While fitness trackers are worn on the wrist and have been out for a while now, I’ve never owned one. I’ve only worn trackers for training and racing in a variety of events. However, over the last year, I’ve had a few injury/surgery setbacks and just to be able to exercise has been a blessing.
I’ve had iPhones for years and while perusing through my apps while in recovery, I happened upon the health app. I opened it and it showed my steps for the day.
I looked at my last month and could pinpoint the day of my surgery and my lack of steps leading up to the surgery – almost zero steps! Plus, I got to see the slow increase in steps each day thereafter! I was blown away.
This data was from my phone sitting in my pocket! From that point on, I could watch my volume increase/decrease organically and decided I would make my own adjustments based on the data.
I know I know, what rock had I been sleeping under? I never thought about tracking my unstructured movement before but, it has allowed me to tailor each workout based on my total day’s volume of steps and activity.
Another added benefit is that it is very motivating for me to see my increase my steps per day from 800 to 20,000. I can see my step average per month, etc. Mind you, this is just steps from an iPhone (we don’t always have them with us).
I have since upgraded to a fitness wearable since my second setback from infection due to my first surgery. The results of my recovery have been motivating to follow and have allowed me to make adjustments to my workouts based on the last hours of data collection combined with how I feel, subjectively.
I will follow up with a more in-depth look at fitness wearables but this was my experiential story as to what made me determine wearables are important for us to keep track of ourselves! Lol!
For more information on fitness programs at Dedham Health, visit our website.
-Guy C., Dedham Health & Athletic Complex