April 10th, 2013Top StoryHow to Make the Most Of Your Fitness Tracker (Without Falling Off the Wagon)By Alan Henry
Most fitness gadgets and apps are actually quite good at tracking your activity level. They've gone from simple pedometers to gadgets that can track floors climbed, calories burned, and even track your sleep. The latest models can measure your heart rate, sync wirelessly, rally your friends to support you, and more. Plus, they're affordable—most hover around $100, and most apps are free. It's no wonder that doctors recommend them to their patients (mine included), and their popularity has exploded. Eventually, they'll be everywhere: in our phones, embedded in our clothing, built in to our shoes. Even so, the picture isn't all rosy. How many of your friends who obsessively tweet their latest Withings Scale weigh in or Fitbit daily progress score are actually making progress to their fitness goals? As soon as the luster wears off, we're back to our old habits. So how do we make the most of these tools, and benefit from the data they provide without falling off the wagon? We talked to Dick Talens, Co-Founder of Fitocracy, and Derek Flanzraich, CEO and Founder of Greatist, to find out. Quantifying Yourself Is Not the Same As Improving Yourself
For example, in matters of diet, studies have shown keeping a food log actually makes us more concious about what we eat, just because we're paying attention. That alone makes us stop, think, and make better decisions. When our own Adam Pash got in better shape with the help of technology, he explained that he was already motivated to make a change. He let his desire to get in shape and his love of data merge into an unstoppable force that kept him driven and motivated, turning into a feedback loop that fit in with his habits. The problem with quantifying yourself, as even advocates of the movement will tell you, is that tracking every little bit of information is just the beginning. Next, you have to examine the data and actually make the changes required to improve your life. Part of your motivation may come from playing your life like a game, making changes to improve your "stats" and make the numbers look better. Some of the motivation may come from the stark reality of the numbers in front of you, and the message they carry. Here's the catch: all of those sources of motivation have to exist prior to the start of data collection. Some Feedback Is Better Than No Feedback At AllIf you're the type who feels data is its own reward, fitness tracking tools are great for you. They fit into the habit loop, which consists of a cue, a routine, and a reward. Unfortunately, not all of us love data enough to feel rewarded by it, and many people who invest in tracking gadgets give up as soon as the "new shiny toy" aspect of it (and the data it collects) wears off. In some cases, it can actually be counterproductive. The type of activity that fitness tracking gadgets and apps encourage you to do (and spend their limited willpower on) may not help in the long term. Dick pointed to this study in the Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, and explained: "The activity that most people partake in with a Fitbit can be characterized as 'Low Intensity Steady State' or LISS cardio. When people lose weight via LISS cardio, their metabolism adjusts and they actually need to keep that same amount of cardio up just to maintain their weight." Otherwise, he said, you'll just put the pounds back on. There's more though: A recent study of diabetes patients, a category of people who have been told to use self-monitioring and testing gadgets to keep up with their health for over 30 years, showed that many eventually came to see their self-testing as "the enemy," and it made them less interested and engaged with their health, not more. This report on the issue in The Atlantic notes that in a vaccum, self-tracking can turn from empowerment tool to weighted shackles in short order. Ultimately, using a fitness tracking gadget in isolation—that is, just looking at it on your own and hoping for motivation to be more active and improve your health—isn't always enough to make you healthier. All isn't lost, though: there are some ways to use your fitness tracking gadget to actually improve your health. How to Make the Most of Your Fitness Tracking Gadget or AppBy now, we've taken the shine off of fitness tracking gadgets and apps so you see them for what they are: data collection tools. So how can you make the most of them and the data they provide? Here are a few suggestions: Get Your Friends Involved
Dick explained that this is partially the philosophy behind Fitocracy, and services like it that both compete with and complement fitness tracking tools. Eventually, the fun of logging steps, collecting badges, and maximizing stats wears off, and when it does, the community is still there to help push you forward and compare those stats with you. Photo by Mike Baird. I'm a big fan of working towards your goals in public, but when it comes to fitness, you'll have to do more than just tweet your weigh-ins to try and shame yourself into losing weight, or having your Fuelband post your daily stats to a public page where all of your friends on the site can see:
Make Your Tracking Gadget or App Part of a Bigger Package
Don't Try to Improve Your Health in a VacuumFitness tracking gadgets and apps have a lot of potential, but the science on them is mixed and lagging behind their explosion in popularity. Early reports are that our relationship with them is like it is with any piece of exercise equipment: We buy it because it's shiny and we have the best intentions, but eventually it'll end up dusty and in a corner because it doesn't solve the real problem that led us to the need to get in shape. The core mechanic that you have to address is motivation. We've shown you how to motivate yourself into a routine you'll stick to, and explained how important it is to find people and communities that will help you stay motivated, cheer you on from the sidelines, and help you get moving again when you falter. Self-tracking has huge potential to be part of that habit loop—offering valuable data and insight into your progress, and even helping reward you for your efforts. When used in combination with the things that do work, and as part of a bigger plan to improve your health, they can be valuable. However, on their own and without any of the other pieces of the puzzle, you should be wary. Otherwise they'll end up like that treadmill in the basement you've been meaning to dust off. Richard Talens is the Co-Founder and Chief Growth Officer at Fitocracy, a fitness tracking site and social network that's makes tracking your exercise a real-world game that's fun to play. You can find him on Twitter at @dicktalens. Derek Flanzraich is the Founder and CEO of Greatist, an amazing resource for health and fitness news and tips. You can find him on Twitter at @thederek, and follow Greatist at @greatist. Both gentlemen volunteered their expertise for this post, and we thank them.  |
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