Wearable Fitness Tech
Back in the day it might have all been about the step count, but these days smart watches are capturing so much more and using data analytics to help you accurately track your progress across many disciplines. Who would have thought you could fit all of that into something so small.
According to Telecommunications Consultancy Telsyte, smart watches are already used by 1 in 5 Australian smartphone users and the price ranges from $30 to $600 AUD depending on the capabilities of the device. The sales of wearable technology has been steadily increasing in the past years, as they are no longer appealing to just athletes but are also beneficial to people with health concerns or everyday gym goers.
Statista, a German online portal for statistics, says that in Australia the considerable share of fitness tracker growth has shifted to smartwatches and that the industry of wearable technology anticipates a further increasing convergence of smartwatches and fitness bands. The future of wearable devices will also see many collaborations and merges into apparel manufacturers, if that is something you may be interested in next. Statista has also calculated that the revenue in the wearable segment is projected to reach $288m AUD in 2020. That’s a lot of smart watches on people's wrists out there, perhaps it’s time to invest in some shares in a smartwatch company?
So if you are considering adding a smartwatch into your fitness regime, here are some of the key functions most smart watches do.
1. Heart Rate Monitor
Trackers use a LED light to make the capillary veins in your wrist visible to a sensor that measures how fast your blood is pumping. Monitoring your heart rate can help you get a better idea of how many calories you’re burning in a day, especially during a workout.
2. Distance Tracker
Measuring the distance of how far you walk, run or swim helps calculate the calories you burn from this activity as well as calculate the steps you have taken. This is great when you're wanting to reach your target for your daily step count.
3. Sleep Tracker
The sleep tracker works by monitoring your heart rate, monitoring your awake and sleep pattern. Some devices can track the quality of your sleep and even the quality of each stage within your sleep.
4. Calorie Tracker
Tracking the number of calories burned lets you know the outcome of your work out. This allows you to input your food intake and measure calories burned against calories eaten.
5. Data
Tracking all of the above, smart watches and their companion apps create easy to read and analyse graphs and charts that show your progress in daily, weekly or monthly blocks to understand your output, results & tracking.
How To Pick The Right One For You
We recommend choosing a device that pairs with a mobile app to track your data, without this day in day out you will be able to see some results but won’t be able to correlate your progress. When you purchase a device that has an app, it usually doesn’t require any further investment or effort to get it up and running.
Secondly, think about how to device will work into your everyday life, you will be wearing it almost 24/7 so you want something that you love the look of and is functional to wear. Some devices are all about the aesthetics and have interchangeable ‘fashion’ bands, whilst others have less ‘bells and whistles’ in their look and are more about the tech.
Thirdly, battery life can be something that is a deal breaker, and often something people don’t consider at purchase time. Any smart watches with a colour screen and lots of functions (think phone calls, text messages, Spotify & other apps) will use battery faster and require more frequent charges, whilst analogue screens can run for up to 14 days, even though they have the same tracking capabilities.
Finally, the cost. A more simple fitness tracker won’t break the budget, whilst a spec’d out smart watch can get expensive. It all comes down to what you need from your watch and most importantly, finding the right one, as there is nothing more expensive than something you don’t use.
Need Some Help Deciding?
Here are a few leading trackers on the market;
Fitbit Charge 4
Garmin Vivosmart 4
Apple Watch Series 5
Samsung Galaxy Active Watch
Perhaps you want to know who is leading the market in the fitness technology industry? Digital Trends.com an online US based technology publication have worn, tested and reviewed over 100 fitness trackers and smart watches. Here’s their top list for 2020 fitness trackers and watches.
Fitness trackers
Best overall fitness tracker: Fitbit Charge 4
Best fitness tracker for Android: Samsung Galaxy Fit
Best fitness tracker for i0S: Apple Watch Series 5
Best Fitness tracker for kids: Fitbit Ace
Best Waterproof fitness tracker: Samsung Gear Fit2 Pro
Smartwatches
Best overall smartwatch: Apple Watch Series 5
Best for Android: Samsung Galaxy Watch 2
Best Google Wear OS: Fossil Gen 5
Best smartwatch that looks like a watch: Withings Steel HR Sport
Want to improve your overall fitness performance, start wearing a tracker or smartwatch every gym visit to calculate and maximise your best results for the day.
