Shouldn’t athletes wear fitness trackers that match their sport, not the other way around? The trouble is… there are a lot of opinions out there. Some people love them and some people think they're nothing more than a waste of money. So, what's the verdict? Do fitness trackers actually improve athlete performance? Let's take a look at the pros and cons.
The Pros:
Helps you track your progress. It's important to be able to track your progress when you're working towards a fitness goal so that you can see how far you've come and what still needs to be done. A fitness tracker can help with this by recording things like how many steps you've taken, how many calories you've burned, etc.
Motivation. There's nothing like seeing those numbers go up to give you a little extra motivation to keep moving. Fitness trackers can help keep you motivated by giving you feedback on your efforts in real-time.
May help you stick to your goals. One of the hardest parts about achieving any goal is staying on track. A fitness tracker can help with this by giving you regular reminders to stay active and by providing an easy way to track your progress.
Monitoring Wellbeing. Making sure you’re training at the optimum level, but not damaging your body can be difficult. Heart Rate Variability (HRV) tracking can be a tool used to identify overtraining, as well as assisting in the process of returning to sports post-injury by assessing the athletes readiness. Source.
The Cons:
They can be expensive. Fitness trackers can range in price from $50-$850+, which may be outside of some people's budgets.
They require regular charging. In order for fitness trackers to work, they need to be charged regularly (usually about once a week). This can be a hassle for some people who would prefer not to have yet another device that needs to be plugged in on a regular basis.
They're not always accurate. Fitness trackers use sensors to track things like steps taken, heart rate, etc., but these sensors aren't always 100% accurate, which means the data they provide may not be valid.
At the end of the day, whether or not a fitness tracker is worth it is up to the individual person, but here at ORB we feel the pros certainly seem to outweigh the cons. Ultimately it comes down to personal preference and budget. If you're looking for a way to motivate yourself and stay on track with your fitness goals, then a fitness tracker might be worth the investment… whether it’s an OURA Ring for sleep tracking, a Fitbit for running or an ORB Smartguard for contact and combat sports - just don't expect it to do all the work for you!
