Wearable fitness trackers have evolved beyond being a cool novelty worn by athletes and fitness fanatics to being worn by nearly everyone. You don’t have to be an athlete to want better sleep or an avid gym-goer to desire more data about your workouts and health status, which is why it seems that just about everyone has one of these high-tech gadgets strapped to their wrist or around your finger these days.
When used properly, fitness trackers can help you set personalized health and fitness goals and build a supportive community of like-minded exercisers who can help empower you to pursue and someday achieve your goals.
[Read: How to Make Exercise a Habit: Top Fitness Routine Tips]
Best Fitness Tracker for You
Fitness trackers come in all different types and vary in their capabilities. Finding a fitness tracker that matches your needs and works with how you envisioned using it will give you the best chance of sticking with using it. Think about the following things when purchasing your tracker:
— How will you wear it? Many fitness trackers, like the popular Apple Watch, are worn on your wrist. But that’s not the only option. New options like the Oura ring can be worn on your fingers, and others like the Whoop can even be worn on your chest, upper arm or lower leg.
— What health metrics are you interested in? Most fitness trackers come equipped with the ability to measure your heart rate, but beyond that, you’ll want to look into the details to make sure it has all of the measurement capabilities you want. Some trackers can measure your body temperature, perform an ECG, respiratory rate, sleep metrics and more.
— What other functionality are you looking for? While most watches also tell you the time, some wrist fitness trackers don’t. The Whoop, FitBit Flex and Wahoo TICKR FIT, for example, keep a lower profile without a screen. Additionally, some trackers have Bluetooth capability so that you can listen to music while you run, and others can even access cellular data so that you can make calls and send texts from your watch. Also consider whether you need one that’s waterproof for swimming workouts.
— How much are you willing to spend? Basic fitness trackers are available for even less than $50 and can be a good start if you’re new to tracking workouts or steps. Others, like the Garmin f?nix 8, cost $1,200 and come equipped with a built-in flashlight, GPS mapping, blood oxygen measurements and voice calls/texts.
Once you’ve found a fitness tracker you like, here are 10 tips to make the most of it.
[Read: Best Fitness Apps and Home Workouts.]
Tips to Make the Most of Your Fitness Tracker
1. Wear it. This may be obvious, but consistently wearing your fitness tracker is vital to success. According to research, about 30% of people eventually stop wearing their trackers due to boredom, damage or the fact that they simply don’t find them that useful.
If you’re ever tempted to leave your fitness tracker at home, remind yourself why you bought it in the first place. Health and wellness goals don’t happen overnight, and wearing your tracker can be a constant and positive reminder of your ongoing journey. Consistency and patience are essential.
It can be helpful to establish a routine for charging it so that you wear it more often and don’t find yourself leaving it behind because it’s not charged. For example, try charging it while you’re in the shower. Put it in an obvious place, like on your kitchen countertop, so that you don’t forget to put it back on when it’s charged.
[READ: Tips to Spice Up Your Fitness Routine.]
2. Personalize the settings. Make sure to enter your age, gender, height, weight and fitness level correctly when setting up your fitness tracker. This information is critical for accurate estimations of calorie expenditure, heart rate zones and even sleep recommendations. For example, caloric burn varies significantly between a 150-pound individual and a 200-pound individual performing the same activity. Accurately inputting these metrics will help ensure that your tracker provides personalized insights and better context for your fitness progress.
You can often personalize additional features, including the watch band, to make it more comfortable. Many also allow you to set your own goals.
3. Set realistic goals. The value of setting realistic goals cannot be overstated. For example, if you are currently logging about 6,000 steps through your daily routine, establishing a goal of 15,000 steps or more may be setting yourself up for failure.
On the other hand, goals that are too easily achieved can create boredom and drain motivation. Set goals that are attainable and fit within your lifestyle, and then revisit them on occasion to see if it’s time to progress. You may eventually reach that 15,000-step target, but you don’t have to do it on day one. Be sure to consistently monitor your progress and adjust your goals accordingly.
4. Join challenges to boost motivation. Social support is often cited in research as an important element of long-term adherence to a physical activity program. Most fitness trackers allow you to join your friends or family members in weekly or daily challenges, which can be a great source of friendly competition.
You can take this a step further by joining social media–based groups that organize challenges and sometimes offer rewards for the winners. If you work with a personal trainer, ask them if they offer this service to their clients. Allowing your personal trainer access to your data is another great way to increase accountability.
5. Track more than just exercise. Track non-exercise activities like walking, standing and general movement throughout the day. These activities, often termed as NEAT (non-exercise activity thermogenesis), play a significant role in overall energy expenditure. For example, standing more often during the day can help reduce the negative effects of prolonged sitting.
Also, be sure to log nutrition and hydration. Pair your fitness tracker with a compatible app to log your meals and fluid intake. This comprehensive approach can help align your eating habits with your fitness goals.
6. Take advantage of advanced features. For runners, cyclists or outdoor enthusiasts, using the GPS feature on your fitness tracker can be invaluable. Not only does it provide precise distance and speed data, but it can also help you explore new routes, review your performance on specific segments and even compete against your own records or those of other users.
You can pair many fitness trackers with popular apps like Strava, which allow you to share maps of your workouts with friends, give others “kudos” on their activities and visualize training data.
7. Don’t get too caught up in the numbers. Try not to get lost in the data. For some people, the pursuit of step counts and calorie counts can be very motivating; for others, it can quickly become overwhelming.
Be mindful of how you are responding to the use of your fitness tracker. Does it serve as positive motivation and allow you to form a supportive community? Or, does it leave you depressed at the end of the night when you haven’t hit your goals? If it’s the latter, reframe your thinking regarding the numbers and focus on progress not perfection. For example, don’t inflexibly focus on hitting a specific target without fail.
8. Use reminders and alerts. Set reminders and alerts tailored to your schedule and fitness goals. For example, schedule hydration reminders at regular intervals, or set alerts to take breaks from sitting every hour. You can also program alerts for specific goals, like a daily step count or bedtime reminder.
9. Act on your data. Analyzing trends in your fitness data can help you identify patterns and make informed decisions. For example, if your tracker shows that your sleep quality declines on nights when you exercise late, you might adjust your workout time to earlier in the day. If you notice that your resting heart rate is elevated or sleep quality has decreased, it could be a sign that your body needs more rest. Consider incorporating additional rest days, active recovery sessions or stress management techniques to aid recovery.
10. Be kind to yourself. This may be the most important tip of all. Remember, the point of wearing a fitness tracker is to make movement a part of your routine as you pursue your goals. There are going to be times when you’re not consistently active or eating well, as vacations, illness, injuries and countless other realities of daily life can knock anyone off track.
Lean on the community you’ve built and take it one day at a time. The beauty of having daily goals — take this many steps, eat this many calories, be in bed by this time — is that you can hit a reset button each morning and restart your wellness journey with a clean slate.
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10 Tips to Make the Most of Your Fitness Tracker originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 11/19/24: This story was published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
