Professional Fit – Are fitness trackers worth the expense?

Many of you I’m sure to have noticed the popularity of watches that track your exercise movements and your daily nutritional requirements. The technology is amazing. For use, the gadget can follow the number of steps you have taken and even the amount of calories you have burned all in conjunction with how much you […]

Many of you I’m sure to have noticed the popularity of watches that track your exercise movements and your daily nutritional requirements.

The technology is amazing. For use, the gadget can follow the number of steps you have taken and even the amount of calories you have burned all in conjunction with how much you weigh and how physical you are. Not to mention the nutritional side of the which tells you the nutritional value of just about every food with one swipe of the barcode of said food.

But is it all worth the expense and does it work?

A study from the University of Pennsylvania concluded that “Increased physical activity by wearing these devices could lead to clinical benefits. Our findings may help reinforce individuals’ trust in using smartphone applications and wearable devices to track health behaviours, which could have important implications for strategies to improve population health.”

But quantifying every step and every breath you take isn’t cheap. At the high end, you have a Fitbit which will set you back to $250. But you can get cheaper ones for $45

Meanwhile, fitness apps for your smartphone might be $5, or wholly free, and recent research says they’re just as good as or even better in some ways than pricey fitness bands.

So why would you shell out more? When it comes to fitness bands, one size doesn’t fit all. And some of the most valuable functions of a tracker are practically priceless.

In the same study, they tested the reliability of both the expensive and cheap devices. They concluded that money certainly doesn’t buy precision. If you purchased a $60 Fitbit clipped onto your pants, it was just as if not more accurate than-than other wearable devices.