Smartphones make fitness straps redundant

US study: Smartphones make many fitness bands superfluous

02/16/2015

Today, many people use technical or electronic aids such as apps and gadgets for sports. More and more amateur athletes rely on fitness tracker. But according to a study from the US, you can often save yourself the money if you have a smartphone.

Technical and electronic aids for sports
Many people today use technical or electronic aids such as apps or gadgets for sports. Fitness trackers are also conquering the market. More and more amateur athletes equip themselves with such a bracelet, which can indicate, among other things, the calories consumed. But if you own a smartphone, you often do not need an additional fitness tracker for sports and fitness. According to a news agency dpa, this is the result of a study by the University of Pennsylvania.

Fitness apps count number of steps
Especially in the US many athletes can save money. „Almost two-thirds of adults in the United States own a smartphone“, write the study authors in the journal „Journal of the American Medical Association“ (JAMA). The fitness apps of smartphones (an iPhone 5s and a Samsung Galaxy S4) counted in direct comparison the actual number of steps about as well as the purpose built fitness bands or trackers. According to the information, their deviation was between 1.5 to 22.7 percent, the smartphones measured around 6.7 percent too little (Galaxy) and 6.2 percent too much (iPhone). Because many of the values ​​determined by the fitness tapes are based on these measurements, the deviations should look similar there. Therefore, the conclusion of the study is that additional fitness bracelets for the owners of a smartphone are not absolutely necessary.

Apps for improving health
There are more and more apps that are supposed to improve life and health. In the meantime, one can analyze one's own urine and daily alcohol consumption by smartphone or keep the stress level under control. Many of the alleged aids are rather gimmicks, but there are also positive exceptions. For example, Central Krankenversicherung in Cologne equips Type 2 diabetes patients with an iPhone, a pedometer and a blood glucose meter to better monitor the disease. (Ad)