Sophomore English and psychology major Tabitha Blake checks her Fitbit before going for a run.
Nearly every aspect of our lives, from socialization to banking to transportation, has become tied to technology in recent years. And now, so is health and fitness, thanks to the growing popularity of Fitbit and other activity-tracking gadgets.
A Fitbit, for the seeming few who haven’t hopped on board the latest craze, is wearable technology that computes its user’s daily movement into data. With additional information that its user inputs, the Fitbit measures just about everything from number of steps taken to calories burned and consumed.
Jo Zimmerman, kinesiology instructor and Physical Activity Program coordinator, said a Fitbit can help people understand that they often overestimate how active they are.
“I think a lot of people just need a little trigger,” she said of the device.
According to Brianne Rowh, University of Maryland Recreation & Wellness assistant director of fitness, Fitbits can be especially useful for college students, serving as “indicators that you’re taking care of yourself and prioritizing your health when life gets busy.”
Rowh said one’s overall health is determined more than the fitness elements that Fitbits track, but it is nevertheless beneficial for students to be, at the very least, mindful of their sleep and exercise.
Jordan Aaronson, a senior American studies and English major, recently purchased a Fitbit after enduring a broken foot this summer.
“I haven’t exercised like most people do in a long time, but I like knowing that my daily activities, like walking around, contribute to positive changes in my health,” Aaronson said.
Plus, tracking exercise and calories can actually improve one’s relationship with food, Aaronson said.
“Sometimes if you see that you’ve burned a fair amount of calories, you don’t feel so guilty about indulging in a cupcake or an ice cream cone,” she said.
Senior journalism major Nora Tarabishi said she only got into the Fitbit trend after her boyfriend bought the device for the two of them. Tarabishi said she now is often motivated by the fitness goals she sets for herself and that if not for the Fitbit, she might not otherwise achieve them.
“If it’s 30 minutes until midnight and I have burned 1,800 calories, I’ll walk briskly purposely to quickly burn that 200 calories to hit my 2,000 calorie goal,” Tarabishi explained. “Without the Fitbit, I wouldn’t know that I was so close, so I wouldn’t be motivated to push myself a little extra.”
But that’s not to say activity-tracking doesn’t come with some associated risks.
Individuals who already have a tendency toward obsessive and addictive behaviors can create a problem for themselves when using technology to track their every move, Zimmerman said.
Additionally, Zimmerman said sharing progress on social media, as the Fitbit allows its users to do, could be equally detrimental for some others.
Rowh agreed that if aspects of Fitbit or similar activity tracker technology become a source of anxiety, then one should not use it. In other cases, social networking could be a source of positive reinforcement, she said.
“Having a strong social support system goes a long way in holding you accountable,” Rowh said. “It really can be helpful in building that social support network.”
Competitive individuals might thrive off of comparing their own fitness with that of others, both in real life and online, Rowh said.
Tarabishi said she enjoys the competition, but Aaronson said she would never share her data online and sees the social side of the technology as something of a double-edged sword.
“You always see those success stories where someone loses a lot of weight, maybe 125 pounds, and you just want to cheer on those people and be proud of their accomplishments,” she said. “But there are also those people who have perfect bodies, who work out relentlessly, and I think that those sorts of posts make for greater competition.”
While Fitbit use requires a degree of responsibility, Zimmerman said the benefits outweigh the consequences.
“The college-age population is in a unique time frame: you’re old enough to take care of yourself but young enough to have fun with it,” she said. “You have more free time now than at any other point in your life, so it’s really quite a privilege to take on.”
