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Science

There's Even More Evidence That Fitness Trackers Don't Work (fortune.com) 160

Posted by msmash from the get-that-thing-out-of-my-face dept.
Turns out it's really hard to persuade people to exercise -- even when they have access to how many steps they've taken, and even when they get paid for it. A staggering 90 percent of people stop wearing fitness trackers when given the choice. Fortune reports: In the new yearlong study, published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, researchers randomized 800 people in Singapore who had a full-time job into four groups. Some wore a Fitbit Zip and were paid a small amount of money to get moving -- which they were instructed either to keep or to donate to charity -- while others didn't wear Fitbits. Researchers measured their physical activity, weight, blood pressure, the body's ability to use oxygen (called cardiorespiratory fitness) and their self-reported quality of life. For the last six months of the study, all incentives were dropped, and people could choose whether or not to continue wearing their fitness trackers. (About 40% of people had stopped wearing it in the first six months anyway.) The cash seemed to work at first. Those who were rewarded with cash did an extra 13 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity each week and added 570 steps to their daily counts. Raising money for charity had no effect. But once the monetary rewards stopped, so did the improvements. By the end of the study, just 10% of people were still wearing the trackers.
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There's Even More Evidence That Fitness Trackers Don't Work More

There's Even More Evidence That Fitness Trackers Don't Work

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  • Define "work" (Score:5, Insightful)

    by JoeyRox ( 2711699 ) on Wednesday October 05, 2016 @03:36PM (#53019813)
    The devices' primary purpose is their namesake - to track the physical activity of the owner. Whether or not that encourages the owner to be more active is another story. It would be like saying a new automobile doesn't work simply because it didn't encourage its owner to drive more.

    • Re:Define "work" (Score:5, Insightful)

      by gumbright ( 574609 ) on Wednesday October 05, 2016 @03:43PM (#53019875)
      Rightly said. I have been carrying a Fitbit for about 2-3 years now. Am I wonderfully fit now? Alas, no. Does it help me stay aware that I need to be more active and help me do so? Yep. If I look at the step number and its not close to what I want, then it can be that extra little push to make me go take a walk or something. To me its worth it for just that.

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by shanen ( 462549 )

        I'd probably give you a mod point if I ever got one to give.

        I'll just add that I think the data is useful. Actually started with a non-wearable sleep tracking device. Not a very good approach, and I don't think they still sell them, but it basically uses a motion sensor to separate shallow sleep from deeper sleep. Currently wearing an Epson device that measures my pulse, too, and makes much better measurements of sleep.

        For walking, I use both the Epson and my smartphone. (I'd name the brand but I'm so annoy

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Qzukk ( 229616 )

          I wish someone was selling a continuous blood pressure meter.

          Someone was working on it last year [mobihealthnews.com] but who knows if they actually got anywhere.

          • I've been following them for some years. The best approach for continuous is not using pressure, but sound and vibrations to calculate the corresponding blood pressure. Several of them have gotten as far as clinical trials, but none of them is in the market yet. I think the main problem is the large size (on the order of a smartphone that you have to strap on).

            I think they'll have better luck if they can do it with several smaller devices that communicate with a larger device (perhaps a smartphone that does

      • Obviously you're being forced to wear that Fitbit - the summary can't be wrong, after all.

      • Agreed. There's also a big different (IMHO) between being given an activity tracker and seeking out out yourself.
        • Exactly. The test subjects are people who participate in studies. There's probably a reward attached for participation, over here it's usually free cinema tickets and stuff. They're not interested in the activity tracker, they're just interested in the free tickets. So is it any surprise they stop charging and wearing them once the rewards stop? Now, for those who seek them out, do they actually work and get them to move more? Probably not or I wouldn't see so many fitbit owners who're still every bit as m

    • Re:Define "work" (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Daetrin ( 576516 ) on Wednesday October 05, 2016 @03:46PM (#53019911)
      And furthermore, fitness, in fact health in general, is one of those things that's hard to get and stay motivated for. Humans have very little incentive to go out of their way to stay in shape for most of their evolutionary history, so there's no one weird trick to the psychology for motivating yourself to stay healthy. Different tactics work for different people. If fitness trackers help 10% of the people stay motivated that's a success for those 10%, and the other 90% just need to try some other method until they hit on something that works for them.
      • Absolutely correct. I'm one of those 10 percent. I love my fitbit. I've had it for over a year and find it a great little motivator. The only downside is the times I forget it and the dumb thought pops into my head: "why walk the extra blocks / climb the stairs if they're not being recorded."

