10,000 Steps Isn’t The Magic Number For Fitness Trackers

Are you using any of these fitness trackers? Well I must admit that using apps like Runkeeper to track my biking is really useful and that’s in spite of having one of those VDO cycle computers. You get all sorts of interesting data which does somehow motivate you to try and outperform your previous session. and just in case you were wondering, you can perfectly manage with the free version.

below is an interesting story on this topic:

Why 10,000 Steps Isn’t The Magic Number For Fitness Trackers

The rise of wearable fitness technology is something of a paradox. The surge in popularity of devices that monitor the amount of exercise you do suggest more people than ever are interested in maintaining regular fitness regimes. Just witness the success of the company behind fitness tracking bracelet Fitbit, which investors have just deemed worth $US4.1bn after it floated on the stock market. Yet this comes at a time when physical inactivity has reached levels of global pandemic proportion.

This shows how important it is that the public understand and follow science-based health and behavior advice. The advantage of wearable fitness technology is that it can provide a way for personalized data to shape how much extra physical activity (including exercise) a person needs to do and when.

The well-publicized recommendation to take “10,000 steps a day” is a perfect example. The figure actually originates from Japanese walking clubs and a marketing slogan for pedometers more than 40 years ago. But step counts have been shown to provide a reliable measure of daily activity in healthy adults. They also provide a meaningful everyday metric that allows individuals to self-monitor their physical activity and walking.

The self-monitoring (observing and evaluating one’s behavior) and goal setting that come with devices like Fitbit are two of the most complementary and potent ways of changing people’s physical activity behavior. Combining activity trackers, which allow the wearer to observe their steps in real-time and review at their leisure, with goals such as walking 10,000 steps can make people more motivated and more able to increase or maintain their physical activity levels..

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