Ditch the fitness tracker? Mental health and Exercise

Today we will talk about …..

☑️ Should you Ditch your Fitness Tracker?

☑️ Mental Health and Exercise

☑️What is Semi private Training ?

☑️ Baby Boomer Fitness? Youth Fitness?

 

 ☑️ Should You Ditch Your Fitness Tracker?

 

Fitness trackers are a great tool, but a constant obsession with them can do more harm than good. For some people, it can end up ruining your relationship with exercise. Read on to learn why I think every single session does NOT need to be tracked.

Technology has shown vast advancement over the last decade, and we seem to benefit from it in every aspect of our lives. Fitness trackers give us the ability to know exactly how many steps we’ve taken, calories we’ve burned, and heartbeats we’ve had in the last minute.

When this detailed and immediate information can also become dangerous, there comes a moment where we must ask ourselves if it is as beneficial as it seems.

Beneficial or Burdensome?

So, what are the benefits of fitness trackers? Have they made us a healthier species? Not quite – the U.S. obesity rate has been steadily on the rise for decades. Not only that, but obsessively tracking your fitness has been correlated with negative mindsets, lower self-esteem, and generally poorer outcomes.

Before you throw your computer at me, go back and read OBSESSIVELY TRACKING. I think tracking is a GREAT thing. I have people do it all the time. I just don’t feel every single thing has to be obsessively tracked, all the time. It is okay if every workout is not a personal record!!

Well, if they haven’t made us healthier, have fitness trackers made us smarter? It would be hard to account for a tracker’s impact on our IQ without considering outside influences, but we can all agree that it’s given us more knowledge about our bodies. The follow-up question to this is whether or not this knowledge is actually beneficial.

Information Overload

Every day, we are bombarded with information on our phones, billboards, computers, TV, and more. Scientists have measured and averaged how much information we process daily and it is an impressive 74 GB. For those who don’t speak tech, that is equivalent to watching more than 15 movies in one day.

Your fitness tracker is offering you one chunk of that information. You’re processing how much you’ve exercised, if you have a calorie deficit, your sleeping patterns, how this information plays in with your diet, and more.

Unless you have a vital medical condition that you’re monitoring, all of this information isn’t all that necessary. Humans – athletes included – have previously lived for centuries without knowing exactly how far they have walked every afternoon or how many calories their commute to work burns.

It turns out that psychologists have seen that information overload makes us more prone to developing anxiety, feelings of powerlessness and being overwhelmed, and mental fatigue. These fitness trackers are a part of feeding our brains too much information to process, leading to undesirable consequences.

Screen Dependency

There have been plenty of studies on the negative effects of high screen time on both children and adults. Excessive screen time leads to decreased cognitive function, a reduced attention span, low energy levels, sleep issues, depression, and even back and neck problems.

Adding a fitness tracker to your already-large array of screens puts you at risk for spending too much time staring at a device that brings more harm than good.

What’s almost worse is that we seem to not be able to take control of our health without looking down at our devices. Long gone are the days where you could simply say, “That was a great workout” without having to verify your calorie burn or heart rate.

Must we read how many times we turned or woke up at night, or can we simply have the confidence to say, “That was a great/terrible night’s rest”? I know some people waking up more in the middle of the night because of the stress from the watch!

It’s hard to say when devices started speaking for us, but I hope that some of us can still find the autonomy to decide things for ourselves.

No, I am not saying they are bad! But I am saying an obsession with them is! If you are angry at me for writing this, go for a walk in nature without your watch tracking every single step. I guarantee you will have a much better experience when you are able to focus on what you are doing, versus worrying about breaking a PR!

 

☑️ Mental Health and Exercise

Check out this great article that discusses how exercise benefits your mental health=>

Mental Health and Exercise

 

☑️What is Semi private Training ?

 

Semi-Private is Personal Training in a small group of 2-5 people. It is the perfect fit for those who …

 

  • Want personal training , but want to save some money
  • Enjoy groups, but not a fan of large groups
  • Need more personal attention to reach your goals
  • Like the feel of Traditional Strength Training, not just Circuits
  • Not a fan of Contracts

We find the right group for you based on your schedule, budget, goals, and preferences of who you want to work with . Or you can start your own group with a partner or two. We have a lot of times to choose from between 5 AM and 8 PM. Send us an email to learn more.

 

Of course we still have our 1 on 1 training and Group Fitness services!

 

☑️ Baby Boomer? Fat Loss? Youth Fitness?

 

Tell us your goals or set up a no charge consultation! Our

Groups are for any fitness level. We even have semi- private and personal training services with themes, if you feel more comfortable working with people chasing a very specific goal.

 

Email us at [email protected] or text 757 589 7028 for more information!

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Detric Smith, CSCS, ACSM Exercise Physiologist, Precision Nutrition Level 1 Coach 

Owner, Results Performance Training

 

P.S- Email us at [email protected] or Text 757 589 7028 to Get a Free consultation + Trial Session. Learn more about our Group Fitness, Small group, or 1 on 1 training services.

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