Workouts get high-tech with fitness trackers

If a workout is completed and no fitness tracking device is around to record it, does the effort really count?

It’s not exactly the philosophical conundrum of a tree falling in a forest, but it matters to Mackenzie Beck of Santa Rosa.

Beck, 29, is so tuned into the information provided by the Misfit Shine she keeps in the coin pocket of her pants that she was in despair a few weeks ago when she left for work without it.

Her boyfriend jokingly offered to wear it so she wouldn’t fall behind on her exercise goals.

Yes!

He was kidding. She was not.

Such is the hold that fitness trackers have on users, from recovering coach potatoes to elite athletes.

“I’m trying to get down to a healthier weight,” Beck said. “I feel like if I didn’t have a fitness tracker I would say, ‘I’ll do it tomorrow,’ but the fitness tracker is the little bit of an extra push I need to make it a habit.”

These tiny gizmos look like plastic bracelets or watches, but inside have biometric sensors that measure such things as heart rate, steps taken, calories burned and even perspiration and the quality of your sleep. Most have a display screen that lets you follow along, and all link with apps that allow you to study the data on your cellphone or computer.

Beck’s device connects to her phone via Bluetooth. She just sets it on the screen and Zap! Her phone knows how much she has walked and eaten in a specified period.

Fitness trackers are a booming business, with nearly 20 million in use worldwide. That figure is expected to triple by 2018, according to Juniper Research, a British high-tech analysis firm. The new Apple Watch - part smart watch, part health and fitness monitor that was unveiled this month - will no doubt contribute to that growth.

Matt Swider, who has made it his job to review and report on each new wave of fitness tracking technology, sees a marketplace filled with options. He describes Nike as one of the first manufacturers out of the gate, soon overtaken by Fitbit.

“Jawbone UP24 was my top tracker for a long time,” said Swider, mobile devices editor at TechRadar.com, a South San Francisco-based technology newsletter. It’s meant for tech savvy folks who enjoy the motivating visuals on its cellphone app but, in his estimation, has been replaced by newer offerings like the Fitbit Surge ($250).

“It’s quite large, screen is always on and it has GPS to track your route,” Swider said. You can update it to track biking routes, map out your run or time your workouts, and because it links to your smartphone, you can control the music you’re listening to by tapping the tracker.

Some fitness trackers do less and some do more - things like notifying you when someone is calling or texting you, allowing you to change songs on your iPod or waking you in the morning - but all give you a glimpse at how you and your body are spending time.

And they are not just found in gyms. Walk into any market, workplace or social event, and you’ll see gadgets everywhere, worn on wrists, on belt loops or in pockets.

Are they just another example of our self-absorbed “Hey look at me!” society, or are they genuine motivational tools that help us improve ourselves?

There’s nothing for Dr. Todd Weitzenberg to debate. Monitoring your activities is a simple way to take a real step toward better health, he said.

Weitzenberg, chief of sports medicine at Kaiser Permanente Santa Rosa and a competitive cyclist, has tracked his own workouts for two decades. The emergence of simple, accessible tracking devices for the general population is a positive incentive to make healthful goals and to keep them.

“It makes what you do tangible,” Weitzenberg said. “You can see what you do, you can quantify what you do.

“If you have a goal or purpose, if it’s to lose 20 pounds or get off my cholesterol medication or fit in this dress for my daughter’s wedding or hike Kilimanjaro,” he said, using data to stay the course is helpful.

Fans like Katie Paulson of Windsor say the nearly ubiquitous wristbands fill a need, although not perfectly. She calls herself an information junkie, with two Garmin devices that track her runs via GPS technology and record steps taken, calories burned, calories consumed and, if she chooses, sleep patterns.

Crossfit workouts

Even so, they don’t always reflect her activity level. Paulson doesn’t always wear the chest strap that would help her more accurately track heart rate and level of exertion, she admitted, and the technology doesn’t accurately record Crossfit workouts that focus on weight lifting and anaerobic activities such as wall sits, air squats and burpees.

“It would be cool if they more accurately tracked weight lifting,” she said.

Paulson, who leads a training group for runners through Fleet Feet, said she also can be put off when the device alerts her to long periods of “inactivity.”

She can log a serious workout in the morning, for example, then get the jarring red bar that indicates lack of activity after spending long stretches of the day tied to her computer.

“I ran a half marathon in the morning and the red line is still on,” she said with a chuckle. “The tracker is like, ‘You need to move.’ That is the only time I get frustrated.”

Caroline Wilcox of Santa Rosa has for years suffered episodes of irregular heartbeats. She got a Fitbit to find out what, if anything, set it off.

“I just wanted to keep a little bit more track of what is going on before it happens,” Wilcox said.

She uses the Fitbit to track her sleep patterns and record her workouts. Now she also monitors what she eats by using it to scan the bar codes on food packaging. Her goal is to lose 65 pounds, and having a reminder on her wrist helps, she said. “I just feel like you can’t cheat.”

Added benefit

The glut of information and the ease of sharing with like-minded people is right up Kevin Buchholz’s alley. He co-owns Echelon

Cycle & Multisport in Santa Rosa and has for years tracked his own training with power meters, heart rate monitors and GPS devices. The ability to use new tracking devices to share on social media is an added benefit, he said, allowing him to see where his friends are riding and running and what kind of workouts they are putting in.

“It’s really cool because I get ideas for where I might do my next run,” Buchholz said.

“Technology is our friend. I am a techie person, and I can kind of geek out on a lot of that stuff. That social media aspect is where a lot of people are getting into it.”

Weitzenberg, the Kaiser physician, said that finding groups of people with similar goals - even if you are connecting with them only virtually - can be key to maintaining fitness goals. A quick “good job” post from a peer can keep a person focused.

“Just like anything else in life, you are likely to do something if you get positive feedback,” he said.

Alma Rodini wears a Fitbit and, as owner of Kaia FIT Petaluma, sees a growing number of clients who use trackers that marry fitness with technology.

“I think it’s really important, having goals, seeing results,” Rodini said. The positive reinforcement from sharing results with friends and workout buddies also can provide crucial motivation for people.

Even so, she also advocates that people leave the devices at home every once in awhile.

“It’s not all about the numbers,” she said. “It’s about saying yes to life.

“Get out there and enjoy the view, look at the trees, smell the air and just enjoy it. Do you feel stronger? Do you feel more agile? When the kids are on the monkey bars, can you get up there with them?

“Experiment and find those things you are going to live with for a lifetime, so when you see those results you can keep those results.”

You can reach Kerry Benefield at 526-8671 or kerry.benefield@pressdemocrat.com, on Twitter @benefield and on Instagram at kerry.benefield.