There’s nothing new about fitness trackers. Professional athletes have used them for years. More and more people who want to get in better condition are discovering how these trackers can help them change their habits and be more physically active. Here are a few of the ways that an activity tracker will help you be more aware of how much you are moving around and provide the incentive to do more as the days go by.
Finances and Motivation to Keep Moving
It’s true that a decent tracker will cost a little money. Even if you happen to purchase it when there is sports equipment for sale, the amount you pay will be enough to make some people pause and think twice. Since you went ahead and made the purchase, it makes sense to get some use from the device.
Your desire to not let the tracker remain tucked away in a drawer and get something from your purchase will often be enough to make changes in your activity level. After you learn how it helps you track distances and measures different forms of activity, you’ll want to wear the device and create a permanent record of the results. That record is proof that the money you spent was not wasted.
You are Accountable to No One
One of the reasons you have put off starting any type of exercise regimen is the fact that you are in such poor shape compared to all those fit individuals at the local gym. It’s embarrassing to go in there with your lack of muscle tone and the spare tire when you are surrounded by people who seem to be in better shape that you ever were in the past. Instead of feeling as if you are being judged every time you set foot in a gym, it’s easier to stay home.
With a tracker, there is no need to feel self-conscious about your current fitness level. The device is certainly not going to tell anyone. Unless you choose to share the results on social media or tell one of your friends, it’s really a matter of accountability that remains between you and the tracker.
This is especially great during the early stages of beginning to build some stamina by walking and other forms of light activity. Thanks to the tracker, you get information about what you’ve accomplished today. There is no one judging the results or looking at you as you struggle to increase the activity level from one week to the next. Being able to keep the information to yourself and only share it once you are ready to do so provides a lot of personal empowerment.
Getting a Better Idea of How Much (or Little) You Move Each Day
Even in the early stages of getting in shape, people tend to overestimate how much they’ve actually done. What may have seemed like a half-hour workout was really 15 minutes. The walk that was supposed to last for over a mile was actually around three quarters of that distance. Choosing to invest in and wear a tracker helps you move away from estimating and have factual data about how much you are moving around each day.
This is important because movement is the key to getting fit. When you are not doing anywhere near as much as you think, it’s easy to get discouraged. That’s because you don’t realize that the mile you think you are walking every evening is actually much less. When you have a tracker, it’s easy enough to determine exactly how far you’ve walked and know when you have reached your goal for today.
Tracking Your Progress
Exercise is all about settling goals, reaching them, and then setting a new set of goals that challenges you to move on to the next level of fitness. The question is knowing when the time is right to walk a little further, increase your use of other fitness accessories and equipment, and how much of an increase is practical right now.
Using your tracker helps you develop the habit of periodically evaluating your exercise routine and determining when you need to kick things up a notch. For example, you notice that the evening walk that used to take you a half-hour now only takes twenty minutes. Now is the time to consider adding another quarter or half-mile to your nightly routine.
You may be ready to add some new exercises to your routine. That means you will need to buy yoga mats or other equipment for those new components of your workout. If you make it a point to wear the tracker every time you do any sort of exercise, knowing when to add something new or increase the time or resistance associated with some aspect of the workout will become second nature.
Learning That Exercise is Fun
You don’t necessarily need a tracker to begin looking at your workouts as a way to have fun. Even so, there’s something about going through a routine and then seeing the display of how much you moved that adds a little something extra to your enjoyment. Think of what a pleasant surprise it is when you check the results for the evening and find that you ended up doing more than you planned. Even having that proof you are meeting your goals brings a smile to your lips and provides motivation to stick with the plan for one more day.
If you have never worn a fitness tracker before, now is the perfect time to learn more about how they work, what they measure, and the ways they have helped others stay motivated. There is nothing magic about trackers, but they are a useful tool that helps you set realistic goals and not get discouraged when your routine does not produce results overnight. As the weeks pass, the tracker will become such an integral part of your daily routine that the idea of stepping out without it will be unthinkable.