      • Right. Getting a dog probably achieves more than any other method. Dogs have a high desire to exercise, can be annoying nags if you don't exercise them and help you get out of your basement so that you can be rejected by more women. I have sixteen of them.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by judoguy ( 534886 )

        And furthermore, fitness, in fact health in general, is one of those things that's hard to get and stay motivated for. Humans have very little incentive to go out of their way to stay in shape for most of their evolutionary history, so there's no one weird trick to the psychology for motivating yourself to stay healthy. Different tactics work for different people. If fitness trackers help 10% of the people stay motivated that's a success for those 10%, and the other 90% just need to try some other method until they hit on something that works for them.

        The biggest motivator I have is a profile view in a mirror when I don't suck in my gut. Yikes!

    • Re:Define "work" (Score:5, Informative)

      by hey! ( 33014 ) on Wednesday October 05, 2016 @03:56PM (#53019993) Homepage Journal

      Exactly. Here's the problem; MOST people naturally gain weight in a modern environment of desk work and easy access to massive amounts of calories. In this basically unhealthy environment a healthy person will gain unhealthy weight unless he (a) artificially restrains his calorie intake[note] and (b) artificially inflates his exercise output.

      Most people won't do those things, and therefore naturally tend to gain weight in a way that our ancestors of even fifty years ago didn't.

      And activity trackers won't magically change that. Slap one on some random person who is in a weight-gaining mode, and he'll almost certain remain in that mode. HOWEVER: if you want to be in the small minority of people who are successful, then a fitness tracker is useful.

      note: most diets that work by macronutrient selection (e.g. Atkins) when they work dos obecause people are sated on fewer calories.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by zmooc ( 33175 )

        I personally have not exercised properly for a long time but have never even given my calorie intake a thought. I have not gained any weight (except for the muscles in my arms that grew as my kids got heavier:p). Now I'm probably a lucky bastard, but gaining weight really doesn't require artifical restraint. It just requires eating normal stuff instead of artifical food-like products of the chemical industry and drinking water instead of liquid sugar. From what I've heard that's somewhat difficult in some c

    • People who are in good shape didn't get that way because of a fitness tracker. Like the vast majority of exercise equipment, this is just another gadget bought primarily by lazy slobs who think it will somehow magically make them "fit".

      • two of my friends did, they thought of it like game and kept trying to push score up higher and beat their friend. been going on for almost 3 years now.

        Some people, it motivates them.

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by Quirkz ( 1206400 )

          Sometimes gamification turns a chore into something fun. It's good when it does.

          Monetization is also a tricky thing. If you try to monetize something that people previously found fun, it can ruin the fun. Alternately, like in this case, if you start off with money attached to something and then take the money away, you're maybe also taking the incentive away. I haven't read the article, but from the summary it sounds like "removing an incentive demotivates people" is a better conclusion than "fitness tracke

        • Truth: Both figured that attaching it to their wrist while fapping was the lowest effort solution. Geeks and their optimizations.

          They just invented the 'fitness tracker circle jerk'.

          • as long as they properly put in the correct caloric requirements of single handed jerking and categorized the activity timespan as such, what's the problem?

      • People who are in good shape didn't get that way because of a fitness tracker. Like the vast majority of exercise equipment, this is just another gadget bought primarily by lazy slobs who think it will somehow magically make them "fit".

        As you pointed out, couldn't the same be said for any piece of fitness equipment, whether we're talking about running shoes, a weight machine, or a yoga mat? And yet, we can't deny the role that they play in helping us get healthy, can we?

