Smart fitness trackers have been around for decades, but until recently, they were only reserved for professional athletes. Today, fitness trackers are widely popular. People wear them during their exercise sessions and various other daily activities. The most basic fitness trackers use different sensors and GPS to measure your physical activity. But how accurate are fitness trackers?
Calorie burnout is the most controversial figure
Calorie burnout is the most important figure for most recreational fitness tracker users. This figure is very hard to calculate, because it doesn’t only depend on your speed and the distance you’ve covered, but also on your weight, shape, metabolism and various other factors.
How do fitness trackers monitor our activities?
Most fitness trackers use two different types of monitors. The devices with accelerometer-based monitors use predictive equations to calculate our body’s energy expenditure. Heart-rate monitors, on the other hand, use the combination of data input (age, weight, gender and shape) and your heart rate to calculate calorie burnout.
CNBC’s contributor Eric Chemi decided to check the accuracy of the 10 most popular fitness trackers, by wearing 10 devices at the same time. He wore trackers made by the most popular manufacturers. Each device showed a different figure for a simple 500-step walk. The figures ranged from 446 to 513. He got similar results after finishing a half-mile walk and the trackers also showed different figures for heart rate and calorie burnout metrics.
Researchers from the Iowa State University also conducted a similar experiment, but they only used accelerometer-based monitors. The results showed that this type of fitness tracker usually over- or underestimates energy expenditure by 10 – 15%. The accuracy of fitness trackers also depends on the type of exercise, weather conditions and the users’ hydration levels.
What type of fitness tracker should you choose?
If you plan to use your fitness tracker for weight management, you should choose a body measurement tracker. Different types of these trackers allow you to measure your calorie intake and body transformation and use this data to get more accurate calorie burnout figures.
Many experts claim that heart rate trackers are much more efficient and accurate than their accelerometer counterparts. They are often used by athletes, because they tie energy expenditure to the users’ heart rate and provide a better insight into the processes that are going on in your body during exercise sessions. Even these trackers can be inaccurate. Their accuracy decreases during hard-intensity and interval workouts.
How should you use your fitness tracker?
Although fitness trackers can’t estimate your burnout down to the last calorie, they are still very useful. They give you a rough estimate on how active you are during your regular work day, which allows you to calculate the intensity and longevity of the workout sessions that will keep you fit.
Heart rate monitoring helps you tweak the intensity of your workout and avoid burnout. Some trackers allow you to add custom heart-rate zones (instead of using default ones) and make your exercises more effective.
Tracking and analyzing your exercise data is very important for making the most out of your fitness tracker. After some time, you’ll know how you heart rate adapts to specific exercises and intensities, so you’ll be able to quantify you progress and avoid burnout fevers.
These tips will help you make the most out of your fitness tracker:
- Insert accurate personal and body information, since this is essential for the tracker’s accuracy;
- Make sure you wear your tracker all the time;
- Always wear it on the same side;
- Take some time to calibrate the device;
- When using heart rate monitors, pay attention to the food and supplements you’ve taken and the way they influence your heart rate.
When conducting accuracy experiments, most experts forget one of the most important benefits of fitness trackers. They keep their users motivated to exercise more and compete with their colleagues, friends and family members. The use of fitness trackers and the gamification of our daily activities is very important for people who have office jobs. Even the most basic trackers motivate them to spend the rest of their day in motion, which benefits their overall health and eventually gets them in shape.