“You have done TEN THOUSAND STEPS today, great job!!!!!” “Your heartrate was in the fat-burning zone for 23 minutes, great job!” Why is it then that the mirror is not reflecting the image you want to see and your doctor shakes their head when looking over your labwork?
I think these devices are meant to make you feel like you're getting some super deep insight into how your body works but often end up backfiring and just making you more disconnected from yourself. You stop doing what actually makes you feel good and start doing whatever makes the machine print out the number you're told is good...it's a bit creepy and depressing now that I think about it, actually.
I found fitbit to be useful in the beginning just to get a better idea of how much I was actually exercising and moving. It was a bit of a wakeup call, but as you say, once you have a clearer understanding of where you're at, the constant monitoring isn't really necessary. And the data on calorie burn certainly isn't accurate!
Love this. I have a few friends who talk about buying a fitness ring to "optimize" sleep habits amongst other things.. but my response is always "how did the world do it before all these gadgets?".. completely understand if you are a competitive athlete, these small things add up. But for the rest of us, just use common sense/how you feel as a guide. Great post Scooby.
As one of my mentors once said to me, a man who runs or cycles 50+ miles weekly, “they can be useful - these smart watches. But the issue is, it seems to think I’m having a heart attack all the time!”
I concurs with those sentiments. I found constantly looking at the heartbeat counter and then often trying to influence it was, in actuality, making me progressively anxious.
One of the reasons I like Oura (not an advertisement here) is that it tracks your activity without a display. I do whatever I'm going to do anyway, and don't even think about it. I don't let the app dictate my workout schedule or diet plan, but I do like to check for calories burned, which is not perfect but a much closer approximation than using standard averages, I like to see how I slept so I can be sure I'm doing the right things for bed prep, check for correlations in calories burned and sleep quality when I make adjustments to workouts/diet. I completely get your point, there are a lot of people that use them in the way described, but they can be absolutely great tools.
Steps are used to track NEAT not cardio. It actually is a useful tool as NEAT can diminish if one exercises too hard. People often wonder why their deficit is failing them and they don't realize that their NEAT is down making up for the deficit that they planned on. This is CRUCIAL for bodybuilders trying to get shredded because they can keep their step counts up AND do cardio to ensure that the caloric deficit goes the way that they planned it. This sounds more like a rant from someone that doesn't understand the importance of NEAT in weight loss. It's extremely important.
Personally I use my phone as a step tracker. I like the idea of getting 10k steps a day plus weights and cardio. Like you said in your article, self locomotion. It's a small tool to assist in that goal of fat loss and ensuring I move my body.
If you are interested in website help at any point, lmk! :)
I am a developer with a yearish of experience at this point. I'd say I'm at intermediate level and figure out most stuff, but I may not know everything needed for a scalable app yet.
Or even if you could send your old database or something, I'd love to recreate a version of your old website as one of my side projects!
I think I was smarter without all those gadgets. I see how fitbit can be usefull at the same time it's like women who always where yoga leggings who don't workout haha.
I think these devices are meant to make you feel like you're getting some super deep insight into how your body works but often end up backfiring and just making you more disconnected from yourself. You stop doing what actually makes you feel good and start doing whatever makes the machine print out the number you're told is good...it's a bit creepy and depressing now that I think about it, actually.
I found fitbit to be useful in the beginning just to get a better idea of how much I was actually exercising and moving. It was a bit of a wakeup call, but as you say, once you have a clearer understanding of where you're at, the constant monitoring isn't really necessary. And the data on calorie burn certainly isn't accurate!
Love this. I have a few friends who talk about buying a fitness ring to "optimize" sleep habits amongst other things.. but my response is always "how did the world do it before all these gadgets?".. completely understand if you are a competitive athlete, these small things add up. But for the rest of us, just use common sense/how you feel as a guide. Great post Scooby.
As one of my mentors once said to me, a man who runs or cycles 50+ miles weekly, “they can be useful - these smart watches. But the issue is, it seems to think I’m having a heart attack all the time!”
I concurs with those sentiments. I found constantly looking at the heartbeat counter and then often trying to influence it was, in actuality, making me progressively anxious.
All the so called health coaches should start sharing their yearly blood work because they say another word
Are you happy with your fitbit results?
When the world needed him most, he returned.
I prefer analog motivation for walks….ie the sad look my dog gives me when i dont take her.
One of the reasons I like Oura (not an advertisement here) is that it tracks your activity without a display. I do whatever I'm going to do anyway, and don't even think about it. I don't let the app dictate my workout schedule or diet plan, but I do like to check for calories burned, which is not perfect but a much closer approximation than using standard averages, I like to see how I slept so I can be sure I'm doing the right things for bed prep, check for correlations in calories burned and sleep quality when I make adjustments to workouts/diet. I completely get your point, there are a lot of people that use them in the way described, but they can be absolutely great tools.
Steps are used to track NEAT not cardio. It actually is a useful tool as NEAT can diminish if one exercises too hard. People often wonder why their deficit is failing them and they don't realize that their NEAT is down making up for the deficit that they planned on. This is CRUCIAL for bodybuilders trying to get shredded because they can keep their step counts up AND do cardio to ensure that the caloric deficit goes the way that they planned it. This sounds more like a rant from someone that doesn't understand the importance of NEAT in weight loss. It's extremely important.
Personally I use my phone as a step tracker. I like the idea of getting 10k steps a day plus weights and cardio. Like you said in your article, self locomotion. It's a small tool to assist in that goal of fat loss and ensuring I move my body.
HI SCOOBY!
If you are interested in website help at any point, lmk! :)
I am a developer with a yearish of experience at this point. I'd say I'm at intermediate level and figure out most stuff, but I may not know everything needed for a scalable app yet.
Or even if you could send your old database or something, I'd love to recreate a version of your old website as one of my side projects!
Well guess it's time to cut off the fitbit subscription then. I'm already Iean as is, I just use it to track my steps and sleeping schedule really.
Swinging wide
Nothing wrong with using a fitness tracker as an incentive to e.g. get more steps in
Gamification of fitness can be a great way for sedentary people to become less sedentary, and there are quite a few factors to consider:
https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcomp.2020.530309/full
The FitBit, another tool made to profit off of misguided people and make them feel good instead of help them. :)
I think I was smarter without all those gadgets. I see how fitbit can be usefull at the same time it's like women who always where yoga leggings who don't workout haha.