        If the point you're trying to make is that having self-motivation is important, you're certainly right. It is. But it doesn't stop there. Our goal should be to motivate people to take action towards getting healthier and then help them stay motivated. Unfortunately, motiva

      • If one wants to be in shape, get in shape, or some such, a fitness tracker is helpful. It's difficult to deceive oneself about the amount of exercise one is getting when one has a fitness tracker. It can also be encouraging because one can see what has been achieved. One can also see a progression. I have a running watch. I wear it all the time and it tracks my steps. I rationalize my low step days by reminding myself of my high step days when I run. But it still nags me. I don't like seeing the low s

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mark-t ( 151149 )
      Work is most precisely defined as energy used when force is applied to an object with mass that moves. Since trackers don't appear to get their typically above average mass wearers to move, they don't work.

    • It works great at telling me what a lazy sloth I am when I think that one time I remembering exercising (sometime during the Carter administration) means that I "exersize all the time". I look through all those 0s and say yeah, I don't exercise very much.

      Also, should I exercise again and get on the treadmill with a book and set it to a vigorous walk "up a steep incline" (setting 3/10) that even my carcass won't break 120 bpm after 20 minutes. Regardless how hard I "felt" I worked, it tells me the truth.

      Does

    • A person tells me "hey, did you go walking today", then I feel guilty, and mumble "ya, I probably should."
      A device tells me "hey, you didn't walk enough today", then I say "screw you phone, you're going back into my smelly pocket!"

      My guess is that if the fitness tracker does make someone feel guilty, maybe they're younger generation that treats devices like people, or their devices are an integral part of their concept of "the real world"?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Xyrus ( 755017 )

      Pretty much. if you're not motivated to get in shape in the first place, it's unlikely a fitness tracker is going to help you.

      For me, it was the tool I needed to find out what I was doing wrong. I've always tried to stay fit, but could never seem to lose weight. The fitness tracker, while not 100% accurate, showed me just how far off I was in my estimation of calories in vs. calories out. Once I fixed that little problem, the weight basically melted away.

      But again, if you don't have the motivation to get fi

  • So you're saying if the government offered the populace a small cash incentive to exercise, people would do it (in USA resulting benefits for the current massive third obese and out of shape chunk of the populace would far outweigh the minuscule cost)

    • No, if the government offered a cash incentive to exercise, people would find a way to cheat the system, not exercise, and get paid anyway. The people who are already motivated to exercise wouldn't change their behavior at all, do the things they already do, and therefore get paid for not changing anything. It would be a gigantic boondoggle.
      • Think of it as an entrepreneurial opportunity. My very active Dachshunds could run around all day wearing half a dozen for a cut of the payment.

    • So you're saying if the government offered the populace a small cash incentive to exercise, people would do it

      No, they wouldn't. They'd continue to be lazy slobs for the most part, and the people who would do it don't need a "small cash incentive" because they're already doing it. If an improvement in your life and health and happiness isn't enough, a coupon's not going to make a difference.

      People like this fat pig, for example, for whom life is just about living off the government teat and self-gratific

    • Actually, no. The real problem with the study is a fundamental misunderstanding of how motivation works. When you pay people to do something they should be doing anyway, they tend to develop a dislike for the activity itself. Kids paid to read books read less, on average when the money is taken away than kids who were never paid in the first place. Adults paid to exercise exercise less, on average when the money is taken away than adults that were never paid.

      So the people running the study thought th

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by kinko ( 82040 )

      this study was funded by Singapore's Ministry of Health partly to see if that was true... unfortunately it turns out not to be (for a 'large' majority of people, at least).

      The stupid new item didn't even link to the journal article - the summary and findings are available at http://www.thelancet.com/journ... [thelancet.com]

  • I can see a device being pretty limited in scope of function, being dropped after a while as most people seemly don't want to track stuff all the time.

    That's why I think the Apple Watch is in the long run much more successful in this category - it's not just tracking fitness, also time and whatever other apps you have on board (like running / cycling stats). So the drop-off rate for an Apple Watch will be a lot lower, thus over time more and more people that are even inclined to use a fitness tracker will

    • Apple's watches, w/ their various decorative metal bands, also double as jewelry - something not true about the mere fitness bands.

  • Gotta give them credit... (Score:5, Funny)

    by ewhenn ( 647989 ) on Wednesday October 05, 2016 @03:46PM (#53019909)
    The judicial system can force you to wear a tracker and most people would be horrified at the thought of wearing one.

