
- Apple Watch: It obviously makes perfect sense that the Apple Watch would have fitness capabilities. While the Apple Watch was not designed exclusively for fitness, it has fantastic applications in this area. No phone integrates as easily with your iPhone, although Android users will obviously be out of luck. It has numerous formats and styles, so you can find a version that works for you. It also has more advanced tracking features, like the ability to measure your blood oxygen levels.