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Are you one of the millions of people who use a wearable fitness gadget?
Fitbits, Jawbones, Moovs, Polar Loop there are a ton of them on the market today. They are the latest must have fitness accessory.
It would be fair to assume from a psychological point of view that making an investment in something like a wearable fitness gadget that will encourage you to stay on track with your weight loss goals was a good thing, but a recently released two-year study says otherwise.
470 overweight or obese people were studied over 24 months, given a low calorie diet and given an exercise plan to stick to…
After 6 months they were split in two groups, half were given a wearable fitness gadget – a ‘FIT Core’ band which tracks eating, sleep and of course activity levels. The other half were given no gadgets and simply told to monitor their exercise themselves.
Study leader Dr John Jakicic said: “We thought that adding these wearable technologies would help them to lose more weight over 24 months. To our surprise, that actually wasn’t what we found.”
At the end of the study the group without the gadgets actually lost more weight. So just bear in mind; spending money on gadgets doesn’t mean you will lose weight.
Some do think that spending money on expensive gym gear and gadgets is the right way to go at first, but I always say that the action needs to be there first. Understand how you like to train and what works best for you and then you’ll have a much clearer idea if a gadget will be a worthwhile investment to enhance your workouts/diet. Figure out an exercise plan, train regularly, eat better BEFORE spending big money on these sorts of gadgets because without the action these wearable fitness gadgets can end up being unused reminders of a time when you sort of wanted to get in shape and lost your way because the novelty simply wore off.
Do you wear a wearable fitness gadget and has it helped you?
Danny Loeb