    Somewhere out there someone in a marketing department figured out a way to make people pay to wear a tracking device... KUDOS!

  • It's hardwired into our brains (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Rick Schumann ( 4662797 ) on Wednesday October 05, 2016 @03:47PM (#53019917) Journal
    It's hardwired into our brains: Don't expend energy unnecessarily! Conserve your bodyfat as much as possible, tomorrow or the next day or next week there may be nothing to eat! Famine is coming! You must survive long enough to breed! Doesn't matter that we're not hunter-gatherers anymore and that you can op into your car and drive 5 minutes to the grocery store and get enough food to feed yourself for weeks, or that there's an obesity problem, it's hardwired into our caveman-like brains to conserve energy, move only as much as necessary. Also, the vast majority of people find exercise to be unpleasant, therefore they'll avoid it any way they can, even if they know on an intellectual level that it's good for them, they'll feel better in the long run, live longer, be happier -- doesn't matter, it's unpleasant right now, emotionally they just can't bring themselves to do it, therefore they don't. For what it's worth, while abstract reasons to exercise regularly like "To be healthier", or "Because I want to lose weight" don't work, having a non-abstract reason, like "I want to run a (half) marathon next year", or "I want to participate in such-and-such sport so I'm training for that" seem to work better.

    • Re:It's hardwired into our brains (Score:5, Insightful)

      by MightyMartian ( 840721 ) on Wednesday October 05, 2016 @04:05PM (#53020065) Journal

      My justification for my walking regime comes down "Don't want to have a diabetes, and don't want a heart attack or stroke in the next 10 years." It's not a pleasant motivator, to be sure, but my family's history of heart disease finally convinced me that I needed to change my diet and get my ass out the door. It's often not terribly pleasant, but I do find that during my long walks I actually do a lot of thinking, so I've found there's a bit of a mental payoff as well.

      Oh, I did mention numerous studies that suggest being sedentary may contribute to dementia later in life. We may be built to conserve energy, but we're also built to actually do physical activity.

      • Re:It's hardwired into our brains (Score:5, Insightful)

        by cliffjumper222 ( 229876 ) on Wednesday October 05, 2016 @04:17PM (#53020157)

        I totally agree. If I'm stressed or aggravated going for a walk really helps. Like you say it gives time to think - sometimes about nothing - sometimes I resolve algorithms. I purposely don't use headphones or play games because it lets my mind wander. Like all exercise, doing it regularly comes down to erasing the barriers to it - that's why I walk outside at lunchtime instead of walking on a treadmill in the gym. It's not that it's better, it's just easier not to go through the hassle of changing clothes, etc. If I can build exercise into my daily routine even more - I'm thinking of riding to work - then that will be even better.

        • Okay, congratulations. But you're not a typical person. You have internal motivation; you're wired to LIKE it. Most people don't and are avoidant of anything unpleasant. Exercise is unpleasant to them, so they avoid it. Also there's the people (too many of them) that think exercising looks bad/embarassing, so they'll avoid it for that reason, too.

          • Re: (Score:1)

            by Anonymous Coward

            I don't like "exercise". I do like to experience the city I live in and the surrounding wilderness. I also like my dog, and he likes to walk. Walking and other moderate activity are all that are required to relieve stress and promote creative thinking on top of the physical benefits.

            I'm fit and skinny, but I have never seen someone exercising and thought "Gee, they look like they should be embarrassed". If you are cycling/jogging/whatever, you look fine in lycra no matter your level of fitness. You are wear

            • Walking and other moderate activity are all that are required to relieve stress and promote creative thinking on top of the physical benefits.

              But, see, 'relieving stress' doesn't make you fit or healthy, which is what we're really discussing.

              I'm fit and skinny, but I have never seen someone exercising and thought "Gee, they look like they should be embarrassed". If you are cycling/jogging/whatever, you look fine in lycra no matter your level of fitness. You are wearing the proper gear for the activity, which always looks "right".

