Fitness Trackers: Enhancing Physical Activity and Health

Fitness trackers are wearable devices that monitor and record physical activity, steps, calories burned, and sometimes heart rate and sleep patterns.
Category
Device
Where to get
Available in electronics stores, sports stores, and online.
Prepared by Lee Cheng, reviewed by Dr. Helena Rodriguez

Fitness Trackers FAQ


Image credit: bhphotovideo.com

How do fitness trackers work?

They also monitor your progress and provide insights into how you're doing, along with guidance on changes you can make. As exercise-oriented wearables, fitness trackers additionally count your steps, measure your heart rate, read your blood oxygen levels, accompany you swimming and remind you to move.

What are fitness bands & trackers?

This is where fitness bands and trackers come into play. Fitness trackers are wearable technology that enables you to measure a plethora of data to help improve overall health. With its recent entry into everyday people’s lives, it makes you wonder where it all started — the answer goes further back than you think.

Why do you need a fitness tracker?

If you’re planning to go to the gym or walk more, a fitness tracker can monitor each activity you’re performing, providing insight into the calories you’ve burned and – with many fitness trackers – your heart rate during those activities, so you can get a true idea of how much harder you’re working.

What makes a good fitness tracker?

A good fitness tracker is one that you'll wear every day and will help you build up a complete picture of your health. With that knowledge, you can start to make small tweaks that will help you sleep better, lower your resting heart rate, improve your fitness, and generally feel better.

What do you track on a fitness tracker?

Tracks sleep, steps, heart rate, abnormal heart rate, menstrual cycle, workouts and activities, stress, hydration

Are fitness trackers a good idea?

See our ethics statement. Fitness trackers have come a long way from the simple bands that tracked steps and little else. Modern trackers can monitor everything from your heart health to how well you’ve recovered from a hard bout of training. They’ve got sensors galore and, in some cases, can give smartwatches a run for their money.

Which fitness tracker should I buy?

The Fitbit Charge 6 is the most advanced band-style fitness tracker you can buy from Fitbit these days, and it's packed with more features than you'll find from the Fitbit Luxe at the top of this list. This is why it's our top pick if you're looking for a tracker to suit a lot of different needs and workout types.

How much does a fitness tracker cost?

Fitness trackers range in price from $25 to $400 or more. The simplest and least expensive trackers often lack a display, so you can't check your step count unless you look at your smartphone. More expensive trackers usually include built-in optical heart rate monitors and GPS.

Fitness Trackers References

If you want to know more about Fitness Trackers, consider exploring links below:

Explore Related Topics

Technology and Gadgets for Managing Exercise-Induced Asthma

Share and discuss the latest technology and gadgets that help manage exercise-induced asthma, including apps and wearables.