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Are Fitness Trackers taking the Enjoyment out of Exercise?

What’s tiny, fits around your wrist, and tells you to get off the couch? If you said a fitness tracker, you’re absolutely right! Known to send little notifications throughout the day to meet your goals, fitness trackers have become a common product amongst the everyday person. But are those little buzzes taking the enjoyment out of physical fitness? 

A recent survey looked into the pressure people have felt from their fitness trackers and the toll it’s taken on them. Of the surveyed group,  over 47% of people said they have felt some type of pressure or stress to work out due to their fitness tracker. These feelings of anxiety to complete fitness goals resulted in 45% of people wearing their tracker less often.

Diving deeper into what caused the stress, there were multiple answers including people saying they felt guilty on the days they weren’t wearing their tracker, didn’t close their rings, or feeling guilty from ignoring the workout-reminder notification altogether. 24% even said their stress came from reaching their fitness goals and still not seeing physical results. The overall level of stress was ranked as a 6.3 out of 10. 

The study wasn’t all negative though. It looked into the positive results and impacts wearing a tracker has on people. Over 92% of people said they felt more in tune with their overall health. And while some felt the notifications were overwhelming, others saw them as motivation, leading 70% to some sort of unplanned physical activity due to the reminder.

In conclusion, are fitness trackers taking the enjoyment out of working out? It looks like it depends on who you ask. There’s no question that it’s impacting lives, whether giving them the extra motivation they need to work out or causing them to feel more anxious and guilty about not moving.

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