Fitness Trackers & Overall Health Impact

10,000 steps. A number that may have seemed inconsequential just five years ago that has now become the benchmark for daily health and wellness, all thanks to the rise in fitness trackers. Whether your friend is an avid 10,000-step chaser or you’ve set a fitness goal at the start of a new year, chances are you’ve probably been personally impacted because of how wearable trackers have changed how people approach fitness. 

Of course, fitness trackers do far more than tally our steps. As technology has progressed, fitness trackers have become wearable coaches and health centers, prompting us to stay active, tracking our heart rates and oxygen levels during exercise, and mapping out our long term activity. Truly, fitness trackers can be a great source of motivation and measurement for individuals looking to keep their physical activity in check.

However, in 2020, while we were stuck inside due to COVID-19 restrictions, we all had to rethink how to continue to achieve those same daily fitness goals. All the steps we usually conquered during commutes to work, nights out, dancing with friends, and even strolling the mall or farmers’ market were left un-walked. Even though many of us got into YouTube fitness videos, purchased at-home gym equipment, or started socially-distanced walks with friends, the movement and unmet goal reminders from our unsatisfied fitness trackers made us all feel pretty inadequate. 

At Joybird, we’ve experienced the highs and lows of fitness tracker wearing, but we still had some questions about how exactly these fitness trackers are affecting Americans’ lives. After all, we spend so much time helping to craft living spaces that make Joybird customers feel healthy, comfortable and stress-free, we had to know the role fitness trackers play in our customers’ lives. 

Therefore, we decided to conduct a nationwide survey of over 1,800 people, asking them to tell us about their fitness tracker usage, habits, and sources of stress. We analyzed the data and pulled out important insights that clarify the roles that fitness trackers play in our lives.

You can check out the results and our insights regarding America’s fitness tracker usage and habits below.

First, we wanted to get an idea about just how present fitness trackers are in people’s lives. We were surprised to find that these devices are even more prevalent than we thought, with over 9 in 10 people surveyed owning and using a tracker of some kind. Some of the most popular fitness trackers on the market include FitBits, Garmin Watches and Apple Watches, but there has also been an increased availability in the past few years of low-budget fitness trackers that allow more people to try out a tracker, which may be contributing to this high usage rate.

Of the people we surveyed, we were also interested to note that only 38% of individuals wear their fitness trackers daily. Since there is so much pressure for individuals to hit their activity milestones every day, we thought that the number of individuals wearing a tracker everyday might be a little higher.

Looking to dive a little deeper into the daily usage habits of individuals wearing fitness trackers, we asked some more questions about how often people are using their trackers. Of the individuals we surveyed, the majority (58%) of fitness tracker users only met their activity goals or “completed their rings” between one and four days a week. 

Of course, that’s not to say these individuals weren’t living healthy lifestyles. 57% of respondents reported logging exercises with their fitness trackers between one and four days a week as well. In a time where exercise motivators like group classes or community gyms are much harder to access, seeing so many people taking time to log an exercise on their tracker, and, subsequently, meet their fitness goals, is really inspiring! The Mayo Clinic recommends at least 150 minutes of exercise a week, which can definitely be achieved in a few online Zumba classes or nature walks. 

We also looked at the statistics around tracking sleep habits and found that over 60% of individuals track their sleep quality two or fewer times a week. Even though sleep tracking can help clarify sleep schedules and measure deep versus light sleeping, many users might want to give their wrists a break from wearing their tracker all day and miss out on measuring their sleep digitally.

After we looked at how people tracked their planned activities and daily goals with fitness trackers, we wondered how often fitness trackers motivate users to undertake unplanned physical activity. 

One of the biggest selling points of fitness trackers is the promise of little buzzes and notifications that will spur wearers into activity throughout their days. Fitness tracker companies like to promise that little reminders to walk around the block or at least stand up from your desk chair can help make daily activity goals more achievable. But do these claims have any real-world effects? 

We found that over 70% of fitness tracker users have done unplanned physical activity because of their trackers, showing that these devices really do deliver on what they promise! Furthermore, nearly 40% of individuals found themselves doing unplanned activity every single day because of their fitness trackers. That’s lots of movement that can break up a sedentary day.

However, for all of the positive effects of reminders, there is certainly a downside of viewing activity alerts that you aren’t able to complete. We know about the little tinge of guilt that happens when a prolonged Zoom meeting keeps you glued to your chair while a fitness tracker urges you to move. We decided to ask survey participants how they felt about it. 

We found that nearly half of participants felt stress because of their fitness tracker, with an average stress rating of 6.3 out of 10. For their primary goal of promoting physical wellness among wearers, it’s a little unsettling that fitness trackers can negatively impact users’ mental health. Furthermore, while we’ve read plenty of anecdotal reflections on fitness tracker anxiety causing people to stay up late to get more steps or exercise through an injury, these numbers paint point to tracker-induced anxiety being very prevalent among users. 

We also found that nearly 45% of individuals have worn their tracker less often because of tracker-related stress, showing how the mental strain on users can translate into actual real-world changes in behavior.

Given the severe impacts of fitness tracker stress, we wanted to make sure we knew which fitness tracker stressors affected people the most. Overall, we saw lots of guilt. Respondents felt guilty about not wearing trackers, not meeting goals and even not achieving desired physical progress after wearing trackers. 

This guilt can be so destructive to our mental health and our physical health. It’s so important that people use fitness trackers to build themselves up through healthy activities and positive reinforcement. Tearing yourself down about some steps certainly won’t help you feel better. 

Since Joybird is all about encouraging people to find their own personal style, we know that it’s important for individuals to discover their own best practices with fitness trackers so that these feelings of guilt and shame don’t come in the way of celebrating wellness.

To wrap things up, we wanted to look at the overall health effects of fitness trackers.

We found that despite some potentially negative impacts on stress and anxiety, over 92% of respondents still felt more in tune overall with their health and the majority of individuals (80%) of individuals felt that their health slightly or significantly increased due to health tracker usage.  We hope that these results can be achieved by everyone looking to make fitness progress, but if you’re in the still significant part of the population who feels destructive guilt or decreased wellness from tracker usage, just know you’re not alone. You shouldn’t feel shame about wearing your fitness tracker at whatever frequency helps you feel good. 

We hope that these insights help you reflect clearly on your own fitness tracking habits. Reflection and honesty can help us all achieve personal wellness. Just like personal decor style, personal activity levels are something to be celebrated! So go ahead and keep learning how to uniquely love your body, your space, and yourself.