Welcome back to this week’s edition of 2-Minute Tuesdays where we are talking about one exercise topic for two minutes and giving you three reasons why you should follow our advice. This week, we are talking to those of you who rock the fitness tracker. You are counting your steps and gathering your data, but how can you make sure that those numbers are actually useful for you?
1) Track General Trends
Tip number one – make sure you are focusing on trends that your activity tracker is gathering. Often times we get caught up in the day to day numbers but we fail to recognize the larger trends that are happening. Looking at the general trend of your data over the course of a month or a quarter can be much more revealing than looking at exactly how many steps you got in today.
Action Step: If you are going to wear a fitness tracker, make sure to look at how your numbers ebb and flow over the course of multiple weeks. While it can feel good to hit today’s step goal, what is far more important to understand is how active you are being over time.
Related: Are you moving enough each day?
2) Don’t Get Caught Up In The Day To Day
Tip number two – don’t get so caught up in the individual numbers. Yes, it is cool to know that today you have taken exactly 8,247 steps, but you have to remember where the true value in the fitness tracker is. The value in the fitness tracker is to remind you to be consistently active throughout your day, not to tell you the exact number of steps you have taken.
Action Step: If you can, set reminders on your fitness tracker to stand up and move around. You can then use the fitness tracker to hold you accountable to taking 100 steps during your break before sitting back down.
Related: 3 Exercise Myths That Are Holding You Back
3) Wear Your Fitness Tracker Consistently
Tip number three – if you are going to wear a fitness tracker, you have to wear it consistently. You cannot skip the days where you are going to chill out on the couch all day. You have to wear it consistently so you can see your data for all of your days, not just the ones where you are going to be more active.
Action Step: A fitness tracker can be a wonderful tool to make sure you are staying active throughout your day, so wear it!
