Pros and Cons of Fitbit, a Trainer's Perspective
Like any piece of fitness equipment or gear, there are some pros and cons to the Fitbit. I’ve been using a Fitbit Flex for about a year and the following are my observations and opinions as a fitness professional:
Pros:
1. The Fitbit is very easy to use. After you download the app, you can check all of your daily stats at a glance. There are more options on the full website as well, which is also very easy to use.
2. You can link with friends and family through the app to keep you motivated, provide encouragement, and provide a little friendly competition!
3. As an exercise physiologist/trainer, it allows me to help keep track of my clients’ daily activity. This can also be another great motivator for you if you find yourself needing a bit more guidance.
4. Already using a fitness app? Fitbit connects to many different fitness apps you may already be using: MyFitnessPal, Runkeeper, Endomando, LoseIt!, Blinkfeed, Weight Watchers, MapMyRun, and Sparkpeople. This is a great way to get a good overall picture of your health and fitness goals.
5. Track your sleep! Sleep is a very important part of your health. By tracking your sleep patterns and hours spent sleeping, you may find you are not sleeping enough, or are getting very restless sleep. By finding ways to improve your sleep, you will find you have more energy throughout your day, allowing you to reach your activity goals!
Cons:
1. The Fitbit does not send you reminders to move. Unless you look at the data your Fitbit is providing, you may not think to get up from the couch or the computer to go for a quick walk. There are no reminders if you’ve been sedentary for too long.
2. The clasps, securing the Fitbit around your wrist, can disconnect easily. Mine has come off when taking my coat off, taking grocery bags off my shoulder, and doing daily chores around the house. I know they are improving this in the newer models.
3. Fitness trackers may take the focus off the emotional and psychological benefits associated with exercise. When people ask me why I like to run and workout so much, my 1st answer always is that it’s cheap therapy! I FEEL better after a run! Use the tracker, but don’t let it take away from the enjoyment you experience from getting outside, moving your body, or experiencing an amazing yoga class!
4. Accuracy? Fitbit claims that they have the “most accurate wrist-based activity trackers on the market.” “All Fitbit trackers should be 95-97% accurate for step counting when worn as recommended.” Honestly, I do not count all of my steps and compare them to my stats. But I do not believe that the tracker is completely accurate. Being a fitness professional, I am already aware of approximately how many steps a mile is, how many calories a particular activity burns, and how many calories you should consume based on your activity. Sometimes I feel the Fitbit overestimates my activity and how many calories I should be consuming.
5. Although Fitbit is a great tracker and motivator, it cannot provide you with a plan of how to best utilize your data or how elicit a change in a behavior or particular habit. Seeing that you have 2,000 more steps to go to reach your goal may make you realize that you need to move more. But you may have run out of interesting ways to reach that goal and begin to feel frustrated. Therefore it may best be utilized in conjunction with a fitness professional.
Overall, I feel that fitness trackers, such as the Fitbit, can be a wonderful tool in your overall health and wellness journey. As society and technology “enable” us to become more and more sedentary, we need to find more ways to stay active and utilizing a simple to use, small piece of technology to help to motivate us may just be a step in the right direction.
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