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How wearable tech can improve your fitness routine
As wearable technology becomes increasingly popular, you may begin to wonder if it's worth the often hefty price tag. While manufacturers of smart watches and other wearable tech devices continue to find new ways to help you stay more connected, it's most prominent features continue to be ones centered around your health and fitness. Almost all devices provide most, if not all, of the following features and benefits:
Goal setting:
Most devices will allow you to set daily goals for yourself that can be extremely helpful in reaching longer term wellness goals. Whether those goals are just to be generally more active on a daily basis, or to improve cardiovascular health, smart watches and other similar technology often send reminders throughout the day that help you to achieve your goals.
Calorie tracking:
Wearable tech devices are usually equipped with the ability to give you updates on how many calories you have burned, especially as it relates to a specific workout or activity. This can be helpful data if you are working on determining how much you should be eating throughout the day.
Counting steps:
Many sources will tell you that a good way to start improving your overall fitness is to work towards getting 10,000 steps a day. It may sound silly but getting those extra steps in every day add up! Most, if not all, smart watches are able to track your step count, and give you updates throughout your day, as well as checkpoints that can help you reach your step goals (half way, almost there, etc.)
Heart monitor:
An important feature of most wearable technology that most people would often not pay attention to otherwise, is their heart rate. Keeping tabs on your resting and active heart rate, especially if that data can be tracked over longer periods of time, is incredibly useful for knowing not only if you're making progress in improving cardiovascular health, but also if you should potentially talk to your doctor or another healthcare professional. This is one way in which wearable tech devices are useful in contributing to proactive as opposed to reactive healthcare. Many newer devices on the market are even equipped with an ECG app, which can help you track any irregular heart rhythms.
Sleep data:
Lastly, a major contributor to your health and wellness is how much sleep you're able to get each night! Often we aren't getting as much as we think we are. Wearable smart devices generally collect data on how many hours you're asleep each night, as well as combining it with the previously mentioned heart rate data to see what your resting heart rate is during the night.
Wrapping up:
While most people think of smart watches when considering types of wearable technology (such as the Apple Watch, FitBit, or something more along the lines of a Garmin watch), there are other types of emerging devices on the market that breakaway from the original smartwatch concept. Some of these include designs like smart rings, or bracelets/bangles. There are even models of smart clothing (think shirts, or shoes) that can help track and provide updates about your health or fitness.
While this technology can be extremely useful in being proactive about your personal well being, as well as to help make improvements to your fitness routine, it's important to recognize that it is not a replacement for your doctor, nor can it replace making daily choices to improve your overall wellness.