              If you're 'skinny' then you're probably 'skinnyfat', meaning you have no real muscle anywhere, but more bodyfat than you think. You should go get a DXA scan to determine your body composition. Also, you sound weak. Just like the guy who commented above you, you'll get the same injuries and diseases due to your overall lack of fitness as someone who literally abuses their body, because you do little to nothing

            • I just wear shorts and a t-shirt. About the only significant investment I made is to buy some proper running shoes, and stop wearing the Walmart specials, which were fucking up my feet, knees and back. When I have to walk in the dark or the rain, my wife bought my a high-vis vest so I don't get killed.

              Believe me, I hate exercise. I get up at 6am to do my walk most days simply because I can't stand the idea of coming home after work and then slogging it. In general the idea of getting out there makes me mise

          • A couple of points. First, motivation for exercise is hard or effectively impossible if you've got other serious problems. I have a brother with chronic bleeding ulcers. He sees specialists periodically, but they haven't figured out a cause or a cure. He can't tolerate much exercise at all - he's thin but unfit, and there's not a damn thing he can do about it. I had a friend with thyroid problems, and once those were diagnosed his energy levels skyrocketed. For me, I had untreated severe sleep apnea.

            • But further, using rewards for motivation to exercise is terrible.

              Not necessarily. We do things for 2 types of reasons :
              1. Habit
              2. Intellectually convincing ourselves that it is a good thing to do - this consumes willpower depending on how unpleasant the activity is.

              One can't really do a lot of type 2 activities in a day. Willpower - somewhat like muscle, gets fatigued. There is interesting research on this topic, look it up. Somewhat like muscle, it builds up on using it too, but that is a long term plan.

              So something as important as exercise is best done through habit. A

              • That's conventional wisdom, but my understanding is that the reward aspect of it has been proven false. Elementary age kids paid to read books or rewarded for reading with coupons for free pizza tend to read less in high school than children that were never given external rewards for reading. Adults paid to walk up the stairs to their work office for a few weeks were less likely to walk up the stairs to work once the payments stopped than people that were never paid. Children placed in a room full of pu

                • 1. Once you have a habit, you don't need motivation.

                  2. For forming a habit, reward is a necessary but not sufficient condition.

                  3. Most people don't know the procedure to form habits.

                  • If the first two premises of your thesis were correct, wouldn't the outcome of this study be the opposite of what it actually was?

                    • No, why would it necessarily opposite of what it actually was?

                    • Because the test subjects were paid to use a fitness tracker for six months. So they were given a reward to develop a habit, they developed the habit for six months, and then 90% of them broke the habit.

                    • 1. They were paid to use a tracker : yes

                      2. They were given a reward to develop a habit : there is not enough data to conclude whether it was to develop a habit or just to wear it.

                      3. They developed a habit : absolutely no evidence in favour of this, there is some evidence against it. Even an attempt at forming a habit was not likely made, let alone a habit.

                      4. 90% of them broke the habit : can one break something that doesn't exist?

                      Probably you don't know the meaning of the word "habit" in the context which I

                    • I don't see where you directed me to read any specific research on habits and their formation in the thread. Did you write it elsewhere, or was I supposed to infer it from something you wrote above? I hunted around and found this page, which does admittedly look like something useful to read and apply: http://jamesclear.com/habits [jamesclear.com]

                      But I still don't see how your point on habit acquisition does anything to refute my point on the de-motivating impact of extrinsic rewards (or for that matter, punishments)

                    • habit-related education as they need it. But no direct payments or prizes.

                      A small part of habit formation is usually rewards. You now change the terms to direct payments or prizes, but originally you were arguing against rewards.

                    • You're right. I'm sorry. I wrote very poorly. I meant to be arguing against external rewards unrelated to the task at hand.

    • Actually, rewards are hard-wired, unless you're defective (hi). They vary between people greatly, as well.

      I've recently read a patent where some rats were given free access to rat chow, and could get better rat chow by operating a lever repeatedly (work). The rats in every group ate roughly the same amount of rat chow.

