Walking is man's best medicine -- Hippocrates. Research shows that walking as little as 30 minutes a day is the most simple way to improve your health. And compare to any other form of exercise walking is easy, you can do it anywhere and most importantly it's has the highest ROI Ok, so walking is good for health, But, how do you develop this habit? Well, you can always go outside and start taking a stroll every evening, (but, I am sure most of us won't' do) or if you are like me, then get a fitness band like this which will motivate you to walk and possibly form a habit.
But, do you really need a fitness band? How about using your smartphone as a fitness tracker? Well, before we look into that, let's us first understand How exactly does a fitness band work? So, on the surface A fitness band or often called a activity tracker is like a regular wristwatch but instead of showing you the time it's primary function is to tracks your fitness related data like how much km you have traveled, how much time you spend sleeping, how much calorie you have burn, and things like that..
And it does all that, with the help several sensors that is put together inside this core. Now, what type of sensor does it have? Well depending on the brand, there can be many of them but the most prominent ones are 3-axis accelerometer, which tracks how much distance you have travelled and some more expensive one also has a gyroscope to measure the rotation, altimeter to measure heights and optical sensor to measure pulse, So, this sensors collects the information then crunch it with thedata you have already provided like you age, height and weight etc. And then using a complex algorithm, It gives you meaningful data. Now, here is the interesting part, most modern smartphone already have a built-in motion sensor and Since you always carry it everywhere you go, you can easily use it as a fitness tracker. .
All you need is a right software. So, simply download Google fit app, if you have an Android or Apple's health app, if you own a iPhone. And once you have installed the app, you need to enter your physicaldetails like age, height weight etc. And that's it. You have to do nothing now. The app will run in background and track every steps you take. And anytime you want to see your activities simply open the app and you will find how much steps you have taken or calories you have burn. and guess what you can also import these data to other fitness app like myfitnesspal etc and make more meaning outofit. But this leads us to another interesting question how accurate are these apps? Well smartphone and fitness band uses a similar motion sensor so theoretically they will have similar output? Well to find the truth behind this there was a study conducted byuniversity of pennsylvania In which they took 14 participant and each were given a popular fitness band and smartphone and then they were asked to walkin treadmill.
And guess, what was the result? Well final steps count from both smartphone and fitness were similar (with just 5-6% variation) But, we all know researchers can be biased So I decided to conduct my own not so scientific experiment For 20 days, I use both my fitness band and Google fit app to record my steps And then plot down the results in a graph. And as you can see although there is a clear correlation b/w them but there is also significant gap. So why is that? Well, you can explain it with 2 argument One, I don't keep my smartphone with me all the time like I do with my fitness band. And if I did that, then the no of steps counted by my phone will definitely be higher/ And two, since fitness band are tied in my hand so even if I move my hands a little it will still count them as asteps.. but on the other hand, phone are kept in a pocket and will count steps when I am actually walking so as a result, the real steps on my fitness band is little bit lower. And when do that. you can see, the graphs are overlapping. Which means it's true that you can use your smartphone as fitness tracker. So does it mean, one should not buy a fitness tracker? Well, not exactly.
The company selling these fitness tracker were well aware of thissituation, and this is why they bundle their band with other useful things,l ike vibrational alarm and sleep tracker. pulse reader and personal coach, etc. Also you can't swim with your smartphone but fitness trackers arewater resistant, So, an early adopter will alway go for a fitness tracker. and that's what these fitness band companies are focusing on. While for an average users, who just want to track his or her steps your smartphone is sufficient. Now, if you are early adopter and looking for a fitness band yourself then here is your chance to get it for free. All you have to do is be a subscriber make sure you read the terms and conditions and then fill out this simple google form. the link is in the description And I will announce the winner after 24 hours on my social mediapage. Also, Hit the link button below if you find this video useful Let's see if we can cross 1000 likes And of course, subscribe to this channel if you haven't already. I make videos on how to use technology to improve the quality of your life. So this is all for now,
