What do fitness trackers really bring?

Competition with others: Fitness trackers seem to bring motivation
Today, many people use technical or electronic aids, such as fitness trackers. Especially joggers can often be seen running with the trendy devices on the wrist. But what do the fitness bands actually do??
Many fitness trackers perform poorly
Manufacturers of fitness bracelets usually promise their customers support for optimum training. Among other things, the small devices record distances, times, calories burned and resting periods. Only recently, however, showed that many fitness trackers in the test usually perform poorly. Some experts say that such devices are not very useful. Because smartphones make fitness bands superfluous, because the various applications can save a lot of data anyway.

What is the purpose of tracking? Image: Maridav - fotolia

No general benefit proven
Nevertheless, the devices are trendy. Among other things, the users measure distance and duration, making it possible to compare them with others. As Urs-Vito Albrecht, deputy director of the Institute for Medical Informatics of the Technical University of Braunschweig explained in a message from the news agency dpa, so far no general use of the equipment is documented. "However, that does not automatically mean that the fitness trackers have no individual benefit. Tracker and related apps can motivate individuals, for example by competing with others. "

Do not train against "the machine"
Sporting newcomers make the fastest progress and they can also track well. "However, beginners also run the risk of overstraining themselves quickly." According to the experts, they should not train against "the machine", but listen to the warning signals of the body. For the more experienced: "Hobby athletes who would like to observe their performance in the course, without that they expect a high measurement accuracy, certainly have their joy in the available equipment," said Albrecht. "For competitive athletes, the accuracy is more likely not sufficient." According to the dpa showed a survey of the industry association Bitkom among 1,236 German citizens from 14 years that currently almost one third (31 percent) of people in Germany uses fitness tracker. (Ad)