      These rats, once trained to obtain rat chow, were given a vehicle (all inert ingredients) or drugs (inert ingredients plus amphetamine, methylphenidate, or a third drug). Rats fed the

      • Exercise feels good to YOU, and to ME, and to SOME PEOPLE. For MOST people it does not, and they'll find any other thing they'd rather do than exercise. Otherwise why do we have so many people whose health is suffering because they don't exercise? I get anywhere from 7 to 20 hours a week of exercise because I race bikes. I literally would rather die than go back to being fat, weak, and sickly, but I'm a corner case not typical in the least. Most people think I'm nuts, that's what most people think of exerci
    • In this particular case there's a larger problem - the way they're trying to motivate people is ineffective. Here's my own post on it further up-thread: https://science.slashdot.org/c... [slashdot.org]

  • Paid? (Score:3)

    by Toshito ( 452851 ) on Wednesday October 05, 2016 @03:57PM (#53019999)

    1. enroll in paid fitness tracker program
    2. put it on your dog
    3. ???
    4. Profit!

    • The dog is actually a good one. The smaller dogs count higher steps when you take it for a walk. The Americans in our company came up with all sorts of schemes. A dryer on a sensitive cycle clocks up quite a few steps in 30min if you really need that extra incentive.

      I told them I was amazed at our ingenuity. They made some comment about my lack of creativity if I haven't figured it out myself *pointing to my fitbit*. Then I blew their minds by saying I have free healthcare and I wear mine for me because I w

  • Bullshit study (Score:3)

    by bluefoxlucid ( 723572 ) on Wednesday October 05, 2016 @03:57PM (#53020003) Homepage Journal

    Study summary: Select a bunch of people who aren't currently using a tracker and encourage them to use a tracker. Then drop the encouragement and see what sticks.

    If you want to see if fitness trackers work, use a self-selection group. Find a bunch of people who have been wanting to get in better shape but are not currently vigorous exercisers (or whatever standardizable measure of success you can use), and divide them up randomly. Give some fitness trackers. See how it impacts them. Doing it this way would take groups who are both interested (want to) but not necessarily motivated (experience reward which encourages effort) to exercise regularly and identify between them.

    Problems with this approach: poor reporting (one group must self-report; the other has actual data); and masked reporting has an impact (a group with a fitness tracker that tells them nothing will do extra work to ensure data IS there). It's actually worth it to study a group without a tracker, a group with a tracker, and a group with an occluded tracker who are also self-reporting (to compare perception to data). Likewise, the act of reporting creates confounding.

  • Most of these trackers are glorified pedometers.
    The heart rate measurement on the newer models (to my knowledge) is quite inaccurate, especially when sweaty or in certain weather.

    I would love to know:
    heart rate
    blood pressure
    breathing rate
    blood sugar level

    At least those 4 quite accurate would be pretty nice or at least within a true 5%.
    I imagine this is basically impossible without some kind of small implant (then how do you charge it? is it safe? how long does it last?)

    We're getting closer to this stuff bu

  • I have a Xiaomi Mi Band, not for a fitness tracker, but for a wearable notification device. I never hear/notice my alerts when my phone is in my pocket. My fat ass could give a fuck that it monitors my steps and heart rate.

  • you don't need to exercise to loose weight (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    I went from 98Kg to 78Kg simply by eating better and smaller portions.

    I still smash a pizza every so often - but I can bring my weight back in days...

    exercise... bah

  • Pay someone to do something and they may do; stop paying and they stop. What's next? Water is wet? Moped Jesus spotted on El Camino Big Num?

  • Most unfit, unhealthy people are just like my wife, who has been "going to get fit" for literally as long as I've known her (coming up on 20 years). And the scary thing is they actually think they will do it. They actually imagine that they will become one of the healthy fit people who don't sound like a steam train whenever they need to walk up a flight of steps, despite the decades of evidence that what they will actually do is go for maybe a walk or two and eat a salad before going back to sitting on t

  • I'm sure the trackers track people just fine. Are the people who buy the data upset?

  • Many years ago I worked at a place where they would hand out catalogs to all the employees every holiday season as their "gift" and you could pick out anything you wanted.

    Of course there is literally nothing in the catalog that I wanted and it's all cheap junk anyway. So I got a simple pedometer. Nothing fancy, just an LCD showing number of steps. I know I wore it at least one day just out of curiosity but it quickly got put away and forgotten about.

