ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) — More than 19 million fitness trackers were used last year. It’s not hard to find someone wearing one of these devices nowadays. And even though some can be expensive, not all of them are completely accurate. Ivanhoe shows you which ones are most trustworthy and how you can get the most out of your tracker.
There are two types of fitness trackers: accelerometers, which use only body movement to predict calories burned … and heart rate monitors, which use your actual heart rate. A recent study from the American Council on Exercise tested several accelerometer devices.
The good news: those tested were all within ten percent accuracy for predicting steps taken while walking or running, with the jawbone being most accurate. The bad news: none were reliable for tracking more complex activities or predicting calories burned.
Another study revealed heart-rate monitors are reliable for males, but overestimated energy expenditure by 12 percent for females. And accuracy of heart-rate monitors decrease as the intensity increases.
To make your device most accurate … think about the information you want to track when picking a device. Be sure to enter your personal information, like age, gender and weight. Be consistent with where you place your tracker. And if you use a heart-rate monitor pay attention on days you take pre-workout or other supplements to see how it affects your heart rate.
Experts say accelerometers are great motivators and heart rate monitors can keep you safe during your workout by telling you when to slow down or when to pick up the pace.
Contributors to this news report include: Brogan Morris, Producer; Tony D’Astoli, Editor and Videographer.
