For Christmas I got a beautiful rose gold iwatch. I do love a bit of tech. And what better than a bit of tech that gets me to my fitness goals. I primarily got it for its gps function. I wanted to get my km splits as I started my training for a half marathon that I am doing at the end of April. And I have to say it does it marvellously. But the jury is out as to any further value it has.
It has fairly low expectations of me. It took me a while to get the measure of it. I couldn’t work out why it was telling me that I had done 30 minutes of exercise when I hadn’t even started. And this was by 7.30 in the morning when all I had done was walk the dog round the block and started my commute to work. I did a bit of investigation to find out that the watch will record any movement over 3 mph. But for me, and I suspect many other people, walking at this speed will only bring about minimal elevation of heart rate and would certainly not make you pink and sweaty. Not that you would want to go there as you make your way to work. So it certainly couldn’t contribute to the 30 minutes of moderate exercise that it is recommended we do 5 times per week.I looked to see if I could change the settings so that it would only record the times where my heart rate was over a certain rate but whilst you can change the number of calories burned you can’t make any changes to the exercise function although apparently ‘it learns your habits very quickly’ making it more challenging to get to the 30 minute goal. But I haven’t seen much evidence of this yet.

But it made me think. I know what 30 minutes of exercise feels like but many will buy a fitness tracker as the first step to getting fit. And if my experience is anything to go by they may could find themselves lulled into a false sense of security where their health is concerned. It compares to buying a gym membership and never using it. Except a gym membership won’t lead you to believe that you have used it when you haven’t unlike a fitness tracker.
However, sales of fitness trackers are booming even though the evidence to support their use isn’t there. Quite the opposite. A two-year study by the University of Pittsburgh found that those participants in a 24 month weight loss programme who wore a fitness tracker lost 50% less than those that didn’t. Interestingly, they can demotivate those that are unable to get to ‘close the circle’ (iwatch) which is the flip side of my experience. They are currently too generic but as with all technology the next few years may see a new generation which will be personalised in a range of ways including level of fitness and genetic testing.

In the meantime my advice as a newly qualified personal trainer and more importantly someone who exercises is to only invest in a fitness tracker to support your fitness goals. Don’t buy one to act as a trainer. Don’t buy one before you start exercising. Be very clear why you need it. I use mine to record my runs as I prepare for a half marathon. It tells me how fast I run over each kilometre, my heart rate and how far I run. I ignore the exercise ring as I am too fit for it. However, you may not be and it will be a useful tool. But make sure that you are ‘exercising’ at a high enough intensity to raise your heart rate, increase your breathing and get warm and sweaty. And as you get fitter and can ‘close the circle’ easily take it up a notch. The human body is made to be challenged. Doing the same thing but expecting different results is a sign of insanity (Einstein). Be mindful that your fitness tracker could undermine your fitness goals. Don’t let it be a saboteur.