    Now I'm actually a bit more than curious about my fitn

  • Not a threat. Just the Russian promise to outlive the author who says activity trackers don't work.

    Actually, not even a promise, but I think data is good and useful. Definitely imagine that I am healthier for paying attention to it, and also definitely feel it is too soon to draw any conclusions.

    I'd like to see some research on whether or not the author wears one. My initial hypothesis is "Hell, no!"

  • The people who want to be involved in fitness already are, and never needed a tracker to do it. Trackers are mostly for people who want to feel like they made some effort without actually making the effort. It's the same deal with exercise bikes and tread mills in homes. They're often purchased and infrequently used.

  • Because of ignorance (Score:3)

    by GeekWithAKnife ( 2717871 ) on Wednesday October 05, 2016 @04:54PM (#53020421)

    A lot of people have this great idea about getting in shape, becoming healthier and what not. the problem is all the crap they are fed.

    Drink this fucking protein shake, eat 6 meals a day, train HIIT, do weights, callisthenics, 3 times a week, 7 grams of protein per ounce, buy this gizmo, use this electrode belt, avoid fat etc etc.

    All-of-a-sudden become fit is a research project. You need 10,000 steps a day, people that take stairs have less chance of heart disease and so on and so on.

    Guess what most people do? choose the easy fucking way out. Step 1, buy this fitness device (because you'll need it with all the fitness you're gonna do right?!), step 2 follow magic formula??, step 3 get fit

    Here's my "magic formula" to get fit: Move your fucking ass. Do whatever workout you want that is COMPOUND movement at the intensity you can SUSTAIN. Listen to your body, if you're feeling depleted take it easy, if you're feeling pumped put your back into it.

    It's the same thing with gym memberships after the Olympics, 2-4 weeks later they never come back. No fucking gizmo is gonna lift those weights, run up that hill or do 100 burpees for you. That's you that has to do that. Do it. -remember that when you're watching other fitter people work. (You know, NFL, NBA, Olympics, they're at work)

    • Some people really don't have time for serious exercise (not as many as will claim lack of time). Lots of people have motivational issues that aren't going to be helped by people telling them to exercise.

      It's really easy to tell people to get more physical activity, and pretty much useless.

  • This just in the sky is blue, water is wet, and people are lazy and fat, and a wearable technology (other than a shock collar) will not change that.

    I have wasted 39.4 seconds of my life reading the summary and commenting and burned 1.2 calories.

  • ... if people start doing something they didn't used to do, sometimes they don't want to keep doing it? Amazing! Armed with this knowledge, I can finally shave off these mutton chops I grew in the 70s, and give up my paper route.

  • I have a Fitbit that I've owned for barely 10 months. Eight of which it has been sitting in a drawer. I tried to get on board with this craze, but the damn thing kept falling off my wrist. I tried a different side and fared no better. I had two major problems. First, the fastener is utter rubbish. Every time I'd brush against something the damn thing would fall off and most of the time I wouldn't feel it. I'd see it laying on the ground or in a seat before realizing it fell off. Second, I've got enough junk

  • better pay. If I could spend money instead of time solving problems in my life my I'd have more time to spend at the gym. So instead of relaxing this weekend I spent it dragging my kid up here from college because I couldn't afford her braces until her year 2 of high school (thanks, 2008 economic crash). If I could have afforded them sooner, no problem. If I could have afforded a car for her that could make the f'n trip, no problem. If I could have had her travel some in her teens in the summer when it didn

  • When it's a sole-use device, sure, people are going to bail. Combine it with a watch with a few features THEN do the trial again.

  • My employer insists we use a step tracker and hit a minimum number of steps per week in order to qualify for he lowest premium health care plan. Mine remains securely zip-tied to the front forks of th motorcycle that I use for my daily commute.

  • It seems to me that 90 percent of people will gorge on Cool Ranch Doritos when given the chance, too...that doesn't mean that eating healthy is a flawed proposition.

    The fundamental issue is that these trackers were put forth as a magic bullet, with the implicit promise that they will replace willpower, discipline, and self-determination. "Wear our tracker and you'll magically start exercising more and keeping fit," as the implicit promise goes. In truth, they're just another tool...like a jumprope, runnin

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