There are seemingly infinite gadgets, tips, and tools at the gym. Pedometers, ankle weights, calorie counters, pedometers… how do you know what gadgets help and which ones are just a waste of time? Recently a new gadget has emerged on the market that is sweeping gyms and exercise facilities across the nation, activity trackers. Unlike many of the superfluous trends and items that flood late night TV, activity trackers can actually benefit their users, but how? Let’s look at why activity trackers are good for gyms.
Why Activity Trackers Are Good for Gyms
They Can Show Real Time Progress
Before activity trackers, progress and results would have to be kept manually or through some type of clunky software. New activity trackers can hook up directly to your smart phone, tablet or computer to give you real time results and progress updates.
You can watch your mile time become slower, your reps increase for a certain workout, or you can accurately monitor caloric intake or diet with activity trackers. Many times these large amounts of data can be translated into easy to read charts, graphs, or bullet points.
They Can Help You Set Goals
If you know your progress in a certain area, you can use that data to set goals. Activity trackers are an accurate reflection of time spend at the gym and activities performed. When you know this data you can make concrete goals for yourself. The best part is that many activity trackers have features where you can input goals.
They Can Give You Inspiration
When you can accurately track your data and performance, you will feel inspired to achieve more. When you see yourself achieving goals through your activity tracker, you will likely be inspired to continue and achieve greater goals.
Accountability
Accountability is one of the most important parts of a fitness or exercise regimen. You can program your activity tracker to hold you accountable, like reminding you when you’re due for a run or if it’s been a few days since you last worked out. This arbitrary accountability can be a great motivator for many couch potatoes. Depending on the gym, its gym management software might be able to link to your tracker and remind you of classes, sessions and more in and out of the gym.
It’s hard to find many drawbacks on accountability trackers. If you need extra motivation, want to set goals, or get some accountability, you should consider purchasing an activity tracker.
