Activity Trackers: Helpful or Harmful?
unsplash: black fitbit wrapped around a block apple watch on a flat surface
I’m dripping sweat after an intense strength training class. I grab my things, leave the studio, hop in my car, and immediately glance down at my Fitbit to see how I had done. To my horror, my watch had somehow paused the workout mid-class. Ugh! How would I know how many calories I had burned?!
After years of being fixated on fitness tracking, I finally asked myself… who cares?
For the past decade, tech companies have been rolling out the next new health monitoring gadget (which are not always validated devices- a newer trend currently has thousands of people testing their urine at home for “oxidative stress”, then the app provides users with “nutritional advice” based on their results [1]). Of course, there is a time and place for remote health monitoring devices, but when they are used to promote diet culture disguised as wellness culture, it can be frustrating. But we’ll save that for another post.
In a time in history where infinite data about our bodies exists at our fingertips, it can be far too easy to form an unhealthy relationship with exercise, food, or your body.
Why does it matter? Isn’t the point of activity trackers for people to move more and get healthier?
Are Activity Trackers Helpful or Harmful?
Activity trackers have their benefits. Apple Watches have even been praised for saving lives due to their ability to detect atrial fibrillation and other cardiac abnormalities [2]. For the average individual, activity tracking might help a person better understand their movement patterns and could initially lead to an increase in physical activity.
But then what?
Maybe you started exercising with the intention of reducing your stress, improving your cardiovascular endurance, helping to manage a chronic health condition, or just clearing your mind- all proven benefits of physical activity. [3]. Regardless of your personal motivation to move, dashboards on fitness tracking apps quickly remind us the primary goal of movement should be hitting step goals, achieving 7-day workout streaks, beating your friends in challenges, and of course, losing weight.
The biggest issue with using these metrics?
Not only are they ableist and discriminatory towards people living with disabilities [4], but they also don’t stem from the intuitive desire to move. Whether we’re hyperfocused on closing our rings, dropping everything to march around the office when the hourly reminder buzzes our wrist, eating based on the number of calories burned each day, or pacing around our bedrooms at 11:55 pm because we’re super close to our 10,000 step count goal for the day, the technology can drive us further and further away from joyful, intuitive movement.
Not to mention, the 10,000-step recommendation is not evidence-based and was pulled out of thin air for a Japanese marketing campaign back in 1965 [5]. Additionally, studies have revealed activity tracker inaccuracies of more than 10% when it comes to measuring energy expenditure [6], so we’re left obsessing over numbers that may not even be accurate.
More importantly, technology can’t detect when you need a rest day due to illness, soreness, or just because your body requests relaxation over movement that day. Just as diets try to regulate our nutritional intake, eventually, we learn to trust the external cues of a watch rather than our own instinct to move our bodies. What happens when we stop chasing arbitrary numbers and shift our focus to exploring the reason behind the movement in the first place? Why do you move your body?
Some questions you might ask yourself to evaluate your relationship with your activity tracker:
How has my activity tracker influenced my movement patterns? Has there been a positive or negative influence on my overall well-being?
Does my activity tracker make me feel better or worse about my habits and my body?
Do I push through pain or injury to hit a movement goal?
Have I ever said, “The steps don’t count if my activity tracker doesn’t count them”?
Does my activity tracker promote joyful movement, or does it fuel an “all or nothing” mentality?
Do I feel guilty or worthless if I don’t meet my daily movement goal?
Would it be scary to stop wearing it?
It’s important to remind yourself that literally nothing is changing about your body’s metabolism just because you happen to be keeping track of a certain vital measurement. And nothing will change about your body’s metabolism if you stop tracking.
I still have my Fitbit, and even wear it some days (mostly as a way to check my text messages!), but I no longer stress about going for a walk while it stays at home on the charger, and I’ve even challenged myself to stop wearing it for workouts altogether. After all, the reason to move my body was never about burning calories, to begin with, but rather something my Fitbit caused me to fixate on.
Now, I’m focused on how movement makes me feel and my highest priority is treating my body with the respect and kindness it deserves rather than chasing a random number calculated by tech experts.
I’m super fortunate that I was able to come to the conclusion on my own that my activity tracker held no power, but we understand it’s not that simple for most.
If you struggle with your relationship with exercise, your body, or even food, our team of dietitians and therapists are here to help!
Resources Used:
[1] Vivoo. (2022, December 27). Vivoo: Learn your body’s needs with an at-home urine test. Vivoo : Your Body’s Voice. https://vivoo.io/
[2] Seshadri, D. R., Bittel, B., Browsky, D., Houghtaling, P., Drummond, C. K., Desai, M. Y., & Gillinov, A. M. (2020). Accuracy of Apple Watch for Detection of Atrial Fibrillation. Circulation, 141(8), 702–703. https://doi.org/10.1161/circulationaha.119.044126
[3] Reed, P. (2021, December 15). Physical Activity Is Good for the Mind and the Body. Health.gov. https://health.gov/news/202112/physical-activity-good-mind-and-body
[4] Elman, J. P. (2018). “Find Your Fit”: Wearable technology and the cultural politics of disability. New Media & Society, 20(10), 3760–3777. https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444818760312
[5] Saint-Maurice, P. F., Troiano, R. P., Bassett, D. R., Graubard, B. I., Carlson, S. A., Shiroma, E. J., Fulton, J. E., & Matthews, C. E. (2020). Association of Daily Step Count and Step Intensity With Mortality Among US Adults. JAMA, 323(12), 1151–1160. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2020.1382
[6]. Passler, S., Bohrer, J., Blöchinger, L., & Senner, V. (2019). Validity of Wrist-Worn Activity Trackers for Estimating VO2max and Energy Expenditure. International journal of environmental research and public health, 16(17), 3037. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph16173037
Collaborative Counseling & Nutrition is an outpatient nutrition and body image counseling center, with locations in Indianapolis and Carmel, that provides compassionate, holistic eating disorder treatment. Through practicing mindfulness, intuition, and Health At Every Size, we are on a mission to help you find a true state of well-being! We take an anti-diet, weight-inclusive approach with all our clients and work to help guide you towards a way of healthy living designed by you, just for you! This post is for education purposes only and should not be used as a substitute for treatment for an eating disorder. If you are looking for a registered dietitian or therapist to assist you on your recovery journey, please reach out today!
