Health and fitness technology is fun and flashy, but does it work?

SOME PEOPLE LIKE TECH GADGETS AND SOME DON’T; some seem to possess unlimited energy for working out and others not so much. And then there’s that segment of the population that is both fit and tech-savvy. But for the rest of us, those who are more casually looking to improve our fitness situation – is all this new health technology worth the cost of the device or monthly subscription?

The technology used in health and fitness can be divided into two big families – wearable devices (Fitbit, Apple Watch, Garmin, etc.) and platforms or applications typically connected to a social media phenomenon (these range from movement-tracking Strava to calorie counters, such as My Fitness Pal or Noom). Many people use both, but investing in a device is a more substantial financial commitment ($100-$200 for Fitbit devices, $250-$800 for an Apple Watch, or $400-$1,000 for Garmin devices).

Fitness applications and platforms have more users than wearable devices because they typically cost less. My Fitness Pal, which has been on the market since 2005, starts free, and premium membership is available for $9.99 a month, or $49.99 for the year. It competes with a younger generation of apps, such as Noom, which aspires to be a weight loss program based on psychology, with lots of verbal incentives (after a free one-week trial, a subscription costs up to $59 a month).

While much of this technology is relatively new, it is widespread. Some studies on usage and efficacy have already been conducted. Pew Research Center concluded in 2020 that 1 in 5 U.S. adults say they regularly wear a smartwatch or a fitness tracker. A study from 2020, conducted by the National Center for Biotechnology Information and published by the National Library of Medicine, reviewed the effectiveness of wearable trackers for improving physical activity and weight reduction among healthy adults. Researchers determined that trackers are responsible for only a “modest short-term increase in physical activity” and that “further data are required.”

Until that further data is collected, we’re left with the anecdotal experiences of users – and those, as one can imagine, vary widely.

WRITER AND COMMITTED WALKER DAVID SEDARIS – who happens to be coming to the Sunset Center on April 28 – has been swearing by Fitbit for close to a decade, talking about the sense of achievement he gets from carefully measuring the 65,000 steps he takes per day. Local swimmer Pat McNeill feels similarly about his Garmin Forerunner 945 device. “It essentially is a lifelong investment,” he says. But he admits that if technology advances, he might be tempted to consider another purchase.

McNeill first tried a tracker in 2015, with a Fitbit as his first investment. He switched to Garmin to be able to wear it swimming in the ocean, in addition to riding on his bicycle and running. He decided the investment was worth it when a friend told him about a scary situation in which he suddenly lost sight of land while swimming only half a mile offshore from Lovers Point. With Garmin, he was able to pull up a map and compass. McNeill likes the added safety component that the device affords him, even if it’s extra: “I have no intention of getting into a situation like that,” he says.

Ken Chrisman is a lifelong local cyclist who has been running, cycling and canoeing since before the tech boom started. When wearable gadgets first came out, he decided he didn’t need them because he knew what he was doing.

“But I was curious,” he says. He now uses a Garmin device and Strava – an app that tracks your run, walk or bike ride. He likes the way Strava can save “fun things I found and where I went,” he says.

Lola Vaughn from Monterey says she’s addicted to her Apple Watch, a gift from her husband. She works out every single day and her setup measures how many calories she burns and how much she works out. She had a Fitbit before, she says, but Apple Watch is synced to her phone and she likes taking phone calls or even sending texts during her workout.

Marcy Curry of Carmel Pilates & Personal Training also uses an Apple Watch, but rarely for her workouts. In addition to 30 years in the fitness business, she’s a surfer and says her Apple Watch helps her track the wave count, wave speed and wave length from a surf session.

Kelly Nicholas, who lives in Santa Cruz but works in Monterey, likes her Fitbit because it reminds her to move and shows when she hits her peak in the workout, she says.

Wearable fitness trackers can monitor steps, heart rate, sleep, menstrual cycles and more. With all this tracking come some privacy and security concerns: user data being collected and possibly shared for marketing purposes. “If you are paranoid, this is not for you,” McNeill says.

In 2018, San Francisco-based Strava ended up in some hot water when its “heatmap” feature revealed the exercise routes of military personnel on U.S. bases around the world.

While some people lean into the promise of technology in fitness, “on another end you have purists, who won’t even use earbuds,” McNeill says. “There are always early adopters in the community. But the majority typically waits for things to get more mainstream.”