$WWKHPRVWEDVLFOHYHO¿WQHVVWUDFNHUVFRXQWKRZPDQ\VWHSV\RXWDNHHDFK
GD\OLNHDQROGIDVKLRQHGSHGRPHWHUGRHV7KH\¶UHPRUHDFFXUDWHWKDQ
pedometers, however, because they use accelerometers, gyroscopes, and
sometimes GPS to identify steps and motion. So what does your step count tell
you? Mainly, how active or sedentary you are. The number of steps you take in a
day doesn’t really matter, but the average number of daily steps you take over
the course of a year can indicate whether you need to be more active.
Most trackers also estimate how many calories you burn in a day based on your
height, weight, gender, and activity level. Most of them also double as sleep
WUDFNHUV6RPHKDYHKHDUWUDWHPRQLWRUVEXLOWLQWRWKHPWRR$QG¿WQHVV
trackers can record exercise activities such as running and yoga, to measure
how long you did the activity, how many extra calories you burned, and
(sometimes) your heart rate throughout the exercise.
How do you view and make sense of all these numbers? With a companion app,
of course. There, you can add information such as what foods you eat and your
weight, blood pressure, and in some trackers, the phases of your menstrual
cycle. Having all this information in one place helps you see what areas of your
lifestyle you might want to improve. Do you get enough sleep? Do you move
HQRXJK",V\RXUZHLJKWVWDEOH":KDW¶V\RXUDYHUDJHUHVWLQJKHDUWUDWH"
([DPSOHVRIWUDFNHUVWKDWGRDOLWWOHELWRIHYHU\WKLQJDUHWKH)LWELW,QVSLUH+5
DQG)LWELW&KDUJHERWKH[FHOOHQWRSWLRQVIRU¿UVWWLPHUV 7KH\¶UHHDV\WRXVH
and it’s easy to read the data they collect.